Carolina Panthers To Bring Back Ron Rivera

Ron Rivera will remain on as the Carolina Panthers head coach.

After days of speculation about just what the Carolina Panthers were going to do in regards to their head coaching position, a decision from management has finally been made.

The Panthers started out 2012 a disappointing 1-5 after an offseason of somewhat unwarranted hype due to the play of Cam Newton during his rookie year. The team fired general manager Marty Hurney after the poor start, and began to turn things around as the season went on. Carolina won its final four games of 2012 to finish 7-9 on the year, a one game improvement over 2011.

Rivera was kept due to his ability to get Newton to play well. He built a system around his star quarterback, and management felt that having a young, still maturing player learn a brand new system in just his third season wouldn’t be the best situation for the future of the franchise.

Rivera is now 13-19 in his first two years as Carolina head coach, and while he was kept to be the team’s head coach for 2013, another disappointing start to the season could see Rivera be handed his walking papers.

With Rivera being kept, changes to the coaching staff and roster are now expected to be planned out. It’s expected that most of the changes will be to the offensive line and secondary. The Panthers feel that they are on the verge of seriously competing for a playoff spot, and if they add the few pieces they need, 2013 could become the year of the cat.