Red Hawk
JUST WIN!
Bears permit Cardinals, Falcons to talk to Rivera
By Larry Mayer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons have both requested and received permission from the Bears to interview defensive coordinator Ron Rivera for their head-coaching position.
Ron Rivera has spent 14 seasons as a player and assistant coach with the Bears.
In three seasons on Lovie Smith’s staff, Rivera has led a defense that ranks at or near the top of the NFL in several categories.
The unit scored a franchise-record and NFC-high six touchdowns in 2004, led the NFL in points allowed and ranked second in total yards in 2005 and topped the league with 44 takeaways in 2006.
A Bears linebacker for nine seasons from 1984-92, Rivera returned to the team in 2004 after spending the previous five years as linebackers coach under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rivera started his coaching career as a defensive quality control assistant on Dave Wannstedt's staff with the Bears in 1997-98.
Rivera told ChicagoBears.com late last week that he would be excited if given the chance to become an NFL head coach but also enjoys working under Smith in his current position.
“More than anything, it most certainly would be a neat opportunity, it really would be,” Rivera said at the time. “I do know that I’ve got a great job working for probably the greatest franchise in sports in a great city. I’m very happy with it.
“If I get the opportunity, great, so be it. But if not, it’s a great situation here. I’ve got a great group of coaches I work with. I work for a very good head coach. If it happens, it happens. If not, maybe it’s not meant to be at the time.”
Rivera interviewed last offseason with the Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Rams for head-coaching positions that were ultimately filled by Mike McCarthy and Scott Linehan, respectively.
On Monday, the Cardinals fired Dennis Green and the Falcons let go of Jim Mora Jr., two coaches who began their tenures in 2004, the same year that Smith was hired by the Bears.
Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves, who signed a three-year contract extension with Arizona on Monday, is familiar with Rivera, having worked as a Bears regional scout during Rivera's entire playing career in Chicago.
NFL rules permit teams to interview assistant coaches who are still involved in the playoffs during the week between the end of the regular season and the start of the wildcard round.
Smith, meanwhile, is vowing to do everything in his power to help Rivera land a top job—just as Mike Martz did for him when Smith served as Martz’s defensive coordinator with the Rams.
“I’m the head football coach of the Chicago Bears right now based on my head coach at the time, Mike Martz, doing everything he possibly could to help me get the job,” Smith said. “I’ll do the same thing for Ron Rivera, and I think he’ll be an excellent head football coach in the National Football League."
By Larry Mayer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons have both requested and received permission from the Bears to interview defensive coordinator Ron Rivera for their head-coaching position.
Ron Rivera has spent 14 seasons as a player and assistant coach with the Bears.
In three seasons on Lovie Smith’s staff, Rivera has led a defense that ranks at or near the top of the NFL in several categories.
The unit scored a franchise-record and NFC-high six touchdowns in 2004, led the NFL in points allowed and ranked second in total yards in 2005 and topped the league with 44 takeaways in 2006.
A Bears linebacker for nine seasons from 1984-92, Rivera returned to the team in 2004 after spending the previous five years as linebackers coach under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rivera started his coaching career as a defensive quality control assistant on Dave Wannstedt's staff with the Bears in 1997-98.
Rivera told ChicagoBears.com late last week that he would be excited if given the chance to become an NFL head coach but also enjoys working under Smith in his current position.
“More than anything, it most certainly would be a neat opportunity, it really would be,” Rivera said at the time. “I do know that I’ve got a great job working for probably the greatest franchise in sports in a great city. I’m very happy with it.
“If I get the opportunity, great, so be it. But if not, it’s a great situation here. I’ve got a great group of coaches I work with. I work for a very good head coach. If it happens, it happens. If not, maybe it’s not meant to be at the time.”
Rivera interviewed last offseason with the Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Rams for head-coaching positions that were ultimately filled by Mike McCarthy and Scott Linehan, respectively.
On Monday, the Cardinals fired Dennis Green and the Falcons let go of Jim Mora Jr., two coaches who began their tenures in 2004, the same year that Smith was hired by the Bears.
Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves, who signed a three-year contract extension with Arizona on Monday, is familiar with Rivera, having worked as a Bears regional scout during Rivera's entire playing career in Chicago.
NFL rules permit teams to interview assistant coaches who are still involved in the playoffs during the week between the end of the regular season and the start of the wildcard round.
Smith, meanwhile, is vowing to do everything in his power to help Rivera land a top job—just as Mike Martz did for him when Smith served as Martz’s defensive coordinator with the Rams.
“I’m the head football coach of the Chicago Bears right now based on my head coach at the time, Mike Martz, doing everything he possibly could to help me get the job,” Smith said. “I’ll do the same thing for Ron Rivera, and I think he’ll be an excellent head football coach in the National Football League."
