Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera would rather be at Super Bowl XLIX as the head coach of the NFC champions, but that didn’t keep him from enjoying a full day of media on Friday.

Representing USAA Insurance and the Salute to Service Award, Rivera began his day in Arizona well before the sun came up on the East coast. It included appearances on Fox & Friends, the NFL Network and Sirius XM NFL.

Here’s what he tweeted at 5:05 a.m. Phoenix time.

Going to be on #FoxandFriends to talk #SuperBowlXLIX @USAA @TD58SDTM #WalterPaytonManoftheYear @Panthers - Ron Rivera (@RiverboatRonHC) January 30, 2015

Rivera had plenty to talk about, from an improbable season in which Carolina made the playoffs with seven wins to his house fire that caused $500,000 in damages the week before the Panthers faced Seattle in an NFC divisional playoff game. Rivera also received the Fritz Pollard Alliance Leadership Award on Thursday and planned to attend the "NFL Honors'' awards banquet on Saturday to support linebacker Thomas Davis, a finalist for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. Rivera also had time for some fun judging by this tweet.

Stopped by @RonJaworski_BFL #MikeDitka Cigar Party to benefit #Gridirongreats #DaCoach pic.twitter.com/mlT2BzjIql - Ron Rivera (@RiverboatRonHC) January 30, 2015

Here’s what Rivera had to say to ESPN.com by telephone during a break in the schedule:

Q: Your house fire last month really brought to light your involvement with USAA, the main reason you’re in Arizona, unlike last year when you were named the NFL Coach of the Year. When did this relationship actually begin and just how personal is it for you having grown up in a military family?

RR: “My father has been a member of USAA insurance and financial for his entire military career. I think he started in 1956 or ’58. What happened is I got to receive it as a legacy. I kept it, and I’ve been a member since 1986. I went to the Pro Bowl last year and they were a major corporate sponsor [for the NFL]. I was talking to the head of sports marketing and I pulled out my USAA card. He said, ‘That’s pretty awesome. We need to get involved with you.’ So they called me during the offseason and said we’d love to have you do a couple of videos, those Salute to Service commercials.’’

Q: And then your house fire amplified the message?

RR: “Yes, it did. They’ve handled all of our insurance claims. We had a little fender bender once that wasn’t a big deal. When I was in San Diego and we had those brush fires where cleanup had to be done, they showed up on their own and inspected the house and paid for the cleanup service to take care of the house.’’

Q: You were so involved in playoff preparation when the house fire occurred. Have you had a chance to reflect?

RR: “It really was kind of a surreal thing that happened. The thing that was great about it was the way Stephanie (his wife) handled everything. She’s been the rock throughout all this stuff. USAA worked with her. They focused all their energies on working with her, being there for here, making it easy for her. They treated us just how they treat all their customers and clients. It was because of them the transition of finding a restoration company, of finding a contractor, of finding a rental house, was easy. The truth of the matter was, the only person that had to catch back up was me. I showed up [at the stadium] late that afternoon. Everybody else was on board, doing the things they needed to do.’’

Q: Have you and Stephanie found a house in your neighborhood as you were hoping to?

RR: “Unfortunately, the house that we were looking at was being sold. We were able to find a house very close. My commute will stay pretty much the same time. We’ll be able to have some normalcy to help in the next eight to 10 months.”

Q: General manager Dave Gettleman mentioned recently would be evaluating staff this week. Is that complete and are there going to be any changes?

RR: “We’re unfinished with the process. We get back on [Wednesday] and we’ll sit down and finish everything up and then start getting ready for free agency and the draft.’’

Q: So no decisions have made on personnel, like will all-time leading rusher DeAngelo Williams be back?

RR: “All that stuff is doing to start next week when we sit down and go through everything. All we’ve done is talked about everything. Then we start defining things and processing things and moving forward. We’ve done nothing until February 4^th.’’

Q: What’s it like being around the Super Bowl environment this week but not involved in the game?

RR: “It’s been neat. I do a lot of different events.’’

Q: Do you have a good feeling on Thomas Davis’ chances of winning the Walter Payton Award?

RR: “I do. I don’t want to get ahead of myself. But Thomas is just a tremendous young man, a very dynamic person. What he has done for our community is unbelievable. And his service to the team is the same. To me, that makes him a winner no matter what happens. I hope he gets recognized for his work.’’

Q: Your thoughts on Deflategate?

RR: “I think more is being made out of it than needs to be. The bottom line is if somebody did something wrong, then somebody has to be made accountable. The commissioner is going to decide all that.’’

Q: Is the air pressure in balls something you knew a lot about before this?

RR: “No. This is the first time I’ve heard this. I’ve heard the whole story about how the guys rub the balls down like we used to use mud for baseballs ... and brush them up and all that stuff. We use them in practice like you’re supposed to. We basically do things you’re supposed to.’’

Q: Prediction for Super Bowl XLIX?

RR: “I lean toward the NFC. I’m an NFC guy. But you never know.’’