Former NFL coach Ron Rivera plans to head back to college to work at alma mater Cal

Former NFL head coach Ron Rivera is looking to head back to college to work at his alma mater.

Rivera said Wednesday on social media that he was following the lead of Bill Belichick and will take a job in some capacity at California.

“Coach Belichick has made going back to school, cool,” he wrote. “Stay tuned I am coming home.”

Rivera and the school revealed no details about what role he would take at Cal. Coach Justin Wilcox is entering his ninth season in charge of the Golden Bears and has a 42-50 career record.

“Our alum, Ron Rivera is an icon in football for good reason,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons said. “I’m thrilled to be in discussion with him about the details of joining the Cal team to support and advance our football program. We will release more information as soon as possible.”

Cal’s rival, Stanford, recently hired former star quarterback Andrew Luck to be the general manager of the program.

Rivera was an All-American linebacker at Cal in 1983 before heading to the NFL as a second-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 1984.

Rivera was on a Super Bowl-winning team his second season and had a nine-year playing career.

Rivera began his coaching career in 1997 and was head coach for Carolina for nine seasons and Washington for four years. Rivera had a 102-103-2 record in the regular season, winning AP NFL Coach of the Year awards in 2013 and 2015 with the Panthers.

Rivera made the playoffs five times with his best season coming in 2015 when Carolina went 15-1 in the regular season and lost the Super Bowl to Denver.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer