Ronald Eugene Rivera, nicknamed Riverboat Ron, is an American football head coach for the Washington Football Team of the National Football League. Rivera played college football at the University of California, Berkeley in the early 1980s, where he was recognized as an All-American linebacker for the Golden Bears. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft and was a part of their 1985 team that won Super Bowl XX. In 2011, Rivera became the head coach of the Carolina Panthers and led the team to a Super Bowl 50 appearance. Despite being their all-time leader in coaching wins, Rivera was fired midway through the 2019 season due to new ownership wanting change.
About Ron Rivera in brief
Ronald Eugene Rivera, nicknamed Riverboat Ron, is an American football head coach for the Washington Football Team of the National Football League. Rivera played college football at the University of California, Berkeley in the early 1980s, where he was recognized as an All-American linebacker for the Golden Bears. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft and was a part of their 1985 team that won Super Bowl XX. Rivera’s coaching career began in 1997 when he served as a quality control coach. He then joined the Philadelphia Eagles as a linebackers coach in 1999 before rejoining the Bears to become their defensive coordinator in 2004. Under him, the Bears made an appearance in Super Bowl XLI. In 2007, he joined the San Diego Chargers as a linebacker coach before serving as their defensive defensive coordinator for the next three seasons. In 2011, Rivera became the head coach of the Carolina Panthers and led the team to a Super Bowl 50 appearance. Despite being their all-time leader in coaching wins, Rivera was fired midway through the 2019 season due to new ownership wanting change. In 2020, he was diagnosed with a curable form of squamous cell carcinoma.
He is the first American of Puerto Rican descent to win a Superbowl, as the Bears defeated the New England Patriots in Superbowl XX. His father, Eugenio Rivera, was a Puerto Rican commissioned officer in the U.S. Army stationed in California. He met his future wife, Dolores, who is of Mexican descent, during his military service. The family moved often due to his father’s military service, with Rivera being educated in military bases in Germany, Panama, Washington, D. C., and Maryland. Rivera was born in Fort Ord, California on January 7, 1962. He played football at Seaside High School before graduating in 1980. In 1983, Rivera received several awards and honors for his performance, including being named a consensus All- American, Pac-10 Football Defensive Player of the Year along with Arizona linebacker Ricky Hunley, the Pop Warner Trophy, and being named MVP of the East–West Shrine Game. Rivera finished his career as the school’s all- time leader at the time in sacks with 22 and tackles with 336. He also once held theSchool’s single-season record for sacks with 13 and tackles for loss with 26.
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This page is based on the article Ron Rivera published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 10, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
