I don't understand all the praise for Rivera. Sure, he was the greatest coach in their team's history... because the others sucked even more - remember John Fox? As a Panthers fan, I was sick and tired of the team's mediocrity under Rivera, and his conservative play-calling. Yes, he would make a good defensive coordinator, his strongest suit. But as a head coach I thought that he wasn't that good. Sure, they lost their franchise quarterback so it is hard to do well in these circumstances, but I actually partially blame Ron for it. Cam Newton posted a passionate goodbye thanking Ron for "letting me be me." Yep, he sure did that. The problem is that allowing Cam to be himself shortened Cam's career. All that bold running, even going head first instead of sliding down with feet first, all the immature posturing that even refs got turned off to, contributed to Cam getting hit so many times that his body suffered and he is now injury prone.
I thought that Rivera should have reined him in and protected his young and immature quarterback a lot better, saying, "young man, if you don't cut the crap I'll bench you, and that will be in the best interest of your career because if you keep doing what you are doing, your career will be short." No, I remember Ron's interviews, when journalists questioned him about it, and he just shrugged and said, "Oh, Cam is just being Cam." Yeah, he was. But it was on you, Ron, the much older and supposedly wise guy, to be a role model for Cam and to guide him in ways that would have preserved his body a bit better.
I am a member of a Panthers fan blog and I'll tell you, everybody there is relieved that Ron is finally gone. The only problem is that the whole bunch should be fired too... The offensive coordinator sucks even more than Ron, and the front desk sucks too, being unable for example to draft or sign good safeties, and a good enough backup quarterback (Kyle Allen is not that, despite earlier success until the league figured him out).
