It took him awhile, but Ron Rivera has finally gotten the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl. This coming Sunday, February 7th, Rivera will lead the Panthers against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, CA at Levi’s Stadium. Rivera had a long journey to becoming a head coach in the NFL. Let’s take a look at how he got there and how well he has done since he became the head coach of the Panthers.
First NFL Coaching Job
Back in 1999, Rivera was brought in by Andy Reid to be the linebackers coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. During his time in Philadelphia, the Eagles went to three straight NFC Championship games. He is often credited as developing Jeremiah Trotter into the two-time Pro Bowl player he became.
Rivera Moves On to Chicago
After the 2003 NFL season, Rivera was named as the Chicago Bears defensive coordinator by new Head Coach Lovie Smith. In 2005, Rivera coached the Bears to the second-best defense in the NFL as Chicago qualified for the NFC Playoffs as the second overall seed. They would go on to lose in the divisional round to the Panthers.
The 2006 NFL season saw the Bears finish as the league’s third ranked and the NFC’s top-ranked in points allowed for the season. The Bears made it to Super Bowl XLI, but lost to the Peyton Manning led Indianapolis Colts.
After the 2006 season, Rivera’s name began floating around for a few potential head coaching jobs, the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers to name a few. He was also a candidate for the vacant Dallas Cowboys job, but it eventually went to Wade Phillips. He also lost out on the other two jobs with Ken Whisenhunt going to the Cardinals and Mike Tomlin taking over in Pittsburgh.
He was also considered a candidate for the job with the San Diego Chargers for the recently fired Marty Schottenheimer, but we lost out on that one as well as the Chargers went with Norv Turner. In February of 2007, the Bears decided against renewing Rivera’s contract and he was left looking for a job.
Rivera Joins the San Diego Chargers
After not having his contract renewed with the Bears, Rivera found himself as the new linebacker’s coach for the Chargers. Halfway through the 2008 NFL season, Rivera was promoted to become the Chargers defensive coordinator after San Diego released Red Cottrell. Typically, Rivera used a 4-3 defensive scheme but adapted to the 3-4 scheme while with the Chargers.
Rivera Becomes Carolina’s New Head Coach
After twelve years coaching in the NFL, Rivera was finally hired to his first head coaching gig when the Panthers hired him as their fourth head coach in their history on January 11, 2011. He became the fifth Latino to become an NFL head coach.
In his first draft as an NFL head coach, Rivera selected Cam Newton with the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. They also selected Terrell McClain, Sione Fua, Brandon Hogan, Kealoha Pilares, Lawrence Wilson, Zack Williams and Lee Ziemba with the 65th, 97th, 98th, 132nd, 166th, 203rd and 244th picks respectively. Only Newton remains from his first draft as an NFL head coach.
Rivera went 6-10 and finished third in the NFC South behind the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. The 2012 season saw a one game improvement as the Panthers finished at 7-9 which was good enough for a second place tie with the Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 2013 season was by far his best as a head coach as the Panthers went 12-4 and secured a first round bye. They would end up losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round, but you could see his team had promise. The year before they drafted Luke Kuechly 9th overall in the 2012 NFL draft and added Star Lotilelei and Kawann Short with their first two draft picks of the 2013 NFL Draft. The Panthers had a lot of potential on their roster. Rivera was named the 2013 AP NFL Coach of the Year.
Hot Seat
With the promising 2013 NFL season, many pundits figured Carolina would challenge to be one of the NFC’s best teams. The season started horribly for Rivera and the Panthers as they began the season 3-8-1 and there was talk of a potential coaching change at the end of the season if not during.
The Panthers would somehow manage to flip the script and finished the season with a four game winning streak and clinched the NFC South with an overall record of 7-8-1. Carolina became the first team to win the NFC South division back-to-back years since the divisions inception prior to the 2002 NFL season.
They would end up losing to the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round that season and it appeared that Rivera would keep his job for at least one more year.
A Run to The Super Bowl
The 2015 NFL season was a magical one for Rivera and the Panthers. They would win their first 14 games of the season and finish with a 15-1 record overall. With their third straight NFC South division title, the Panthers secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
In the Divisional Round against the Seahawks, the Panthers jumped out to a 31-0 halftime lead and would hold on to win and dispatch the two-time NFC Champions 31-24. Next up they would face the Arizona Cardinals and would absolutely demolish the them by winning 49-15 and securing the franchise’s second ever Super Bowl appearance.
In 80 games as an NFL head coach, Rivera has a record of 47-32-1 and is 3-2 in the playoffs in three appearances.
Regardless of who wins Super Bowl 50, Rivera must be credited with the turnaround he has engineered as the Panthers fourth ever head coach. Carolina and their fans have a coach and staff that should continue to be at the top of the NFC and the NFL.