Ron Rivera. Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Ron Rivera lands job with college program

By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated Mar 20, 2025 6:20 PM ET

Ron Rivera has coached in the NFL for nearly three decades, but he is now trying a much different venture.

Rivera has been named the general manager of the football program at the University of California, the school announced on Thursday.

Rivera, who played linebacker at Cal from 1980-1983, said he is "fired up" about the opportunity to help build the football program at his alma mater.

"I am fired up to be coming home," Rivera said. "My love and passion for Cal has never changed, and I couldn't be more excited about the future of our football program. I look forward to working with Chancellor Lyons as we look to Jim Knowlton, Justin Wilcox and all of our staff and players to compete for championships as we move forward in this new and rapidly changing era of college football."

As I reported yesterday, Ron Rivera is officially the general manager of Cal Football.

More to come at the presser, but here are some initial comments from the new GM pic.twitter.com/v6iBSiDaTA
— Joaquin Ruiz (@WalkingRuiz) March 20, 2025

Rivera has no prior experience working at the collegiate level, but college athletics have never been more similar to the NFL than they are in the NIL era. That likely factored into his decision to accept the job.

The 63-year-old Rivera last coached in the NFL with the Washington Commanders from 2020-2023. He never had a winning season with the team and was fired after going 4-13 in 2023.

Prior to being hired by Washington, Rivera was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers from 2011-2019. His stint in Carolina was a lot more successful, as he won the AP Coach of the Year Award twice and led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2015.

Rivera has an overall record of 102-103 as a head coach in the NFL. The former Chicago Bears linebacker had coached in the NFL in a variety of assistant roles dating back to 1997 before he landed in Carolina.

Rivera interviewed for the Las Vegas Raiders head-coaching job this offseason. It is possible that he will return to the NFL one day, but he is committed to Cal for now.

Cal has not had a winning season since 2019. That is the last time the Golden Bears won a bowl game.

Steve DelVecchio

Steve is a veteran writer who has covered a variety of sports and pop culture topics for more than 15 years. In addition to Yardbarker, his work has been featured on prominent digital publications including Larry Brown Sports, MSN and FOX Sports. The UConn graduate has published more than 40,000 stories and is one of the most experienced trending news writers in the country

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