Ron Rivera passing on Mike Ditka’s advice to Panthers

Ron Rivera is on the brink of winning his first Super Bowl as an NFL head coach, but the former All-American linebacker has championship experience as a player. Not only that, but Rivera got to learn from one of the greatest coaches of all time when he played nine seasons under Mike Ditka with the Chicago Bears.

And now, as he prepares his 17-1 team for its toughest test of the year, Rivera is passing along advice he got from Ditka when the Bears won the Super Bowl in 1985.

“One of the things Coach Ditka emphasized to us was to enjoy the moment,” Rivera said Monday, via David Newton of ESPN.com. “The moment doesn’t come very often. It’s hard. It’s hard to get to where we are right now.”

Rivera is one of only seven men to have appeared in a Super Bowl as a player and a head coach. Coincidentally, Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak is one of the other seven.

Like most great teams, the Panthers are filled with egos. Cam Newton has come under fire for celebrating so much after scoring touchdowns, though he has a very simple solution for how opponents can put a stop to that. Rivera has done a masterful job of handling his locker room all season, and the main thing he is emphasizing heading into the Super Bowl is for his team to not change a thing.

“Do what you’ve done,” Rivera said he learned from the ’85 Bears team that destroyed the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. “Some of my experiences in coaching, you get to certain experiences like the playoffs, and sometimes you get a little bit of panic. Am I doing enough? Should I do more? Should I change this?

“I told our coordinators this morning, we’re going to stick to what got us to where we are. We’ll emphasize that to the players and make sure we keep our personality.”

Rivera by no means lets his players walk over him, which was obvious when he spoke to rookie Shaq Thompson about a recent video Thompson posted on social media. But, at the same time, he allows them to enjoy themselves and be who they are. That’s certainly not something he should go changing in the two weeks leading up to the biggest game of the year.

Photo: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports