A lot of credit should be given to Panthers head coach Ron Rivera for empowering the players to be themselves. The only Latino coach in the league, Rivera knows what it means to stand out. But rather than trying to regulate these players, he has created an environment that makes players like Cam Newton and cornerback Josh Norman able to fully express themselves.
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Keep your personality," he has told his team.
Rivera has seen improvement in his team's performance since he gave them full freedom to be themselves. It wasn't always that way. Rivera admitted last year that at one point he tried to get Norman, in particular, to "fall in line too much."
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He lost that personality and the bravado as to who he is," he said.
When Rivera eventually let Norman be Norman, he began his ascent to becoming one of the top corners in the league. "They let me go," Norman said. "They let me be free, and all this started."
Nowadays, Norman's enthusiasm and charisma is regularly viewable, as when he was interviewed by ESPN's Ed Werder after the NFC Championship Game. If that occasionally annoys the opposing team, that's fine with Rivera.