What did he say? Ron Rivera talks about discipline and success

Although Ron Rivera spoke a lot about family, culture and character in his introductory press conference on Thursday, he also spoke about a topic that I think more people would have expected to be his central message: discipline.

Things will begin and end with one simple principle, discipline.

For a lot of people, “discipline” is a dirty word with negative connotations. It means getting spanked when you do something wrong. It’s something to be avoided. Discipline, to many people, means ‘punishment’.

But I think when Rivera uses the word, he means something different.

I have been a business manager or a teacher (a different sort of manager) since I was 22 years old. Early in my professional…