Andy Reid, Bill Belichick provide road map for Ron Rivera in second stop

Inside the Carolina Panthers’ locker room, there was a Nerf basketball hoop. Players would play each other in P-I-G, even holding tournaments during training camp. One day, as his team was getting ready for practice, Ron Rivera walked in. Wearing a headband and long black socks, the coach called out cornerback Captain Munnerlyn.

Game on.

With the whole team watching and phones out to record it, Rivera relied on his height advantage of several inches to outwork the 5-foot-9 veteran. The coach bounced the Nerf ball off his head and into the hoop.

“He beat me, man,” Munnerlyn said.

Over his nine years in Carolina, Rivera developed a reputation as a coach who came up with creative ways to bond with players. Rivera demanded excellence — the Panthers had three division titles, four postseason berths and one Super Bowl appearance during Rivera’s tenure — but his old-school approach was leavened with a welcoming personality that former players say inspired them to give their all.

He’ll have to do the same in Washington, where — after months of turmoil — Rivera finally gets to coach his first game with his new team Sunday when Washington opens the season against the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Rivera was hired to turn things around, but both the coach and the franchise have been buffeted by unexpected challenges in the offseason. There was the name change. Then the sexual harassment allegations that rocked the team’s workplace. Then came what may be Rivera’s biggest battle: A cancer diagnosis that will test the coach’s resolve in the months ahead. 

But Rivera wanted to lead Washington. Owner Dan Snyder promised Rivera a “coach-centered approach,” pointing to New England, Seattle and Kansas City — all NFL teams where the coach’s vision and voice is synonymous with the franchise. 

It’s why Rivera didn’t take a year off after being fired from Carolina in December, and why he wasn’t interested in coaching vacancies like Dallas and New York.

This is Rivera’s second chance at the helm. And he said he believes coaches are better suited for the second time around.

“I don’t have all the answers,” Rivera said. “But, I’ve learned a lot. I like to believe the things that we’re trying to do and trying to implement, the way we’re trying to structure the organization as far as football’s concerned, how we run things on football, how we do things on football.”

Rivera used Andy Reid as an example. After spending 14 years in Philadelphia, Reid finally won his first Super Bowl this past season in Kansas City. Reid found a superstar quarterback in Patrick Mahomes, but even before Mahomes’ ascendance, Reid had implemented a winning culture with the Chiefs. Entering his eigth season in Kansas City — just his third with Mahomes as starter — Reid now has a better winning percentage there (.688) than he did in Philadelphia (.538).

Rivera and Reid know each other well. After all, Rivera falls under Reid’s coaching tree as Reid hired him to coach linebackers in 1999 — Rivera’s first job as a position coach in the NFL (he had previously served two years as a quality coach for the Bears). Reid saw Rivera, who had played nine seasons as a linebacker, as a natural fit.

Reid said that Rivera has a “beautiful mind” and is a good teacher.

“Listen, sometimes change is good for both sides,” Reid said at the NFL scouting combine. “I think Carolina has gotten themselves a nice head coach there who I think is very talented and Washington has brought themselves in a guy that I know is talented there. Sometimes it’s a little bit a recharge and here you go.”

The gold standard for second-time coaches is Bill Belichick, who has built a dynasty in New England over the last 20 years after a rough first-go-around with the Cleveland Browns. In Cleveland, Belichick alienated players, ownership and fans as he went just 36-44 in five seasons with his no-nonsense approach. But his coaching style worked in New England, where Belichick has won six Super Bowls and more than 200 games.

Not every recycled coach has success at his new stop. Last decade, there were 16 coaches who were hired for their second opportunity — and of those, only four (Reid, Jack Del Rio, Gary Kubiak and Rex Ryan) had a better winning percentage their second time.

Even then, that’s not a perfect indication on how one will do: Ryan, for instance, had a higher winning percentage with the Buffalo Bills, but he was fired after two seasons for not making the playoffs, whereas he made the postseason twice in New York. It also doesn’t include successful second-time coaches who were hired before 2010 like Belichick and former Giants coach Tom Coughlin.

Washington, meanwhile, has gone the recycled route before — with little success. Mike Shanahan, in his third stop from Oakland and Denver, wasn’t the savior he was advertised as and after a messy clash with Snyder, he was fired after his fourth season. Marty Schottenheimer, too, was a winner in Cleveland and Kansas City before lasting one 8-8 season with Washington in 2001 (also feuding with Snyder).

But Rivera is confident in his vision. He has learned to adapt over the years, learning from his mistakes. In Carolina, he notably became less conservative in close-yardage situations — leading to the nickname “Riverboat Ron.”

This time with Washington, Rivera finds himself delegating tasks more than he used to in Carolina. Part of that is out of necessity — cancer treatments resulted in a “tough day” on Tuesday, he said — but he said it’s also a credit to his assistants and the players around him. Rivera’s staff is filled with ties to his Carolina days as 12 of the 20 coaches coached with Rivera before.

For his approach to players, Rivera thinks back to how Bears coach Mike Ditka was. Ditka, who was Rivera’s only head coach in the pros, would always tell his players that he wouldn’t ask them to do anything he would never do.

Rivera, though, realized the high standard Ditka was actually setting: The mustached-coach was a Hall of Fame tight end.

Rivera has his own standards.

“I’ve played on a championship team,” Rivera said. “I know what it takes to get to the top. I’ve been very close two other times, but we didn’t get to the top. So, when it comes to it, when it comes to that peak, I’m going to draw on my experience as a player and see if that helps.”