2 weeks Ago
Cal football general manager Ron Rivera implied during Monday’s press conference that he is the man in charge of the Golden Bears football program, including hiring and firing of a Cal football head coach. “I will have operational decision-making on specific things that deal with the football team,” he said. “[I'm] talking about players, player growth and development, player acquisition.
I have decision-making as far as what’s best for the coaching staff.” Rivera said he has the ultimate authority over the program up to Chancellor Rich Lyons. Asked whether he would be the one to make the recommendation to the chancellor about the hiring or firing of a head coach, Rivera said this: “For the most part, yes.
But again, I believe he [Lyons] is going to trust me and trust my opinion.” Like virtually all Power Four conference schools, Cal has lost a number of players through the transfer portal, most notably running back Jaydn Ott and tight end Jack Endries. Rivera said Cal did try to convince Ott to stay.
“Did we give Jaydn Ott a great shot? I believe we did, I really do,” he said. “Hard part about him leaving early is that here’s a young man who had an opportunity to . .
. really create the kind of legacy that you could be proud of.” At some point, Rivera said, you just have to move on.
Reports have arisen regarding the amount of money transfers get at their new school though NIL (name, image and likeness) deal, and Rivera was asked whether Cal simply got outbid for some of the Bears’ attractive transferring players. “You come up against some pretty strong competition,” Rivera acknowledged, “and that’s one of those things we’re trying to help ourselves out with right now, and that’s, again, understanding that we want to be able to work at a level that’s comparable to these top donors of other teams. “We have to put ourselves in position that we can be competitive.
That’s part of why I’m here.” Rivera acknowledged that sometimes players enter the transfer portal as a negotiating ploy, and that Cal officials can continue to talk to Cal players who have entered the portal but have not yet committed to a new school. Theoretically, that could apply to running back Jaivian Thomas, although players rarely withdraw their names from the portal.
An NCAA settlement is expected to be approved in the coming days that will initiate revenue-sharing for players starting July 1. Colleges are expected to be able to distribute $20.5 million to its scholarship athletes, with most of that going to football players.
Rivera will be involved in determining how those payments are distributed to football players. “We talk about what we call our core, the priority positions we have to have,” said Rivera. “Then we try to sit there and try to put a value on each one of those priorities.
“If at some point that number becomes exorbitant [for a player], and I will call the chancellor just to let him know.” To some degree, Rivera’s role will have to adapt to a changing college football world. The amount colleges can pay their athletes is expected to rise over the next 10 years, and there is considerable speculation that a super conference of anywhere from 25 to 60 elite football schools will separate itself from the schools unable compete financially.
Members of that super conference will rule the upper echelon of college football. “We have to understand that in a few years that landscape is going to change,” Rivera said. “We’ve got to be ready for that change.
We’ve got to be in position that when change comes, we’re part of the change going forward, not going backwards. Put in position so when the time comes we’re ready to step up.” Throughout the press conference, Rivera said Cal has “a plan of action,” and he noted that financial infusion into the program is not an expense, but "an investment in a shot at being excellent.
". “We’ve got to become relevant again,” he said. “We’ve got to go out and make the kind of impact as a football team that we’re making right now academically.
” The goal, he said, is to compete for an ACC championship and get into the College Football Playoff. Recent articles: Cal adds Liberty transfer TJ Bush Jr. Ca's Andrej Stojakovic enters transfer portal Cal softball part of highest-attended game in college history South Dakota transfer WR Quaron Adams commits to Cal Cal transfer tight end Jack Endries commits to Texas Football GM Ron Rivera assures fans he's in charge.
