Rivera, whose Chargers defense allowed the fewest yards in the NFL this past season, was in Carolina on Monday. He dined with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson on Monday night, a meeting that was a formality as Rivera will finally have his first head coaching gig after previously interviewing for eight jobs in the past six years.
Rivera leaving, of course, creates an opening in San Diego, which could be filled by a former Marty Schottenheimer assistant.
Rivera, who joined the Chargers staff as a linebackers coach in 2007 and was named defensive coordinator midway through the ’08 season, will be missed by his players.
“Ask any defensive player, we’re all definitely excited for him,” safety Eric Weddle said. “He’s been waiting in the wings for a while, waiting for his opportunity. We think he’s an unbelievable coach, an unbelievable human being, a guy who does things right. Obviously, we’re going to miss him.”
“From the day he stepped on the team he brought a standard to be great — not just to be good. … For him to have that same focus, same thing day in and day out, making us be accountable for mistakes and striving to be great … he saw greatness in us. By him believing in us, the way we played and the more he preached to us, the more we thought we could be great. The results speak for themselves. We ended being one of the better defenses in the league.”
Norv Turner is expected to consider current assistants such as linebackers coach John Pagano and secondary coach Steve Wilks to replace Rivera. But the Chargers will also look at outside candidates, including San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Greg Manusky.
The team will stick with the 3-4 defense, and Manusky spent the 2002-06 seasons as the Chargers linebackers coach, making the transition to the 3-4 with Wade Phillips in 2004.
The Chargers are not expected to allow any of their assistants to leave with Rivera — except possibly tight ends coach Rob Chudzinski.
Chudzinski’s contract is up, and he has been mentioned as a possibility to be the new offensive coordinator in Carolina. More certain is that he will interview with the Miami Dolphins for their coordinator position. The Dolphins asked for and were granted permission to speak with Chudzinski on Monday. Chudzinski, who has been here two seasons, also carries the title of assistant head coach. He was previously the offensive coordinator in Cleveland.
The rest of the Chargers coaches except special teams coordinator Steve Crosby, who was let go last week, agreed to extensions last offseason.
Rivera, who turned 49 on Friday, is one of four NFL defensive coordinators the Panthers interviewed last week and the only one to have a second interview.
Rivera had in recent days put out feelers around the league in an effort to assemble a staff as he closed in on the Carolina job. How much say Rivera will have in hiring an offensive coordinator is not known, but Ron Turner, the brother of Norv Turner, is under consideration.
Congratulations coach Rivera, it's about time....
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Nice read...
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