Ron Rivera found himself in a somewhat awkward situation when his first training camp as head coach of the Panthers came to a close last month.
It certainly was a position he’d never been in before. He was ready to inform Cam Newton he would be the starting quarterback and then deliver the news to his team, but the No. 1 overall pick was coming off a rough stretch.
“He had a terrible day at practice,” Rivera said. “I mean a terrible day. He was really pissed off at himself and he kind of clammed up. We went into his dorm room after curfew and we spent about an hour talking about it, what was frustrating, and that it’s hard.
“The thing that really seemed to bother him the most, he said to me, ‘Coach, when I get on that field, I don’t want to let anybody down. I don’t want to let Jordan Gross down, I don’t want to let DeAngelo Williams or Steve Smith or Greg Olsen or Jeremy Shockey down. Those guys are looking to me.’ I said, ‘I haven’t made the announcement. I could hold it off for a while.’ He goes, ‘Oh no, oh no. I wanna start now.’
“There’s something special about him, and hopefully he continues to grow that way. We drafted the kid believing he was going to be great and figuring he could handle the big situations, the pressure situation. Am I surprised he’s doing this? No. What surprises me is the magnitude of the success that he is having.”
It’s all coming as quickly to Newton as it is for Rivera. The Panthers have placed the development of Newton in the hands of offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, who came over from San Diego with Rivera. Chudzinski turned down the chance to interview for the Bears job that went to Mike Martz in 2010.
The Panthers (1-2) are preparing to visit Soldier Field on Sunday with Newton third in the NFL with 1,012 passing yards, putting him on pace for 5,397. The team got its first victory Sunday when with 4 minutes, 20 seconds to play Newton threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to former Bears tight end Olsen to topple the Jaguars 16-10.
There are plenty of Bears ties in this game, and they start with Rivera, who was a second-round pick by the Bears in 1984 and served as Lovie Smith’s defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2006 before he was abruptly run off after Super Bowl XLI.
“It will be a great moment without a doubt in my mind,” Rivera said. “Chicago has been very good to me. The fans have been outstanding and the organization has been wonderful. I am excited. It’s a big game for me personally. Deep down inside, I would love to win. As Coach Smith always says, when you play a team like this, it’s like you’re playing your brother. You want to beat your brother. You don’t want to hurt ’em, you want to beat ’em and let ’em know who’s boss.”
Smith wasn’t as nostalgic about the reunion.
“We’re excited about getting an opportunity to play the Carolina Panthers,” Smith said. “I don’t think Ron is going to be out there playing, but his football team is doing a heck of a job. I know the record is the same as our record right now, but it should be a heck of a football game we both need to win.”
