FROM TUESDAY’S END OF SEASON PRESS CONFERENCE[gap size=”10px”]

1. “No, there’s no staff changes.”

Some could see it as a fault, but Rivera is extremely loyal to his coaches and players. General manager Dave Gettleman said Rivera makes the final call on his coaching staff, so unless something pops up as he further evaluates this past season, don’t expect any changes on the staff.

2. “Those are five key contributors to special teams in the first couple of weeks. What do they all have in common? After Week 6, all five were out.”

While defending the lackluster results of the special teams units, Rivera brought up early-season injuries to fullback Mike Tolbert, running back Fozzy Whittaker, tight end Richie Brockel, linebacker Chase Blackburn, and cornerback Bené Benwikere. It’s a fair point, but three of those guys eventually returned, and special teams weren’t much better late in the season.

3. “I’ve got to be willing to accept that as a coach and the position coach has got to understand that.”

Rivera and special teams coordinator Richard Rodgers may start using a new philosophy to improve the unit. Example: Instead of having someone like Blackburn play both linebacker and on special teams, he would be solely a special teams ‘ace.’ The Panthers have previously used guys like Jordan Senn and Jason Williams in that role, but Rivera and Rodgers may have to figure out how to balance four or five such aces.

4. “I would like to see us continue to work and get more speed.”

Adding speed was the theme of the day when both Rivera and Gettleman were asked about the team’s biggest need.

5. “We’ve got to look at the offensive line, obviously. We’ll look at the secondary, wide receivers.”

No-brainers as far as which positions need the most work.

6. “Consistency. Consistency. That’s the biggest thing more than anything else. That’s the biggest word as far as he’s concerned in my eyes, … Whether it’s his footwork or being consistent with his throws, putting it on the right side where it needs to be, putting it away from the defender, putting it right in the guy’s chest. Those are the things he’s got to continue to develop and get better at.”

Not surprisingly, no clear answers were given regarding Cam Newton’s future contract situation, but it’s clear what the Panthers feel he’s still lacking.

7. “You guys know how I feel about him.”

If it were up to Rivera, Greg Hardy would be back next year. Unfortunately for Rivera, it’s not up to him.

8. “We took a step back after 2013, because we had to. The one thing Dave and I talked about was 2014 was going to be hard. He was very blunt and very up front about what he had to do, and I appreciated that. I didn’t expect it to be as crazy as it was, and nobody expected the things that happened to happen. It set us up to be in a good position.”

Because the Panthers were so “cap challenged,” 2014 was about becoming less so going forward. Some of the moves they made and didn’t make last spring were hard for many to understand at the time, but they were necessary.

9. “Even though we did take a step back initially, we went ahead and took a step and a half [forward]. We took another step in the playoffs. We won a playoff game and got into the divisional round. Now we’ve got take another step. And hopefully it’s a big step.”

You could point out the Panthers slid into the playoffs because they were in a terrible division, they had an easy late-season schedule, and they won a postseason game against a third-string quarterback. But however it happened, making the playoffs was better than not, and doing it while fixing the cap was a nice bonus.

10. “I think we can take a big step and put ourselves in position to win the Super Bowl. The reason why? I think we’re close.”

Saturday’s loss in Seattle showed the Panthers aren’t that close to winning a Super Bowl. But they aren’t that far off, either.

DAVE GETTLEMAN’S PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS