The first time Ron Rivera became a head coach was 2011, the year of the NFL lockout. He didn't meet his Panthers team until training camp. Now, in his first season with Washington, Rivera is again unable to spend the offseason with his new team.
"It's not uncharted territory for me," Rivera said in a phone call Tuesday.
Rivera is drawing on his experience from 2011 in some areas—though the circumstances of the global coronavirus pandemic are vastly different. Right now, he and his staff are preparing for a virtual offseason program that will be conducted via Zoom, and a draft that he'll participate in from a basement workspace he'd originally set up for his daughter.