Is Ron Rivera officially on the coaching hot seat?
By Josh Hill
The Carolina Panthers are 1-5 and in the NFC South basement, which has some wondering if Ron Rivera is officially on the hot seat.
After making it to the Super Bowl last year and shocking the world into sort of respecting them, the Carolina Panthers have come crashing back to Earth. The team is 1-5 through the first six weeks of the season and are heading into their bye week licking their wounds.
Things don’t appear to be getting any easier for the Panthers either, as out of the bye week they’ll get games against the Cardinals, Rams, Chiefs and Saints. At best, Carolina can expect to go 202 in that stretch and arrive at the final stretch of the season with a 3-7 record. That’s not insurmountable but it seems that the defending NFC Champions will defend no longer when the postseason begins.
All of this means we’re going to need someone to answer for this atrocious season. Everyone is blaming Cam Newton for being the problem this season but he’s not going to lose his job over this bad season. Ron Rivera’s story is a bit different, and there are now murmurs that his job could deb in danger.
It’s all speculative, but the Panthers look like a shell of the team that went to the Super Bowl last year. The onus of that falls on the shoulders of Rivera, a guy who not many gave credit for the team’s success in there first place.
Is Ron Rivera In Danger of Being Fired?
No. I mean — just, no.
Look, the Panthers are not a good football team this year. They have an offense that doesn’t kick into any sort of gear until the third quarter and a defense that couldn’t look more fraudulent than it does. Josh Norman was not the linchpin of this team in 2015 and his absence can’t be blamed for the total breakdown this defensive unit has suffered.
That’s where the questioning of Rivera’s leadership comes into play — but let’s calm down about that. At least for now.
If the Panthers are going to move on from Rivera, it won’t be until after 2017. You don’t fire a coach during a Super Bowl hangover season. Not even one who was sort of skimming along before actually making it to the Super Bowl.
To be fair, it’s also not unfathomable that the Panthers could move on from Rivera at the end of the year. This is a team with a franchise quarterback and the tools to be an elite defense. As has been the case for Rivera’s entire tenure, this team seems on the cusp of being consistently dangerous, and it might be that he’s the thing holding them back.
Let’s also not forget that Cam Newton is a human wrecking ball repeatedly slamming himself into a brick wall. You have to wonder if a different coach might be able to reel Cam in and keep him healthy.
A coaching change will happen if this losing continues but don’t expect one anytime soon. Rivera’s seat is warming up but it’s far from hot enough to warrant a trip to Kinko’s to print out his resume.