Can Ron Rivera save Cal soccer?
An overreaction? Possibly not.
As the school soccer panorama continues to endure seismic shifts, the Golden Bears are striving for greater than an improved win-loss file.
They’re combating for survival as a major-college program.
Rivera, the long-ago Cal All-America linebacker and extra not too long ago an NFL head coach with two completely different franchises, was employed in March as common supervisor of the Bears’ soccer program.
That is a part of a rising development throughout the nation, with faculties together with Stanford, North Carolina, Notre Dame, USC, Alabama, Texas Tech and Texas hiring GMs to cope with the ever-growing complexities of operating a contemporary faculty soccer program.
The job entails managing the not too long ago accepted profit-sharing funds to athletes and the mushrooming problem of participant motion by means of the switch portal, which has wreaked havoc on the Bears’ roster. It’s lots.
However for Cal, there’s a huge image that looms over every part.
Realignment, which splintered the Pac-12 Convention and led Cal to affix the Atlantic Coast Convention, is ongoing, and the expectation is that the highly effective Southeastern and Massive Ten conferences will finally, maybe quickly, power the creation of a number of super-conferences.
Precisely what that may seem like stays to be seen. But it surely’s anticipated to contain an exit from the NCAA to grow to be a separate entity, with its personal media rights deal and playoff system.
What number of faculties shall be a part of the brand new world order is up for grabs. Cal, which has not had a profitable soccer season since 2019, will not be assured a spot on the desk.
Cal chancellor Wealthy Lyons employed Rivera for the aim of serving to place the Bears to proceed enjoying with the large youngsters.
FILE – Former Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera appears on earlier than an earlier than an NCAA faculty soccer sport between the Military and Navy, in Landover, Md., Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photograph/Daniel Kucin Jr., File
“That’s the whole goal, to make sure that we’re there and we are relevant. To be relevant, you have to win,” mentioned Stephanie Rivera, Ron’s spouse of 40 years, a former Cal basketball participant and a trustee with the UC Berkeley Basis, which helps generate non-public philanthropy in help of the college.
For Rivera, 63, the return to the school sport for the primary time since 1983 has been an eye-opener.
“It’s changed unbelievably,” mentioned Rivera, who final fall attended his first Massive Recreation since his enjoying days.
He understands the task along with his alma mater.
“The biggest thing we’re learning is when there is a realignment, they’re going to look at probably three things: (win-loss) record, butts in the seats, eyeballs on the TV set. That’s how they’re going to measure you,” he mentioned.
Rivera added, “Everything from ticket sales to marketing to looking for different revenue streams, we have to be much better. Everything that touches football I’m working with.”
Rivera will focus closely on fund-raising and fan engagement, however he additionally has full authority over your complete program, from coach Justin Wilcox on down.
Rivera spent 35 seasons as a participant, assistant coach or head coach within the NFL. He received a Tremendous Bowl as a participant with the Chicago Bears in 1985, coached the Carolina Panthers to the Tremendous Bowl and twice was named NFL Coach of the Yr.
So why has he taken on this activity?
“Because it’s Cal,” he mentioned. “It’s about coming back to the University of California and giving back. I have the opportunity to be here and make an impact.”
The hiring has super-charged a lot of Cal’s fan base. Requested concerning the enthusiastic fan response, Rivera mentioned, “I think it’s cool, I really do. I was a little surprised, and sometimes, it’s embarrassing.”
Lyons, bought on Rivera’s deep-rooted ardour for the college, referred to as his hiring the most recent step in “leveling up the importance of football at Cal,” labeling it “an investment in excellence.”
In contrast to many faculty applications, the place the GM stories to the pinnacle coach, Rivera oversees Wilcox and his workers. He stories on to the chancellor.
Wilcox, who has led the Bears to 4 bowl appearances in eight seasons however has a 42-50 file, has embraced the connection.
“I am very excited to have Ron in this role,” Wilcox mentioned in an announcement to this information group. “Ron has a passion for Cal football and loves this university. To have him help guide our program during this new era of college football will be critical to our success.”
In one among their first conversations, Rivera requested Wilcox why he turned down the 2021 job supply from Oregon, his alma mater.
“Ron, I can win here,” Wilcox advised him. “I was here (as an assistant) when we won. I was here with coach (Jeff) Tedford. That’s why I believe we can win.”
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That was simply what Rivera wished to listen to.
“I kept thinking, this guy’s seen it. And he’s been so close,” Rivera mentioned. “What I want to be able to do is get him the resources, give him that opportunity to succeed. Because we’re on the precipice, I believe, of taking the next step.”
In the future final season gave him a glimpse of this system’s potential but in addition its shortcomings. Rivera watched because the Bears began the season 3-0 earlier than dropping 4 in a row by a mixed margin of 9 factors. In probably the most painful of these, on Oct. 5, Cal constructed a 35-10 lead over Miami late within the third quarter in entrance of a capability dwelling crowd earlier than collapsing in a 39-38 defeat.
Rivera additionally noticed a neighborhood that packed Memorial Glade on campus for an early-morning go to by ESPN’s widespread School GameDay present. ESPN referred to as it one among its greatest GameDay applications, and Rivera labeled it “a three-hour commercial” for Cal soccer.
“Our student body, our faculty, the alumni and the fans came through,” Rivera mentioned. “It showed this university has the ability to support major college football.”
