JT: Rivera was almost Rams head coach in 06

‘Riverboat Ron’ nearly dropped anchor in St. Louis

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/article_c7d28fed-604c-5060-b90e-cd70cea6650a.html#.VrGcjdAHpZw.twitter

Ron Rivera was so close to becoming the Rams’ coach in 2006, he was in the on-deck circle.

If owner Georgia Frontiere hadn’t hit it off with Scott Linehan in what amounted to a final interview in Sedona, Ariz., that January, Rivera would’ve been Mike Martz’s successor in St. Louis. He was, in fact, scheduled to come in the next day.

“He was a finalist,” long-time team president John Shaw recalled Tuesday in a phone interview. “I remember his interview was very impressive. He was sincere, down-to-earth, but we also knew he would bring a toughness to the team.”

It was an interesting and wide-ranging candidate list, one that included Gregg Williams (now the Rams’ defensive coordinator), Mike Zimmer (now the Minnesota Vikings’ coach), and Cam Cameron (now offensive coordinator at Louisiana State University), among others.

In the midst of preparing his Carolina Panthers for the Super Bowl game on Sunday against Denver, Rivera was asked about the job that almost was in St. Louis.

“I thought the interview process was good,” Rivera said. “I thought it was very fair. I liked the opportunity they gave. At the end of the day they decided to go with an offensive coach.

“That was their decision, I think at the time they felt they wanted to try and emulate what they had previously with the ‘Greatest Show on Turf.’ That was an explosive offense.”

Rivera’s recollection was spot-on. Martz’s highly-successful but at times tumultuous tenure with the Rams came to an abrupt end following the 2005 campaign — a season in which Martz missed the final 11 games because of illness.

But the Rams were just one year removed from the playoffs, and several of the “Greatest Show” mainstays still were around.

“We wanted to keep some continuity going on offense, with that side of the ball,” Shaw said. “We still had Isaac (Bruce) and Torry (Holt) and Orlando (Pace). Marc Bulger had replaced Kurt (Warner) at quarterback, but we just thought it would be easier to find an offensive-minded head coach and get a good defensive coordinator.”

Rather than the other way around. That was the nature of the available talent pool at the time.

So they went with Linehan, who hit it off with Frontiere at that meeting in part because he had brought with him a copy of the movie “Miracle” about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. They watched it in Sedona the night Linehan was hired.

Rivera, only 44 at the time, had just two years’ experience as defensive coordinator of Lovie Smith’s Chicago Bears. Seasoning, or lack thereof, might have been a worry for Shaw and fellow team president Jay Zygmunt.

“That was a little bit of concern with all three of them,” Shaw said, referring to finalists Linehan, Rivera, and bronze medalist Cameron.

“Well, back then I thought I was ready,” said Rivera, who turned 54 last month. “In retrospect, when you look back at it, I’ve grown a lot. I’ve grown a lot on this job so I might not have been ready looking at it now — from this perspective.”

An Army brat born in Fort Ord, Calif., Rivera also lived in Germany, Panama, Washington, D.C., and Maryland growing up before returning to Seaside, Calif. — about 70 miles south of Levi’s Stadium, where Super Bowl 50 will be played.

After the near-miss with the Rams, he would have to wait four more years until he finally got that head-coaching job — succeeding John Fox with the Panthers in 2011.

“He’s done a great job with Carolina, hasn’t he?” Shaw asked.

For sure. After a 13-19 start in his first two years on the job, Rivera’s Panthers have won three consecutive NFC South titles and arrived in the Bay Area this week with a 17-1 record after bullying NFC West heavyweights Seattle and Arizona in the playoffs.

Once criticized for his conservative ways, Rivera has grown into the job to the point that he picked up the nickname “Riverboat Ron” in 2013, his breakout 12-4 season.

In his first 34 games in Carolina, the Panthers were 2-14 in games decided by fewer than seven points. But early in that ’13 season, Rivera started taking more chances and going for it more often on fourth down. And the wins started piling up.

“Even in just the three years that I’ve been here, he’s a better coach every year,” Panthers special teams coordinator Bruce DeHaven said. “He’s like a better coach every week. He’s not satisfied with the status quo.”

Rivera seems to be respected on several levels by his players. They like the fact that he played in the league (nine seasons at linebacker for Chicago), and won a Super Bowl (30 years ago with coach Mike Ditka’s Bears).

“It’s special because he’s been there, done that,” safety Tre Boston said. “He’s played in the league and knows what it takes as a player and a coach to get to this level. … He knows what’s it’s like to have two-a-days, to be hurt and have to play.”

So Rivera knows how to deal with players over the course of the long, grinding NFL season.

On another level, lots of coaches talk about having an open-door policy for players. But Rivera goes beyond that. He takes the time to get out from behind his desk and spend time with the players in the locker room.

Although he’s anything but a floor mat for the players, he doesn’t try to suppress their personality in the control-freak fashion that typifies some NFL coaches.

“He’s been so transparent for us as players,” quarterback Cam Newton said. “He’s always made himself available not only for the coaches and the players but for anyone family-oriented in the organization.”

He’s also 50-34-1 since taking over the Panthers in 2011. Meanwhile, the Rams are 29-50-1 over that span. Who knows what might have been had Riverboat Ron dropped anchor under the Gateway Arch a decade ago?