What about Rivera?

[Apotheosis]

With all this talk about how Gettleman has designed the best Panther's team in years (I agree this is one of the best lineups we have had since the mid-2000s), how much of a role do you think Rivera has had in the building process? On this forum I read a lot of "Nipple Shorts is a genius" above topics like "What is Rivera thinking." Should the credit be balanced? In short, do you think Gettleman would have been this successfulI with another coach? Ihave my own opinion, but I will reserve writing it until I weigh out the many sides.

[Donald LaFell]

Rivera has proven to be an excellent defensive mind and an average head coach. Hopefully it changes.

[janderson20vt]

I agree that he's an average head coach and an excellent defensive mind. I don't feel like he would could the axe this year with a .500 season. The following year will probably be his a "hey, take us deep into the playoffs or move on" year.

[juliosantos]

rivera built this defense , but the one thing that irks me about riverboat is his loyalty to vets , that screwed us last season 

[thefuzz]

rivera built this defense , but the one thing that irks me about riverboat is his loyalty to vets , that screwed us last season 

​Almost all coaches are like this, and seemingly even more with a strong defensive background.  Sometimes they seem to value knowing what to do, rather than actually being able to do it.

[logic1977]

they addressed it a few times that it wasn't as much about being loyal to the vets as you can't throw the rookies in on day one. Give them a few weeks to get more adapted to the system.

 

[Billy Love]

I will say this. Regardless if you like Ron as a head coach or not. The players "play" very hard for Ron. There have been many times when the players could have turned on him and they didn't, that says a great deal about Ron as a coach, and it tells me we have a team rather than 53 players. I'll take it.

[Hogmolliesmaht]

they addressed it a few times that it wasn't as much about being loyal to the vets as you can't throw the rookies in on day one. Give them a few weeks to get more adapted to the system.

 

​Yep, it's about developing players. To me, that's the biggest difference between the Fox era and the Rivera era. You have to develop your own draft picks and UDFA's to create quality depth. You can't expect your 4th and 5th round picks to always be ready right away, even if they do end up outplaying their draft status.

[t96]

There's really no way of measuring it, but I think Rivera has played a huge part in the development of our young defensive players. KK, Star, Luke, Ealy, Bene, Josh, Tre, Frank, Hardy before he left. Without Rivera, Luke may not be the top defender in the league. Without him as head coach, even with the same players, we would not have had a top 10 defense in 2013. And without him as head coach last year, we lose the last 4 games. He held the locker room together. And it's not entirely correct to say he's bad at in game adjustments. I'd agree that he's had some game management problems and use of timeouts and challenges, etc. But I really don't think there's much more you could ask for in a head coach. And as for the depth chart, anybody can sit here and complain and say why was Cason in or why was Godfrey in, but nobody that isn't watching the practices every day can say who should've been playing. I trust Rivera and his staff 100% on playing the best players.

[†William Moore†]

I hope Rivera stays on as long as possible. 

[KillerKat]

Shula is the bigger question mark. Should've been fired this offseason.

[MechaZain]

Rivera would really flourish with the right OC. His whole career has been rookie mistakes somehow and I just hope's past that

[Brothergrim427]

Rivera is adept at developing young players, and when he was hired stated that his coaching staff would be teachers as well. Gettleman is finding guys with potential, and rightly deserves much credit for that, but RR is getting them coached up to play. It's a symbiotic relationship that is creating a young talented team. Where he seems to fall short is in game strategic management, but I guess you can't have it all. In other words, for every Wilks, there is a Schula. 

[Frizzy350]

Clock management: 3 Critical game decisions: 5 Draft ability: 5 Eye for talent in the league: 8 Player development: 7 Leadership: 9