Ron Rivera spent nine seasons as head coach of the Carolina Panthers. He led Carolina to a Super Bowl appearance in 2015 and is the franchise’s all-time leader in wins.
Rivera’s time with the Panthers ended in Dec. 2019 after a loss to Bill Callahan and the Washington Football Team. Several weeks later, Rivera was Washington’s head coach.
While Carolina struggled on the field in 2019, a change in ownership was the primary reason Carolina dismissed Rivera and allowed him to get a head start for the 2020 NFL coaching carousel.
Naturally, there will be a lot of emotions for Rivera, returning to a place he not only coached for nine years but was an integral part of the community. Rivera has spoken of his admiration for the city of Charlotte multiple times since taking over as Washington’s head coach.
On Wednesday, he was adamant he’s not bitter with the Panthers.
“There’s no reason to be bitter,” Rivera said, per Ethan Cadeaux of NBC Sports Washington.
“I went and did the best I could, and when it was time to move on, [Panthers new owner] David Tepper treated me with tremendous dignity and respect,” Rivera continued. “He really did. He gave me an opportunity to say goodbye, and I really appreciated that.”
It’s rare for a coach to spend nine seasons in one place in this day and age, and that’s one reason why Rivera is so appreciative of his time with the Panthers.
“For a coach to be in one place for a long time, for that many years, for nine seasons, that basically speaks to having roots,” Rivera said.
While Rivera is happy to return to Charlotte, he understands this is about business — and that business is winning the football game.
To be back in Charlotte, that’ll be probably the bigger thing more than anything else for me. The thing that I really appreciated about my time, more so there than anything else, were the people, and that’s probably the bigger thing. What I’m doing is I’m limiting my exposure to that. Stephanie will do all the visiting and saying hello to folks. Me, I’m pretty much going to try and stick to the mantra of this is a business trip.
This weekend’s game will be an important one as it relates to the NFC playoff picture. The Panthers (5-5) and Washington (3-6) remain firmly in the mix of the NFC wild-card picture.