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The Carolina Panthers have fired head coach Ron Rivera, the team confirmed Tuesday.

Rivera was in his ninth season with the Panthers, posting a 76-63-1 regular-season record and a 3-4 record in the postseason. The Panthers are 5-7 this season with franchise quarterback Cam Newton missing all but two games.

#Panthers part ways with Ron Riverahttps://t.co/uXqUJpCnkq

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 3, 2019

Search for successor begins “immediately”

“I believe this is the best decision for the long-term success of our team,” Panthers owner David Tepper said in a statement. “I have a great deal of respect for Ron and the contributions he has made to this franchise and to this community. I wish him the best. I will immediately begin the search for the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers.”

In the interim, secondary coach Perry Fewell will take over as head coach, with offensive coordinator Norv Turner transitioning to special assistant to the head coach and quarterbacks coach Scott Turner taking over as offensive coordinator for the final four games.



The fourth head coach in franchise history, Rivera led the Panthers to a Super Bowl appearance, an NFC Championship and three NFC South titles.

“We are going to take a comprehensive and thorough review of our football operation to make sure we are structured for long-term sustained success,” Tepper said. “Our vision is to find the right mix of old-school discipline and toughness with modern and innovative processes. We will consider a wide range of football executives to complement our current football staff. One change that we will implement is hiring an assistant general manager and vice president of football operations. We all must recognize that this is the first step in a process, but we are committed to building and maintaining a championship culture for our team and our fans.”

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)