With four games left in the season, the Panthers have fired head coach Ron Rivera, the team announced Tuesday afternoon.
"I have a great deal of respect for Ron and the contributions he has made to this franchise and to this community," Panthers owner David Tepper said in an official statement via ESPN's Adam Schefter. "I wish him the best. I will immediately begin the search for the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers."
It has been a rough year for the Panthers, with the biggest issue being Cam Newton sidelined for the rest of the year. Kyle Allen has taken over, and hasn't been bad in the slightest. In fact, Carolina may move on from Newton after the season, which means Allen would be the No. 1 quarterback for the 2020 season.
But the results haven't been there in the Panthers' 5-7 record. And that seventh loss came to a very bad Redskins team.
So that was the final straw for Tepper and the team, who let their head coach since 2011 walk. Rivera owned a 76-63 record with a trip to the Super Bowl back in 2015, where the Panthers fell to Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
Rivera, now, becomes a top candidate to fill any other head coach vacancies that come to light this offseason. The Giants could very well be among them.
Rivera has an obvious connection to the Giants in GM Dave Gettleman, who didn't hire him in Carolina, but didn't fire him either. Gettleman has respect for him, and if head coach Pat Shurmur is let go after this dismal Giants season, Gettleman could bring a familiar face in for an interview.