Associated Press
CHARLOTTE ó Ron Rivera is not accustomed to losing.
In his last 11 seasons as an NFL assistant coach, Rivera’s teams have finished with winning records 10 times and been to the playoffs nine times.
So a 2-8 record is foreign territory for the Panthers new head coach.
Rivera said “losing, and losing the way we have, is tough.” The Panthers have lost several close games and Rivera said, “People struggle with it. I struggle with it.”
And his players have noticed.
“I can tell it’s eating at him,” said wide receiver Steve Smith. “Just in the things he says. He’s frank. He’s straight. But he’s also giving guys nuggets to understand that hey, this isn’t the norm. This isn’t something you need to accept. I respect that and I think that’s a nice change of pace.”
Rivera knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
He inherited a team that finished an NFL-worst 2-14 last season.
Losing 12 players to season-ending injuries hasn’t helped matters. Neither has the extended NFL lockout, which robbed his young team of 24 offseason practices and numerous hours of meeting room time which could have been devoted to learning the new offensive and defensive schemes.
“I knew what I was getting into,” Rivera said. “I knew this was going to be hard. I didn’t come in with rose-colored glasses and say, hey, we’re going to be 7-3. I would love to be that. I think we have the players that can be like that. But we have a lot to learn.”
Rivera said the toughest thing has been maintaining his composure.
He’s a perfectionist, so when he sees a third-year player lose leverage on a block or a defensive back that’s out of place on a big pass play it drives him crazy.
“There are obviously moments where I’ve expressed my displeasure and frustration with it,” Rivera said. “But the truth of the matter is if I take this learning experience and grow from it then it’s not lost a season.”
And that’s what Rivera’s focus is right now.
He wants this team to finish strong and carry some momentum into next season. He wants there to be some excitement when players return in 2012 knowing the future in Carolina is positive.
“We’ve got six weeks left and I don’t want to say this is a rebuilding portion of it, but we have six weeks left and can impact what’s going to happen in the future,” Rivera said.
That starts this week when the Panthers face the hapless Indianapolis Colts, who are 0-10 on the season.
Like Rivera, Newton has a strong history of winning, earning national championships at Blinn Junior College and Auburn.
“I was teasing with coach Rivera today and said, ‘How do you make a lion a house pet?’ You don’t do it,” Newton said. “That lion is never going to get used to being a house pet. And that’s the way I feel. I’ve never lost as much as I have this year and I’m not going to get used to this feeling. I won’t.”
Newton raised the expectation level early on for the Panthers.
He did it by throwing for 422 yards against Arizona Cardinals in the season opener and nearly leading his team to an upset in Week 2 against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers.
While the bar might have been set a little high, Rivera said he didn’t mind.
“Nope, because we are good enough,” Rivera said.
Rivera has his guy moving forward in Newton.
Now he knows the Panthers have to fill in the pieces around him.
The core of the team is under contract and it’s now a matter of getting guys healthy for next year.