ACC Team Adds Veteran NFL HC as General Manager

Bill Belichick may have started a trend in the ACC.

Former Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera is joining Cal, his alma mater, in a general manager-like role, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported.

Rivera, who has been out of coaching since being fired by the Commanders last January, said he was inspired to return to the college ranks by Belichick.

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 was an All-American linebacker at Cal in the 1980s, earning Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 1983, and he went on to play nine seasons in the NFL before going into coaching.

He hasn’t ever coached at the college ranks, rising from a defensive quality control coach with the Chicago Bears in the late 1990s to the head coach of the Panthers in 2011, but he’s a veteran with over a decade of heading coaching experience — at the professional level.

With the rise of name, image and likeness (NIL) in college athletics, and the impending House vs. NCAA settlement that will enable revenue sharing with student-athletes, it’s never been more prevalent to hire a general manager in college football.

In the case of North Carolina, Belichick hired former NFL executive Michael Lombardi as general manager. Stanford hired former NFL quarterback Andrew Luck as its general manager — and it’s becoming more and more popular.

Pitt doesn’t currently employ a general manager, but associate athletic director Chris LaSala is a higher-up in the department. And Mark Pennington serves as the director of football operations, Graham Wilbert serves as the director of player personnel and Adam Caltury serves as the director of recruiting.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Panthers add a general manager in the coming seasons. It’s a growing trend in the ACC.