Ron Rivera: Woke up this morning and realized a change was needed

Panthers coach Ron Rivera initially said he didn’t want to make any staff changes. And then he woke up this morning and made changes.

After firing offensive coordinator Mike Shula and quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey earlier today, Rivera said the Panthers needed to move in a different direction.

“I know yesterday I did say I wouldn’t make any changes, but I did say there would be an evaluation,” Rivera said.

Rivera said he woke up at 3:15 a.m. and realized he needed to make a move, but denied that he ever considered making the change earlier.

Rivera told reporters “I have a plan,” when asked about a replacement, one he’d go over with interim General Manager Marty Hurney.

That leaves the door open to speculation, and Norv Turner’s name is the most logical replacement. Rivera was interested in bringing Turner aboard previously, namely in 2013 before settling on promoting Shula from quarterbacks coach.

But Turner went to Cleveland with Rob Chudzinski instead, and being Cleveland, that didn’t work out.

Turner has been out of football since leaving the Vikings in midseason two years ago, but has background with Rivera from San Diego, and would represent some familiarity at a time when they’re expecting to lose defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

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