‘Young man was special’: Former Panthers head coach says coaching ‘Superman’ was one of greatest moments in career
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera looked back at the historic season the Panthers had in 2015 on their way to Super Bowl 50. During that season, coach Rivera said how special number one was that season.
This year’s Carolina Panthers team is less than 24 hours away from hosting their first playoff game since 2017. The Panthers will host the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card Round on Saturday, Jan. 10, with kickoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m. from Bank of America Stadium. You can watch the full interview with coach Rivera in the video player above.
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The Panthers haven’t been back to the playoffs since Cam Newton was behind center and Rivera was still the head man in charge.
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Coach Rivera looked back at that historic run in 2015 that saw the Panthers go 15-1 in the regular season and earned Newton the Most Valuable Player award and the league’s offensive player of the year.
“He [Newton] was special, he really was,” coach Rivera said of Newton’s MVP season in 2015.
During the 2015 season coach Rivera also evolved into “Riverboat Ron” who took some chances on fourth down throughout the season.
“It was probably the next big step that allowed me to take this team to another level,” Rivera said. “That was learning two things, one is to trust my own instincts and gut feelings about things, and use my experience as a coach. I learned that from John Madden. And then the second thing was it showed trust in our players.”
The former Panthers head coach talked about his relationship with Newton and the growth he saw that season.
Rivera spoke about the first time the Panthers went for it on fourth and goal from that season and how that trust grew.
“I’ll remember the first time I went for it,4th and goal to go, and Cam ran a quarterback sneak and scored,” Rivera said. “He came off the field, handed me the ball, looked at me, and sincerely looked at me and said, Thank you for trusting me. I’ll never let you down.”
Rivera said that coaching Newton was one of the great moments of his coaching career and just how special “Superman” was that season.
“I’m telling you, he was one of the most, I mean, that was one of the great moments in my coaching career was to have a young man, you know, really appreciate that I gave him an opportunity to do his thing,” Rivera said. “And then he told me he wouldn’t let me down. He never did. I’m telling you, the young man was special.”
Newton threw for 3,837 yards and 35 touchdowns to go along with 636 yards rushing and 10 more touchdowns.
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