Wednesday, January 12, 2011

On Rivera, Henderson and an interesting day

Radio stations are often doing "two-fer" Tuesdays, playing two songs by one artist in a row. I had my own small version of that Tuesday, writing live columns on the Bobcats' Gerald Henderson and new Panthers coach Ron Rivera.

The day began with Henderson -- I was planning on writing about his recent surge anyway. I went to the Charlotte Bobcats' practice Tuesday and talked to the former Duke star, along with new Bobcats coach Paul Silas and teammate Gerald Wallace. Silas already trusts Henderson more than Larry Brown ever did, and you can see that evidence on-court.

That was going to be my only column of the day until the Panthers finalized the deal with Rivera, who impressed me with the intensity he exuded at his 5 p.m. news conference. I hurried to finish up the Henderson story, then bolted over to that news conference (which was a lot bigger success than Jerry Richardson's rambling but informative discourse the week before).

Here's one thing Rivera said that I didn't get into my column about him but that I liked:

"I really firmly believe that you are a role model… You’ve got to carry a bit of responsibility. That’s what we are going to ask of our players, when they are out in this community, that they carry themselves the way Carolina Panthers should carry themselves."

That, to me, sounds like a coach who's not going to brook a lot of nonsense when his players misbehave. The Panthers have been good at taking this approach anyway -- i.e. Dwayne Jarrett being released after his second DWI -- but it's good to see it's going to continue.

I think Rivera can scare a few players into better work habits, and that's definitely needed on a team that went 2-14 in 2010.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am more concerned with how long before they will cut Jimmy Clausen.

This guy has single-handedly ripped the life from our offense.

Anonymous said...

Hold on there Bucky! No one single handedly destroyed our offense. It was a group effort...or lack there of. Linemen not blocking, receivers dropping passes, and yes quarterbacks making bad reads and even worse throws. I agree we need a new QB but the blame is not his alone and the others should have to face the music also.

Joseph3LC said...

Doesn't it only make sense that the Panthers approach ANDREW LUCK and offer him the opportunity to pick an offensive coordinator who Andrew would like to work with in hopes that he will change his mind and go pro ???? Best case scenario Luck picks a coordinator and becomes a Panthers.....Worst case scenario Luck gratefully declines and heads back to get his degree

Anonymous said...

joseph3lc.

That might be the dumbest ting I've ever heard. Lets have a 19 or 20 yr old kid pick our offensive coordinator. Lets build our entire O around an unproven college talent who just grew his first hair on his sack. He's good yes. But he isn't coming out this year. Don't worry though; We might still be able to get him next year with the first or second pick. I hope not, but there is a lot of work to be done here.

Anonymous said...

Listen, anyone who thinks ANYTHING is a quick fix just doesn't really have a clue.

Anonymous said...

Panthers Have Their New Head Coach:

The Panthers announced the hiring of former Bears and Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera to be their new head coach. Rivera a former player as well, has long been rumored as a head coaching candidate and has shown the ability to employ both the 4-3 and 3-4 defenses. Rivera has already announced that the 4-3 will be his main defense, but they will have 3-4 packages, and will be an aggressive overall unit. Defense though was the least of the Panthers issues, as their offense was worst in the league. The expectation is that Rivera will bring in a top offensive coordinator, that should help balance his defensive tendencies. I do expect a big improvement from the Carolina defense, as well an overall improvement as they should be more disciplined going forward. It won’t be an easy task, as top running back DeAngelo Williams is a free agent, and the Panthers are without a 2nd round pick. I don’t see any ‘worst to first’ stories coming out of Carolina this year, but I could see 6 or 7 wins, and a more competitive team overall.

To read the rest of Fanspeak's Morning Links check out: http://fanspeak.com/steveospeak/2011/01/12/morning-links-37/ (and join Fanspeak.com!)

Anonymous said...

great idea 3LC. hand the keys to a 19 year old. have you thought that he wants nothing to do with the panthers, thus he stayed another year in college to avoid this team?

Anonymous said...

good idea joseph3. maybe luck can sell some of his memorabilia on the way out the door too. not only will he not come, he will lose his eligibility and the panthers will lose draft picks.

James said...

Joseph3LC is the dummest person i ever did see. Damn yo. We canst do that.

Anonymous said...

forget luck.....what else does cam newton have to do to get your attention? the heisman? national championship? he will mean instant offense,he will spark steve smith to play again, he will instantly sell tickets,he is bigger,faster and just as accurate as luck....and we need to groom armanti edwards. what happened to the wildcat offense here? oh yeah we dont have the qb's to run it.....get newton and watch how our offense gains more life and options...instead of running on first and second down..how predictable.

Anonymous said...

I tired of you peopel aways talking about why cam newtons ain good enoff to plays here for charlote heisbest qback in colege . he won the highsmen you know. - and this new cat won even give armani a chanse to be what he can be -

its like you peopel jus made up yor minds aint no african amercan gon get the chanse

Anonymous said...

Jimmy Clausen cannot play here anymore. Maybe it wasnt all his fault. But I just cant figure out who to blame for all his bobbled snaps, passes hitting the backs of linemen's heads,taking sacks on 4th down, checkdowns, out of bound chucking and massively stupid looks and big flat head on......

Anonymous said...

Yeah -- Even Jimmy knows that EVERY time he takes the field, ALL Panther fans will be thinking about what might have been, if Luck had come out..........

The moron is done here.

Kenneth said...

There are a lot of you who are simply looney toons. If Andrew Luck tuned you down this year why do you think that you won't have a situation similar to Eli Manning's or Luck's mentor John Elway's where he refuses to come here next year should the Panthers be in a position to draft him again? It's time to move on. The guy and his dad tried to let you down easy, and you are dumb enough to beleive that going back to school is more important than becoming a multi-millionaire. This is a very smart kid if he really wanted to come here it wouldn't take him any time to complete his degree later. You have to accept that everyone on the outside doesn't veiw coming to Charlotte the way that you do.

Anonymous said...

You don't need a quarterback to run the wildcat.And to the guy writing, pretending to be black,just stop. Not because it is racist, but solely because it is completely void of humor.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Just so you know if Luck came out he would still have 2 years left for his degree. Who comes out two years early? When and if he decides to come out next year he still would have a year left of school. The kid is not going for some little associates degree.

Will said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mark Jones said...

The hiring of a new coach is great, but what is the big cat going to do to replace the talent HE shed from this team? They talk about how after the last coaching change we were in the super bowl in two years but there was alot of talent that was left behind, I don't think we can say the same this time around, to many poor trades that left us needing darft picks and not having them. Could be a few long years even if they start making decisions that turn out good. The draft won't be the only this team need to look to get where they want to be. Why would J.R. be unwilling to eat the 11 million on this staff if he thought they were the problem when he would decide to pay Peppers when it was evident he would not play hard for it? When he shed all that money last year that gave him the money to cover it, who needs a calculater to figure that out, just to listen to his own reasoning he sabataged his own business to prove a point to a employee he had every intention of getting rid of anyway!!! makes no sense at all to me. even Al Davis would not have done that.

Anonymous said...

Has Jimmy Clausen been cut yet? -- Its been 24 hours now -- Come on Rivera!! You're slipping!!

Anonymous said...

Newsflash. Daddy is forcing Cam to stay in school and not enter the draft believing his education and degree are much more important than the 50 million he demands and besides Auburn will pay him more than the NFL for his final year.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand something--how can some we watch the inept performance by Jake Delhomme for what 9 years and then we throw Clausen into service after 3 games. How can we put the blame for the poor offensive showing wholly on his back? Look at the number of dbacks in the backfield. I firmly believe the talent is there but the coaches have not proven to me that they knew how to coach it.

Anonymous said...

Jake Delhomne record with CP:

2003 11-5
2004 7-9
2005 11-5
2006 8-8
2007 7-9
2008 12-4
2009 7-6

won 63
lost 46

Inept?

John said...

The Heisman is no indicator of a good QB. You can ask any of the following Danny Wuerffel, Eric Crouch, Pat Sullivan, Gino Torretta and the list goes on. Add to that he is a spread offense QB and you have not a good fit.

John said...

BTW I have to ask what talent exactly did we shed? The only one I have heard anything truly positive about this season is Peppers and really Johnson outplayed him.

Kenneth said...

Anonymous 2:53 pm,

I guess the other guy that said that Delhomme was inept thought that your numbers and comment weren't worthy of another reply. But I do. I'll beat this dead horse until it's finally buried. Delhomme sucked period. We had some good years in spite of him. Not because of him. Check the defensive and running game stats for those seasons with winning records. When those things were good the Panthers won. When those things weren't they lost. Delhomme was consitently inept.

Anonymous said...

All the best to Rivera and his camp next year with the Panthers. I hope he gets a good O-coordinator to offset his expertise, because a good offensive strategem is what Carolina has always needed, and a good defense is what sets the stage for an offense's opportunity. I think Jerry Richardson knows this and has been looking for the guy who can put that together. Aside from this is the underlying issue of race. People tend to clump everyone who speaks Spanish into one race group but within the spanish speaking world there are vast differences in culture. This move will no doubt bring more latinos to the lovely kindhearted and sweet NC area, but to what consequence? I went to college in California and I must say that the reality of that type of atmosphere leaves much to be desired and the last thing I want for my home state to become. For the most part what ive seen is storm clouds that offer no rain, and for every decent honest up Ron and Stephanie Rivera there are 14 people who are just as comfortable shooting your behind in the head while your out snowboarding. And after a while that's what you will become. They got a serious mind game and an Agenda. From Inez Sainz to this. Don't let NC get strip mined!

Anonymous said...

Delhomne was run off with a winning record against Foxes wishes. Worth it?
2-14? Who gets the blame? Whiny fans & Sorensen led the charge amd wrong saying Fox wouldnt get hired in Denver.

Compare Jakes record with the 2010 record of 2-14. A 1st grader can fig that out and why they ended up worse in the NFL and that includes the defense.

Fox will do good in Denver immed. Dont expect any miracles from rookie HC Rivera. It will take a couple yrs to get back on track and has the same exact problems as Fox.

Prepare for another 2-14 season and maybe 0-16. Luck will avail in 2012 though to save the day.