Since the Carolina Panthers started the 2012 season poorly there has been a groundswell from fans to see a regime change in Charlotte. Over the last several weeks/months dozens of names have been bandied about, but most-recent rumors have the Panthers making no changes to their structure.

According to Jason Cole of Yahoo, his sources tell him that Ron Rivera will remain the Carolina Panthers' head coach:

To answer another question from a Panthers reader, I've heard that Ron Rivera is safe. — Jason Cole (@JasonColeYahoo) December 30, 2012

Rivera has done a lot in recent weeks to show that he's learned from his vast number of early season missteps. Getting the offense back under control, a defense coming into its own, and managing a host of injury concerns have proven that he knows how to lead an organization; whether hes a coach who can lead the Panthers to a Superbowl is another story.

Cole's second rumor is far more concerning:

Also in Carolina, there's more talk that interim GM Brandon Beane will get the full-time job. — Jason Cole (@JasonColeYahoo) December 30, 2012

This simply doesn't make any sense, no matter how you slice it. We've seen internal hirings before, we haven't seen an outside search. Bringing in Ernie Accorsi only to hire Brandon Beane defies fiscal, and sensible logic. It's also important to note that numerous sources inside the organization could potentially be out of work with a new general manager. It wouldn't be the first time team sources floated someone's name trying to will it into being.

We'll know whether Jason Cole's sources are correct in the next week. My take is that Rivera has a chance to stay, but I would be stunned if Brandon Beane is the new general manager. It's not that he's a bad front office guy, but how you can justify hiring someone full time who learned about operations from a man you fired is beyond me.