Yasinskas chimes in on the Rivera hire and presser

[Dpantherman]

Tidbits:

“A listener, someone who understands,’’ Rivera said.

That’s a great thing because Fox refused to change or adapt and that's why he's gone. I’m certain general manager Marty Hurney, team president Danny Morrison and owner Jerry Richardson made it clear the Panthers have to be much better and much more open minded when it comes to offense.

“I’m looking for guys that are going to coach and teach,’’ Rivera said.

That’s a good thing because the Carolina brain trust didn’t feel there was enough teaching or coaching going on at the end of Fox’s tenure and that was needed because the team had gone to a full-blown youth movement. You can bet that Rivera already has run some names of offensive coaches he would like to try to hire past Hurney, Morrison and Richardson and they probably wouldn’t have offered him the job if they didn’t like those names.

“We need to see if there is a quarterback on this roster that can be that franchise guy that you need,’’ Rivera said.

In other words, Rivera and whoever he hires as his offensive coaches have to decide if Jimmy Clausen can be a franchise quarterback. Fox never really gave Clausen a chance in his rookie season. He made Clausen spend much of training camp working behind Hunter Cantwell, who didn’t even make the team.

Fox only turned to Clausen after Matt Moore got off to a disastrous start. Fox benched Clausen twice after that and the offensive system made it impossible to tell if the rookie has any upside.

At very least, Rivera made it sound like he’s at least open to giving Clausen a chance. The Panthers took a hit when Stanford’s Andrew Luck decided not to enter the draft. The Carolina brass realizes the hopes of the franchise can’t be put entirely on Clausen and it’s certain that another quarterback will be added through the draft or free agency.

That puts Rivera one up on Fox. He’s coming in with an open mind about the offense. He’s not coming in hell bent on using square pegs when you’ve got a bunch of round ones.

The entire article is actually worth reading: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id/17657/rivera-brings-open-mind-about-offense

[Jackofalltrades]

Good analysis, something that's become scarce with him lately.

[bleys]

Fox benched Clausen twice after that and the offensive system made it impossible to tell if the rookie has any upside.

kind of what everyone needs to realize.. Clausen won't be kicked to the curb based on last year, and it's absurd to assume so..

[TylerDurden]

Couldn't agree more with Yas. All those characteristics of Fox he talks about had become all to obvious over the last few years.

[J-STEW]

Interesting that he mentioned Rob Chudzinski. He's the OC in San Diego and helped develop Antonio Gates (as well as many Miami hurricanes TE's), and was the OC with the Browns when Derek Anderson made the Pro Bowl.

What do you guys think of him coming in and running the offense? Seems like he is a young, hungry offensive coach.

[rmoneyg35]

I think Fox knew he was done this year so he didn't care to develop our youth. Is it me or does Rivera seem like the opposite of Fox?

[TylerDurden]

I think Foxy was a "player's coach" to a fault. It was all "I'm your friend" and there no teaching or coaching going on. Basically, if Fox kept you around and you played, you were safe, all you had to do was play his system on offense or defense, keep your mouth shut, and you were good.

Refreshing to see someone who's gonna get in your face when you f*ck up and let you know how/why it happened, but still encourage you, instead of chewing gum and clapping it up with no insight to offer.

[bbell21]

All good points guys, anyone who thinks Rivera is Fox 2.0 are sorely mistaken he has a much more aggressive defensive philosophy, and coach Ron will actually coach the defense up instead of delegating all the power to his DC!!!

[Zaximus]

I'm pumped that our new HC is a ex-Bears guy. They don't teach mediocrity on defense, they teach aggressive defense. Looking at his resume, I feel like we got a steal honestly. Four years is a bit for unproven HC but at least he's cheaper than Fox was, etc.

Clausen deserves another chance.

[Snake]

We have a good start here. We just need some Good coordinators to go with it. They are just as important as the HC.

[Jangler]

kind of what everyone needs to realize.. Clausen won't be kicked to the curb based on last year, and it's absurd to assume so..

Yup, been trying to say this as much as possible, but people just won't listen.

No QB is NFL ready. They need to be devolped. Hopefully Jimmy has not been damaged by the shitty way he was treated by the staff and can bounce back from 2010. If not we will move on, but to dump a rookie after one bad season is shortsighted.

[csx]

the offensive system made it impossible to tell if the rookie has any upside.

the offensive system was dumbed down as far as one could be and he still couldnt do poo

[Zaximus]

the offensive system was dumbed down as far as one could be and he still couldnt do poo

Not really. Want to see a offense set up for a rookie QB? Look at the Rams with Bradford, who did pretty well for a rookie.

[mav1234]

kind of what everyone needs to realize.. Clausen won't be kicked to the curb based on last year, and it's absurd to assume so..

He won't be, he shouldn't be, but he will need to compete for the job. I don't want to go into next year EXPECTING him to improve to a poitn where he is an NFL quarterback. I want that to be an option but for us to have other plans in case it turns out he simply won't be.