Former Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera is returning to the University of California, his alma mater, to help the football program.
“Coach Belichick has made going back to school, cool,” Rivera posted to X. “Stay tuned I am coming home.”
Coach Belichick has made going back to school, cool. Stay tuned I am coming home. @CalAthletics @UCBerkeley @Cal #GoBears🐻
— Ron Rivera (@RiverboatRonHC) February 5, 2025
Rivera’s role would primarily be administrative, and he would be involved in oversight of the program and its big-picture needs, including budget, coaching staff and the student-athlete experience, a source told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.
Belichick was hired as North Carolina’s head coach in December after a decorated NFL coaching career in which he won eight Super Bowls, including six as the New England Patriots‘ head coach.
Rivera, 63, is a member of the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame and had 337 tackles for the school as a linebacker. He was an All-American in 1983 when he set a school record with 26.5 tackles for loss, including 13 sacks.
Rivera, who was fired by the Commanders last year, interviewed for both the New York Jets and Chicago Bears head coaching vacancies last month.
Rivera, 63, has spent his entire coaching career in the NFL, beginning in 1997 when he was a defensive quality control coach for the Chicago Bears. Before being hired as the Panthers’ head coach in 2011, he served as a defensive coordinator with both the Bears and San Diego Chargers.
He has a 102-103-2 record as an NFL head coach and led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in the 2015 season.
Before becoming a coach, he played nine seasons as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears, who selected him in the second round of the 1984 draft. He was a member of the Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl champion squad.