Rivera is the latest former NFLER to take on a job as a college football grandson, a position that is still largely undefined.
Former NFL head coach Ron Rivera was tapped to become CAL football general manager.
The University of California Football Team announced Thursday. Rivera is one of the well-known former NFL figures who accepted the job as the general manager of a university football program during the NIL (name, image, portrait). Rivera also returns to her roots. He played college football in California before being drafted into the NFL.
“The soccer program is an integral part of the university and the community,” the Lions added. “And we are taking the necessary steps to ensure that teams excel in the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics. Ron’s incredible football insight and his powerful dedication to his alma mater make him fit in this new role.”
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In this article, College Football GM’s duties range from managing student-athletes’ pay caps to adjust recruitment activities, marketing, and even selling programs to recruiters. In particular, this article explained Stanford GM Andrew Luck’s responsibility.
“Fortune will handle everything as we work in conjunction with Stanford’s Nil Collective, which will retain talent during the transfer portal window and attract fundraising efforts, and act as a positive presence in the program.”
The press release mentioned NIL Collectives, new rules on student-athlete compensation, the transfer portal, and the reorganization of Cal football into the ACC from the PAC-12. It shows Rivera has a similar role to luck. He will also focus on revenue generation and financing for the program. Rivera reports directly to Lyon, and his position is funded by private charity.
Rivera played the Golden Bears linebacker from 1980 to 1983. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft and played nine seasons in the league. After his playing career, he joined the Bears coaching staff as a defensive quality control coach. He worked as his first position coach from 1999 to 2003 as a linebacker coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.
He returned to the Bears as defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2006, bringing the Bears defense to the Super Bowl XLI. He was hired as a San Diego Chargers linebacker coach in 2007 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2008. He was hired in 2011 as the Carolina Panthers head coach. He played the Panthers in another Super Bowl in 2016 at the Super Bowl 50. He was fired in 2019, but in 2020 he became the then head coach of the Washington Redskins.
