Panthers coach Ron Rivera fired longtime offensive coordinator Mike Shula on Tuesday Diontae Johnson Jersey , saying the team’s offense needs a ”different perspective.”

Along with Shula, the Panthers also cut ties with quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey two days after a playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints.

”I believe we need some different ideas going forward,” Rivera said at a news conference.

Shula spent seven seasons with Carolina, working as the quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013.

Carolina was 11-5 this season and finished 19th in total offense, but again struggled moving the ball through the air and was 28th in passing. The Panthers were 12th in scoring.

Rivera said the Panthers already have ”a few” candidates in mind, and strongly hinted it will be someone with NFL experience, not a college coach, from outside the organization.

Among some of the potential candidates that make sense are Norv Turner, whose son Ron was hired as an offensive consultant by the Panthers last June, and Rob Chudzinski, who worked as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2011 and 2012 before taking over as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Rivera was a defensive coach under Turner with the then-San Diego Chargers from 2007-10.

”It signals an opportunity that we are looking to get better and continue to grow,” Rivera said.

”That is what the move was made for. Something different, something additional can give us the boost that I’m looking for that can help us get to the ultimate goal, and that is winning the Super Bowl.”

The news comes one day after Rivera seemed to give his entire coaching staff an endorsement.

However, the two-time AP Coach of the Year said he woke up at 3 in the morning and began looking at his notes.

He started to have second thoughts and decided to meet with interim general manager Marty Hurney about the decision.

Then he made the change.

Rivera was vague on exactly what bothered him about the offense this past season and prompted the change in thinking Justin Layne Jersey , but when asked about the team’s lack of an identity he said, ”you want to be able to understand this is who we are and this is what we do.”

Rivera said he still expects the Panthers will use the read option with quarterback Cam Newton, who was the team’s leading rusher last season with 754 yards. He also wants to see the ball in Christian McCaffrey’s hands in open space.

Carolina has been one of the league’s top running teams – in large part because of Newton’s ability to run the ball – over the past four seasons, averaging the league’s fourth-highest total at 128.3 yards per game.

However, its passing game has sputtered.

Over that same span the Panthers averaged 229.5 passing yards per game, which is the third fewest in the league.

It didn’t help that the Panthers suffered several injuries at wide receiver and tight end this season and traded away No. 1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin.

Newton’s passing numbers have taken a nosedive since he was selected as the league’s MVP in 2015 when he combined for 45 touchdowns – 35 passing and 10 rushing – and led the Panthers to the Super Bowl.

He has posted the worst two quarterback passer ratings of his seven-year NFL career in the past two seasons.

Rivera said he informed Newton about the decision to fire Shula after it was made, but wouldn’t comment on the quarterback’s reaction to the news calling it ”personal.”

This past season, Newton posted a QB rating of 80.7, which ranked 18th in the league. He completed just 59.1 percent of his passes for 3,301 yards with 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

”This is all about growth as a football team, and we have room to grow,” Rivera said.

Shula, the son of Miami Dolphins legend Don Shula, has coached 30 years, 26 of those in the NFL.

Dorsey served as quarterbacks coach from 2013-17 following two seasons as a pro scout.

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Twenty-eight Russian athletes had their Olympic doping bans overturned Thursday Benny Snell Jr. Jersey , throwing the International Olympic Committee’s policy on the country into turmoil.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling was set to reinstate seven Russian medals from the 2014 Sochi Olympics, including gold in men’s skeleton and men’s 50-kilometer cross-country skiing.

”This does not mean that these 28 athletes are declared innocent, but in their case, due to insufficient evidence, the appeals are upheld, the sanctions annulled and their individual results achieved in Sochi are reinstated,” CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb said in Pyeongchang.

The IOC said it had taken note of the CAS decision ”with satisfaction on the one hand and disappointment on the other,” adding the decision ”may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping.”

The 28 who had their bans lifted could now seek late entry into the Pyeongchang Olympics, but the IOC said ”not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the ruling ”can’t fail to please us, and it confirms our position that the overwhelming majority of our athletes are clean athletes.”

GYMNASTICS SEXUAL ASSAULT

CHARLOTTE, Mich. (AP) – The young athletes who confronted Larry Nassar about molesting them at an elite Michigan gymnastics club saved some of their harshest words for a person who was not in the courtroom: an Olympic coach who for years sent teenage girls to see the now-disgraced doctor.

John Geddert operated the Twistars club, where Nassar offered treatments on Monday nights. His victims complained that the coach created an ultra-competitive atmosphere, was indifferent to injuries and rarely offered gymnasts any choice to see a different doctor.

”Coaching by fear, intimidation and shame and explicit favoritism was the norm,” recalled Annie Labrie. She said it was ”no surprise” that Nassar was able to continue his practices as long as he did. ”We were conditioned for years to obey at all costs.”

Nassar was in court for his third and final sentencing hearing Zach Gentry Jersey , this time for the abuse that happened at Twistars. The nearly 30 victims who gave statements included women familiar with the club’s environment. One also alleged that Geddert was aware in the late 1990s that Nassar had performed an ”inappropriate procedure” on her when she was 16.

PRO FOOTBALL

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) – Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been cleared from the concussion protocol and will play in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Gronkowski participated fully in practice on Thursday. Defensive lineman Deatrich Wise also practiced after being cleared from the concussion protocol. Malcolm Butler (illness) and Brandon King (knee) also participated in the workout.

Gronk said he is ”ready to roll” and has no limitations. He had been sidelined since taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jacksonville’s Barry Church in the first half of New England’s AFC championship game win.

The All-Pro tight end missed last year’s Super Bowl win over Atlanta after undergoing back surgery.

Gronkowski said he believes that the team doctors were just using the bye week to be as cautious with the injury as possible.

BASEBALL

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Major League Baseball has offered to ditch its proposal for a pitch clock this year and also would go without one in 2019 if the average time of a nine-inning game drops to at least 2 hours, 55 minutes this season.

Speaking after a quarterly owners meeting ended Thursday, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said owners authorized him to implement management’s proposal from last offseason, which calls for a 20-second pitch clock this year, if an agreement cannot be reached with the players’ association. Management has proposed a deal that would phase in new rules over the next three seasons

Manfred thought he was close to a deal during the offseason but union head Tony Clark told him players rejected the proposal and said ”he didn’t think he was in a position to make any agreement on the topic.”

MLB listened to player’s public comments and at a Jan. 23 meeting attended by Manfred, deputy commissioner Dan Halem and Clark, MLB proposed no clock this year as part of a three-year plan, Manfred said. There would be a pitch clock in 2019 if the average time of a nine-inning game is higher than 2:55 this year, Manfred said. A person familiar with the plan told The Associated Press the proposal called for an 18-second timer and only with no runners on base, and ball-strike penalties would not start until May 1. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because those details were not announced.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

DALLAS (AP) – Former TCU wide receiver Kolby Listenbee (LIH’-sehn-bee) is suing the university and football coach Gary Patterson, alleging Horned Frogs coaches harassed him into playing with an injured groin, compromising his future in football.

In a statement issued Thursday, Listenbee’s attorneys said TCU coaches pressured him to return prematurely in his senior year of 2015 from an injury to his pelvic cartilage. The lawsuit says the injury should have been rested and rehabilitated for at least six months.

The lawsuit alleges trainers routinely gave him injections to make his pain tolerable. He blames that for damage to his pelvic cartilage that compromised his NFL prospects. He has since signed with three teams but hasn’t played a down.

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