Redskins: Indicators for success under head coach Ron Rivera
By Tim Meek
Common sentiment from past players and NFL community
It’s normal for a recently fired coach to have a couple players speak out with their dejection of the former coach. Not with coach Rivera. It was quite the opposite.
Here are just a few examples:
“This is as bad a day I’ve been a part of in the NFL,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “To have him come say his goodbye after nine years of a lot of great moments we shared together, football and non-football related, is terrible.
Alaina Getzenberg of the Charlotte Observer: “Ron means a lot to a lot of guys in here for a lot of things outside of football. The biggest thing you hear from guys today, current players, former players, guys who played for him at different organizations, I think the biggest consistent narrative is how much he meant to guys, aside from just the fact that he was their football coach. I think Ron hopefully walked out of here with his head held high that he impacted a lot of people’s lives. You’re never going to find a person that’s come across him that’s going to say one negative thing about him. And that’s rare in this world.”
“Last night, I was texting with (Rivera) and I just ended up scrolling through some of my text messages,” Olsen said. “At the top, some of the first 20 texts I ever got from him back in 2012, not one had to do with anything other than asking how my family was doing. ‘Don’t rush back, take care of your family, be there for Kara, be there for your kids, be here when you have to, no rush.’ I mean I can go down the list. Days and days and days of him not caring one thing about me as a football player, not asking me when I’d be back, just asking about me as a dad, as a person, and that stayed true for nine years.”
Recently retired Luke Kuechly, former linebacker of the Carolina Panthers, sought out advice from Ron Rivera before announcing his retirement from football.
The legendary Joe Gibbs was a huge proponent of the hiring of Ron Rivera. That should speak volumes to the Redskins fan base.
The Panthers were 5-7 when they fired coach Rivera. They lost five of those games by one score or less. They played all these games without their starting quarterback. The Panthers went on to lose their final four games and were outscored 150-80, with 20-plus point differentials in three of the final four games.