As Ron Rivera’s tenure seems to be near a bitter end, here are five candidates to be the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers.
The shine of “Riverboat Ron” is all gone. With a 29-3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11, the Carolina Panthers are now 5-5 this season. From an 0-2 start to a four-game winning streak to now three losses in four games as they’ve been outscored 124-62 over that span, the job security of head coach Ron Rivera has become a real question.
Panthers owner David Tepper spoke to reporters about the future of quarterback Cam Newton on Monday, saying nothing can be decided until the 2015 NFL MVP is fully healed from a foot injury. He would not specifically address the futures of Rivera and general manager Marty Hurney, with that as a stipulation of said chat with the media. Tepper did repeatedly say he won’t accept long-term mediocrity, which seems to have said it all about any looming change in Carolina’s football operation.
Due to Newton’s shoulder injury, which eventually led to him being shut down for the final two games, Rivera got a mulligan last year as a 6-2 start faded to a 7-9 finish.
As noted by ESPN Panthers’ beat writer David Newton, the Panthers are 7-14 against their division opponents since the start of the 2016 season. Over the previous three seasons, they were 14-4 against their NFC South rivals.
With the complete season series against the New Orleans Saints coming, along with the rematch against the Falcons, Carolina still largely holds their divisional and playoff fate in their hands. Rivera was sure to note that.
A split of their final six games would yield the definition of mediocrity for the Panthers this season, an 8-8 record. But along with two games against the Saints, they’ll also have tough games against the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts.
Two rough seasons is hardly the long-term mediocrity Tepper has said he won’t accept. But barring winning at least four of their final six games, the Panthers will have six below-.500 seasons in nine under Rivera. He can’t live on the 15-1 2015 campaign, which ended with a Super Bowl appearance, forever and his time seems to be winding down.
Assuming a change is coming, here are five candidates to be the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers.
5. Kevin Stefanski, Vikings Offensive Coordinator
Stefanski replaced the ill-fitting John DeFilipo as Vikings’ offensive coordinator on an interim basis late in the 2018 season, then was elevated to the permanent post for 2019. The influence of Gary Kubiak coming aboard as an offensive assistant has been clear, which makes it difficult to determine credit for how good Minnesota’s offense has been lately as Kirk Cousins is playing at a near-MVP level since the calendar flipped to October.
Stefanski interviewed with the Cleveland Browns last year, and he is sure to surface as a head coaching candidate again after this season. He has been an assistant coach for the Vikings going back to when Brad Childress became the head coach in 2006, so a move to leave may be difficult on some level. But as the cliche goes there are only 32 NFL head coaching jobs, and the Panthers are in line to open one up for someone.