There Is No Book

[t96]

Amazing article about our head coach:

http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/ron-rivera-carolina-panthers/?ref=yfp

 

Quote

CHARLOTTE — Ron Rivera sat in on a positional meeting as he watched one of his Carolina Panthers assistant coaches dress down the players. The assistant had given his players a written exam to make sure they fully understood their assignments and the team’s gameplan. The players only filled out the parts of the test they thought applied to them.

“Where’s Page 4?” the coach asked one player. He shrugged.

“Where Page 1?” the coach asked another. It wasn’t done.

“You guys are starters!” the coach screamed. “And you didn’t even fill out the whole test. What kind of example does that set? You let your teammates down! You took the easy road!” He made other such points with the usual enthusiasm and vigor of an assistant football coach.

Rivera watched all this quietly. In moments like these, he can look more like a professor of poetry pondering Yeats than a football coach and one-time member of the Chicago Bears. Have you seen him on the sideline? Stoic. Placid. Rivera got up to leave, but the coach stopped him and asked if he had anything to add. Rivera paused as if considering something.

“Yeah, I’ve got something to say,” Rivera said, and then he looked at the players. “Let me tell you guys something. Last September, when we started, I showed you a picture of my house after the fire. You remember that? Let’s me tell you, a house fire, it’s traumatic. It impacts you. It changes you.

“You know what happens after a house fire? They bring in lawyers. They bring in the fire investigators. They bring in the police. And they all start questioning you. They ask about your personal finances. They ask if anybody is out to get you. They ask if you are out to get anybody. It’s personal. They break you down.

“Then we go inside the house. And I’m looking at the fireplace. I have a family nickname. My kids call me Mr. Safety. My whole life — and I get this from my father — before I go to bed, I check the house. That’s what I did before I went to bed that night. And, still, we had a house fire. So I’m looking at the fireplace, and a detective comes up to me and says, ‘I know what you’re thinking. And you need to stop thinking that. You could not have prevented this.’

“And then, do you know what he said to me? He looked around at my house, at all the damage. And he looked at me and said, ‘This happened because somebody did not do their job.”

And with that, Ron Rivera left the room.

 

 

[Sapper]

Damn fine read.

[arbnranger]

Awesome man !

[JawnyBlaze]

chills

[PhillyB]

legit chills.

[ickmule]

We have a great head coach and I hope everyone realizes it. I hope the players realize that and play their hearts out for him and each other and bring home a trophy. 

[Daeavorn]

Its a great time to be a panthers fan. We have a great coach and a great franchise QB. Fug yeah.

[heelinfine]

Damn that was deep.

[slail04]

Great Article thank you for sharing. I love Coach Rivera. I remember after that Buffalo Game how mad I was a Josh Norman for that touchdown and Rivera for not going for it the drive before. Im so happy with both now. We really have a good group of guys and a Great coach.

[the butch]

Now THAT is how you coach. It doesn't always have to be something from your past playing days. Or something you show that has happened to another team. Drawing parallels from life, and coaching that through so guys can apply the lesson on the field is truly what being a leader and motivator is about. Kudos, Ron!!

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

Jesus Christ the feels...

[Cary Kollins]

Great piece, great writer.

[Daddy_Uncle]

Damn Riverboat. We have the best coach in the NFL and hopefully he stays for a couple decades

[top dawg]

How far the Huddle has come from the days of torches and pitchforks when speaking of Rivera. 

What a lesson...