Ron Rivera is officially returning to his alma mater California to become the general manager of the school's football program. Rivera, who previously worked as a head coach for the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders, is the latest former NFL coach or player to take up a role in college football, and particularly in the new, expanding role as a college football general manager.
“I am fired up to be coming home,” Rivera said in his first statement after officially accepting his new position. “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 [Rich] Lyons as we look to [athletic director] Jim Knowlton, [coach] 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.”
From the get-go, Rivera is making it clear that his priority is to bring the Cal football program up to the school's prestigious academic reputation, and help the team become relevant once again.
“This campus is ready,” Rivera said during his first presser as Cal's general manager, per Joaquin Ruiz and Emmanuel Macedo of The Daily Californian. “Remember, this is the No. 1 public institution in the world. We exude excellence academically. Why can’t we do it athletically and do it the right way though? That’s the thing that’s important. We’ve got to make sure that our young men understand, and all of our student-athletes for that matter, how important it is to carry on that academic tradition as student-athletes.”
The Golden Bears do have a storied history which includes five claimed national championship victories, but not since 1937. More recently they have produced first-round quarterbacks in Jared Goff and Aaron Rodgers, but they have not been a consistent bowl game team since the 2000s. They are coming off a 6–7 debut season in the ACC, and have not recorded a winning season since 2019, which was also the last time they were ranked in the AP Top 25 poll. Rivera will look to spark some improvement.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ron Rivera Issues Statement After Accepting New Role With Cal Football.
