Ron Rivera has some advice for new coach Dave Canales — and for the Panthers’ fan base

Ron Rivera, the winningest head coach in the history of the Carolina Panthers, has some advice for new head coach Dave Canales.

But before we get to that, the coach also had a few words for the team’s fans.

“Be patient,” he said. “Ask them to be patient, like they were for me.”

Rivera, 62, coached the Panthers for nine seasons, won the NFC South three years in a row and led Carolina to the Super Bowl in 2015. He won 76 regular-season games as the Panthers’ head coach before getting fired in 2019 by owner David Tepper, who had bought the team the year before.

Rivera was replaced by Matt Rhule (11 wins as Carolina’s head coach) and Frank Reich (one win). But the Panthers didn’t have a winning season under Rivera until his third year, in 2013, when he first picked up the nickname “Riverboat Ron.” Neither Rhule nor Reich coached the Panthers long enough to pick up a nickname. Canales, of course, will want to have a tenure more like Rivera’s.

Oddly enough, Rivera was in Charlotte on Thursday when the Canales hiring was announced. Rivera just finished coaching the Washington Commanders for four years. It didn’t go as well in Washington overall as it had in Charlotte, and Rivera was fired on Jan. 8 after a 4-13 season. So he and his wife Stephanie have been traveling, and they were back in the Queen City this week to see some old friends.

In a 24-hour period in Charlotte, Rivera said in our phone interview Friday, he had visited with three of his greatest stars of the 2010s for the Panthers: Thomas Davis, Greg Olsen and Luke Kuechly.

An early mistake Rivera made

Rivera said he doesn’t know Canales well. But he’s bullish on what he’s heard about the 42-year-old Canales, who like Rivera is of Hispanic descent.

“I’ve met him a couple of times,” Rivera said, “because we played Seattle a couple of times (where Canales’ NFL career began). And I’ve seen him at the combine. He’s a good young coach and last year he got his first real opportunity as a play-caller in Tampa Bay. He’s on his way. Hopefully they’ll be able to put some veteran guys around him, to help him as he tries to navigate through the pitfalls of being a head coach in the league. ... You have to make sure you are surrounded by people that are going to help you. You want them to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.”

Rivera said one of the early errors he made as a first-time head coach at Carolina was that he didn’t find mentors quickly enough who had been head coaches in the NFL.

“That was one of the first mistakes I made,” Rivera said. “Honestly, my first two years I didn’t have a (former NFL head coach as a) mentor, somebody that when I needed some guidance or an opinion, would provide it. And thank goodness, working with Mr. (Jerry) Richardson, I was able to connect with John Madden, who really helped me a lot.”

Rivera said part of the way he connected with Charlotte was through community work and added that Canales would be smart to do the same.

“This is not just about a football team,” Rivera said. “It’s about the community. You need to make sure you help with that, and I’m sure he will. That’s so important. That’s how the fans get to know who you are, so then they can get behind you and support you.”

What will Rivera do next?

Rivera said his own next career steps aren’t certain after being let go in Washington, but that “it will be in football, that’s for darn sure.”

“There’s a couple of opportunities I have,” said Rivera, who will still be paid by the Commanders for the 2024 season because he had one year left on his guaranteed contract. “I’ve got a couple to stay in coaching. I’m going to meet at some point with network folks to see about doing some TV, if that’s a possibility. I’m not in a hurry. I’ve got time. So I can kind of take a little bit of a breath.”

OK, so Rivera might be on TV in 2024? In that case, I asked him, analyze rookie quarterback Bryce Young for me.

“I think he’s a very smart quarterback who makes good decisions — for the most part,” Rivera said. “Unfortunately for him, it was a tough first year. But other guys had tough first years and they came out the other side. I’m not saying he’s going to be a Troy Aikman or he’s going to be a Peyton Manning (both of whom had famously rocky rookie years in the NFL). But hopefully that young man can hang tough, keep working hard and be the player everybody envisioned.”

As for Canales, Rivera repeatedly preached patience on all fronts.

“You’re going to definitely take your lumps,” Rivera said. “But you’ll come out on the other end if you learn from them. I believe he will.”

And if Canales needs another former NFL head coach as a mentor — one with a deep knowledge of Charlotte, the Panthers’ traditions and how to get an NFL team to the playoffs four times in five years — Rivera had one last suggestion.

“Hell,” Rivera said, “if he wants some advice, tell him he’s free to give me a call. I’ll be happy to help.”