Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera moved his office from the second level of the team’s building to a tiny janitorial-feeling closet right next to the locker room in 2012. He was a young head coach. He loved people, and connected well with them, but initially took the upstairs office because he didn’t want to invade the players’ space.



But as it turns out, that’s exactly what his players wanted, and needed, from him.



The office is … well, it’s gross. It’s old, and shabby. There’s a small rack for a few items of clothing — like the same blue suit Rivera wears to everything, swapped only occasionally for a sweater vest. There’s a tiny bathroom that brings back memories of yellow-walled high school stalls. But everywhere in the little office, there’s life and people and memories.



Rivera is a collector. He finds sentiment in certain objects, if only because of the person they were attached...