Where did it all go wrong for Cam Newton, Panthers? Coach Ron Rivera explains
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Panthers coach Ron Rivera and quarterback Cam Newton were practically linked at the hip during their careers with Carolina.
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Rivera arrived in January 2011 as the team’s new head coach. Three months later, the Panthers drafted Newton as their No. 1 overall pick. The team peaked from 2013-17, making the playoffs four times in five years with Rivera at the helm and Newton at the height of his powers.
Carolina also started 6-2 in 2018 and looked likely to make the postseason for the fifth time in six years.
But Newton then took a brutal hit from Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt to his throwing shoulder on Nov. 8, 2018. Neither Newton, the Panthers nor Rivera’s coaching career would ever be the same.
“I hope people understand this,” Rivera said in his recent “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” interview with The Charlotte Observer. “This is a quarterback-driven game. If you have your quarterback, you have a chance. I really believe that…. And I learned that after 2018 when Cam got hurt — I began to really understand what it meant. Because after that? I’ve been chasing quarterbacks ever since.”
After Rivera got fired by Panthers owner David Tepper 12 games into the 2019 season, he quickly got hired by Washington. Rivera remained head coach there for four years, but he never had a quarterback in Washington who was as good as Newton.
“When I was in Washington, I had like eight or nine of them,” Rivera said of his quarterback carousel in D.C. “People don’t understand. There are a lot of good coaches out there. Some of them, with good quarterbacks, become great coaches.”
Rivera believes the Panthers’ trajectory was forever altered after Watt’s hit on Newton. He calls Newton’s shoulder injury and the Panthers’ subsequent path his “biggest regret” in coaching because, if Newton had stayed healthy, Rivera believes the Panthers could have been playoff-bound for at least another year or two longer.
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“When Cam hurt the shoulder,” Rivera said, “it was tough for him to come back.”
It should be noted that Newton continued to play in that Pittsburgh game and continued to start for more than a month afterward after an unblocked Watt smacked Newton’s shoulder with the crown of his helmet in 2018. (The Watt hit wasn’t penalized at the time; it almost certainly would be today).
After that play, it was difficult for Newton to throw the ball deep for the rest of the season. He became a less effective player and later had offseason surgery on the shoulder. Separately, a foot injury derailed almost his entire 2019 season.
After entering that Pittsburgh game 6-2, the Panthers lost seven games in a row and began a non-playoff tailspin that didn’t end until the 2025 season.
During our interview, Rivera also strongly advocated for Newton to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The former NFL Most Valuable Player will be eligible for induction for the first time in 2027. Rivera believes the fact that Luke Kuechly got inducted in 2026 after a relatively short career — eight seasons, all spent with the Panthers — should benefit Newton.
“For seven seasons, before he hurt his shoulder, Cam Newton was at the top of the NFL,” Rivera said, speaking of 2011-2017. “There’s got to be some serious consideration for the hall of fame. And I mean that, because that guy redefined the position…. For seven seasons, he was pretty damn good. I mean — NFL (Offensive) Rookie of the Year (in 2011), goes to the Super Bowl and is league MVP (in 2015)…. He should be at least talked about.”
(To read more from Rivera’s entire interview, including comments about Luke Kuechly, John Madden and more, click here.)
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This story was originally published September 1, 2026 at 5:55 AM.
