AP

There were points in his career (like when he was 14-22 and on the verge of getting fired) when Panthers coach Ron Rivera had plenty of people offering suggestions.

But having won 16 straight regular season games and three straight NFC South titles, he’s won most of them over.

One of his toughest, however, offers thoughts on a weekly basis.

“My mom’s become more and more critical; she’s always been my hardest critic,” Rivera said, via Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review. “Now it’s not just about winning; now it’s about doing things better.

“She knows the game. She’s been around it her whole life. She usually has some pretty good insight about things. One of her favorite things is for us to blitz.”

The idea of Rivera scribbling down notes from his mom is, frankly, adorable. But Rivera said how the Panthers play determines how often he calls to check in.

“She waits for me to call,” he said. “If we play really well, I’ll call her right away. Probably on Monday. If we don’t play really well, I usually wait till Wednesday or Thursday. Usually, I’ll catch her as she’s headed out to Bingo, so she’ll talk to me quickly. . . .

“I’m serious — she knows the game. She’ll go, ‘You know, in that red zone, you guys were playing a lot of zone.’ I’ll say, ‘How do you know that?’ She goes, ‘When I see guys facing the ball. You guys have to match better.'”

So now we know, that when it’s time to fill out the coach of the year ballot, that maybe we should save a spot for his mother.