Bears won't renew Rivera's contract

[Zeno]

All the more makes me happy we didn't hire him as head coach.

 

[lobo]

If Pendergast had coached the Bears defense in the Super Bowl, the Bears would likely have been competitive.

Gambit is right. Rivera showed no scheming adjustment ability, not just in the Super Bowl, but also in the last third of the season.

Lot of truth to that. The defense that the Bears ran was Lovie Smith's defense. Does this mean that Rivera was not a good coach, no not so at all.
Living in Chicago I got to see a whole lot of the Bears, and what I saw was in the two most important games, counting last years Carolina game was two poor performances and that may have been his downfall. Rivera interviewed for every available spot and struck out.

I still believe he will be on the radar next year. Bottom line is KW made a whole lot more sense for us given the choice of the two.

 

[Mulli]

Lot of truth to that. The defense that the Bears ran was Lovie Smith's defense. Does this mean that Rivera was not a good coach, no not so at all.
Living in Chicago I got to see a whole lot of the Bears, and what I saw was in the two most important games, counting last years Carolina game was two poor performances and that may have been his downfall. Rivera interviewed for every available spot and struck out.

I still believe he will be on the radar next year. Bottom line is KW made a whole lot more sense for us given the choice of the two.

Hey Lobo, you think the Bears seeming inability to overcome the loss of Mike Brown and Tommy Harris in stopping the run factored into this?

 

[vinnymac]

There has to be a position for Rivera on this team. I am sure the linebackers and defensive line needs all the coaching they can get. Create a position for the man. It can't hurt to have a superbowl DC to help coach your team.

 

[lobo]

Hey Lobo, you think the Bears seeming inability to overcome the loss of Mike Brown and Tommy Harris in stopping the run factored into this?

Do you think I just fell off the turnip truck? What's wrong with you? Of course it had a whole lot to do with it. BUT. Against Carolina they made zero second half adjustments, and in the Big Game (technically you are not allowed to use the words SB without written permission if it is for commercial gain) this year, ditto, no adjustments. Last year Harris and Brown were there as you well know. This year, no and it showed.

Mulli, would you agree the fact that Rivera interviewed with five or six teams and no bites that something's rotten in the state of Denmark? Let's see if he or Cottrel (one of our former) gets the SD job as defensive coordinator. The GM there wants Cottrel.

 

[PJ1]

Wow. He was my early favorite for becoming our head coach. Now he is out of work when he appeared to be in demand. Very strange.

 

[JerkFace]

i heard he just got hired as the chargers LB coach

 

[BullheadCardFan]

i heard he just got hired as the chargers LB coach

Just saw that on ESPNews myself ..

 

[BullheadCardFan]

I heard that he made $450,000 last year and was seeking a Mil .. and Chicago did not want to pay it .. I wonder what he will be making in SD .. ???

 

[Renz]

Rivera joins the Chargers as linebackers coach
By John Clayton
ESPN.com

Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera may have lost out to Norv Turner for the chance to be San Diego's head coach, but the Chargers got the best of all worlds.

Rivera accepted a job to be a linebackers coach hours after learning his contract would not be extended by the Bears. For the Chargers, general manager A.J. Smith and Turner, it was a major coup in trying to move closer to a championship run.

After what was considered an excellent interview for the head coaching job, Rivera told the Chargers and Turner he was willing to discuss a position on the staff. Turner hired Ted Cottrell as the defensive coordinator, but Rivera was an object of private discussions all day.

For Rivera, the idea of joining the Chargers was another way to improve his stock for a future head coaching job. Rivera was defensive coordinator of a Super Bowl team, but he was pigeonholed in some ways. He was considered a 4-3 defensive specialist and so many of the openings this year wanted coaches with 3-4 experience.

The Chargers liked the idea of bringing in Rivera to help improve their third-and-long package along with coaching the linebackers. Coming from a 4-3 scheme, Rivera can offer suggestions to improve the third-down pass rush. Most 3-4 teams go to a four-man line in third-and-long situations.

Plus, Rivera could enhance his resume this season by learning the 3-4. He's had eight interviews for head coaching jobs but has not been able to secure one. Getting the 3-4 experience might be the edge he needs to get a 2008 head coaching job in what is expected to be a wide-open market.

Rivera will work with John Pagano, a linebacker coach who is currently under contract and expected to stay. The Chargers like having two linebacker coaches. Earliers this month they lost linebacker coach Greg Manusky, who joined the San Francisco 49ers as the defensive coordinator.

In getting Rivera, the Chargers believe they put a cap on what was an important day in getting ready for the 2007 season.

 

[Zeno]

From head coach candidate to position coach. He has to be disappointed.

I'm so glad we didn't get stuck with him.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Ouch, what a reversal in fortune.

 

[jefftheshark]

Ouch, what a reversal in fortune.

It's probably the stigma of having attended Cal that lead to his downfall. This should serve as an object lesson to all the parents of scholarship-worthy football players.

The SunDevil Shark

 

[nurnay]

He obviously took Chicago's lack of extension as a slap in the face and told them to go screw themselves. He'll be at least a DC next year, probably a head coach. Actually a very smart move going to a team with a great defense.

He got screwed by being on a Superbowl team. His odds of getting a HC gig were lessened because most teams hired their new HC while he was still in the playoffs.

Man, I wish we could have hired him for DC...

 

[Gambit]

i heard he just got hired as the chargers LB coach

His fall is almost as rapid and complete as Britney Spears'

 

[BACH]

PFT's take on the situation

RIVERA RELEASE STINKS TO US

Multiple published reports the Bears have parted ways with defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, whose contract was set to expire on Tuesday. Just last week, Rivera said that he planned on staying with the Bears.

The story was first reported on Monday afternoon by Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com, who has pretty much earned his salary for the year in the past 24 hours.

A league source tells us that the decision not to retain Rivera was made by head coach Lovie Smith. Given that information the decision bothers us, for two reasons.

First, it's no secret that Smith currently is trying to snag a long-term extension with the Bears. It's also no secret that Rivera's performance this season resulted in multiple interviews for head-coaching vacancies. So, by running Rivera out of town, Smith increased his own leverage as he enters his lame-duck season, since now the Bears don't have a handy in-house alternative.

Second, if Rivera wasn't going to be retained, why didn't the Bears let him walk sooner? On one hand, hanging onto Rivera gave him a full and fair chance to land a head-coaching job. If he'd been fired, his chances of getting one of the various head-coaching jobs would have been even slimmer.

And even though the Chargers' job was filled on Monday, the last expected vacancy disappeared 10 days ago when Wade Phillips became the coach of the Cowboys. So why not cut Rivera loose then?

With all that said, the talk in league circles is that this decision was in the works for a while, apparently due to the perception that the Bears' defense performed ineffectively in the second half of the season.

Rivera quickly found a landing space. He'll coach the linebackers in San Diego, a clear step backwards for a guy whose window of opportunity for a head-coaching job has, for now, slammed shut. And he'll add the 3-4 to his existing knowledge of the 4-3 used by the Eagles and the Tampa Two used by the Bears.

 

[lobo]

In the Chicago Trib this morning, the Reader's Digest version is that he is taking the rap for the poor defensive play during the Superbowl and essentially Lovie is saying it was my decision and the reasons are between he and I. That was pretty much the story.

 

[KingofCards]

Maybe he can still play linebacker?

 

[JeffGollin]

Initially, I thought "wouldn't it be neat to replace CP with Rivera?"

Then I thought about it.

Obviously, the following would depend on the personal situations and character of our various high-profile assistants, but doesn't the presence of too many would-be HC's set up the potential environment for a lot of politicking, back-biting, finger-pointing and jockeying for position among these guys?

I wouldn't expect it from Grimm (who has developed a better-than-comfortable relationship with Whiz over the years), but wouldn't it be human nature for other HC wannabees to be tempted to make decisions or set policy in order to advance their political agenda rather than to best help the team?

 

[BACH]

Initially, I thought "wouldn't it be neat to replace CP with Rivera?"

Then I thought about it.

Obviously, the following would depend on the personal situations and character of our various high-profile assistants, but doesn't the presence of too many would-be HC's set up the potential environment for a lot of politicking, back-biting, finger-pointing and jockeying for position among these guys?

I wouldn't expect it from Grimm (who has developed a better-than-comfortable relationship with Whiz over the years), but wouldn't it be human nature for other HC wannabees to be tempted to make decisions or set policy in order to advance their political agenda rather than to best help the team?

I agree.

Too many roosters in the henhouse usually means trouble.

But no reason to worry about that now, since Rivera is the new LB coach in SD.

 

[lobo]

Initially, I thought "wouldn't it be neat to replace CP with Rivera?"

Then I thought about it.

Obviously, the following would depend on the personal situations and character of our various high-profile assistants, but doesn't the presence of too many would-be HC's set up the potential environment for a lot of politicking, back-biting, finger-pointing and jockeying for position among these guys?

I wouldn't expect it from Grimm (who has developed a better-than-comfortable relationship with Whiz over the years), but wouldn't it be human nature for other HC wannabees to be tempted to make decisions or set policy in order to advance their political agenda rather than to best help the team?

Some of us might remember when the Cubs decided they didn't need a manager and they decided on the "Cubs College of Coaches," thats right sports fans who might know know, they had seven coaches and no manager. I believe the late great Leo Deroucher (sp) was one of them. Needless to say this was a total disaster. But people were still buying plenty of Wrigley Spearment gum, so what the heck.

This is something we don't want. The Redskins by the way have a group there of a number of potential HC's and former HC's as well. That may turn out not too be too pretty.

 

[az jam]

Some of us might remember when the Cubs decided they didn't need a manager and they decided on the "Cubs College of Coaches," thats right sports fans who might know know, they had seven coaches and no manager. I believe the late great Leo Deroucher (sp) was one of them. Needless to say this was a total disaster. But people were still buying plenty of Wrigley Spearment gum, so what the heck.

This is something we don't want. The Redskins by the way have a group there of a number of potential HC's and former HC's as well. That may turn out not too be too pretty.

And not a single one interviewed for all the head coach openings this year!

 

[Red Hawk]

Rivera joins the Chargers as linebackers coach
By John Clayton
ESPN.com

Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera may have lost out to Norv Turner for the chance to be San Diego's head coach, but the Chargers got the best of all worlds.

Rivera accepted a job to be a linebackers coach hours after learning his contract would not be extended by the Bears. For the Chargers, general manager A.J. Smith and Turner, it was a major coup in trying to move closer to a championship run.

After what was considered an excellent interview for the head coaching job, Rivera told the Chargers and Turner he was willing to discuss a position on the staff. Turner hired Ted Cottrell as the defensive coordinator, but Rivera was an object of private discussions all day.

For Rivera, the idea of joining the Chargers was another way to improve his stock for a future head coaching job. Rivera was defensive coordinator of a Super Bowl team, but he was pigeonholed in some ways. He was considered a 4-3 defensive specialist and so many of the openings this year wanted coaches with 3-4 experience.

The Chargers liked the idea of bringing in Rivera to help improve their third-and-long package along with coaching the linebackers. Coming from a 4-3 scheme, Rivera can offer suggestions to improve the third-down pass rush. Most 3-4 teams go to a four-man line in third-and-long situations.

Plus, Rivera could enhance his resume this season by learning the 3-4. He's had eight interviews for head coaching jobs but has not been able to secure one. Getting the 3-4 experience might be the edge he needs to get a 2008 head coaching job in what is expected to be a wide-open market.

Rivera will work with John Pagano, a linebacker coach who is currently under contract and expected to stay. The Chargers like having two linebacker coaches. Earliers this month they lost linebacker coach Greg Manusky, who joined the San Francisco 49ers as the defensive coordinator.

In getting Rivera, the Chargers believe they put a cap on what was an important day in getting ready for the 2007 season.

Just saw a line about it in the Republic. Had to check here to confirm it because it seemed unbelievable.

Linbackers coach