At a time when all California Golden Bears are needed to step up and help our programs, Ron Rivera has stepped up and offered his sword. Rivera is coming back to the Cal football program in an official capacity in the coming months.

The Cal legend has officially announced he will be joining the Cal football program in a general manager role. Initial reports (particularly from Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports) indicate that it will be similar to the role that Andrew Luck has accepted at Stanford, helping with recruiting, roster manager, as well as leadership on fundraising, alumni relations, sponsorships, student-athlete support and stadium experience.

If that is the case, Justin Wilcox could potentially report directly to Rivera, as Troy Taylor will now be doing at Stanford (as reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN). It’d be an entirely new level of management not seen before in college football, and would provide a new level of accountability and support that Cal football really hasn’t enjoyed in the Jim Knowlton era.

Rivera has been extremely active in Cal Athletics in the past few years, particularly in his support of California Legends (our NIL collective) with his wife Stephanie (who sits on the Board of Directors). He has helped with fundraising efforts with matching donations to drives for the football program. Rivera also has general manager experience from his two years with the Washington Commanders, where he served as GM/coach in his time there.

Rivera did recently interview for NFL jobs, but did not get any bites, so the league’s loss is Cal’s gain. It’s hopeful that his insertion into the equation can give Justin Wilcox an added layer of coaching experience, as well as help the Bears properly identify and recruit the best talent available to move Cal back to glory.

Welcome back officially Coach!