Cal Football Athletic Director Ron Rivera didn’t mince words in his press conference this week on players returning from the NFL to college.
“This is just my personal opinion, but I’m not a fan of it. When somebody makes a decision and goes in a certain direction, they’ve made their decision. I’m not sure it’s a good message when you allow that to change. Once they start engaging and get involved, I think they need to be held to it. You sign contracts, you make deals, you come into agreements. You’re supposed to hold true.”
Rivera oversees roster management as part of a larger problem in the sport.
“How long are we going to allow guys to come back and play college sports until they’re 30? We have a whole group of college athletes that are impacted. There’s a group of high school kids that are impacted. High school recruiting isn’t what it used to be. You don’t see the big numbers of 20, 25, 30 kids being signed to go to a university because now the transfer portal is such a big deal. More than 1% of all draft eligible college football players make it to the NFL. That’s about 375 to 400 kids a year out of about 16,000 that are draft eligible every year. Maybe getting an education is a little bit more important right now.”
On the UCLA opener, Rivera framed it as meaningful on multiple levels.
“Just the fact that we’re playing UCLA again, that’s huge for both universities. They’re one of our natural rivals. We’re going to rekindle that and hopefully keep it going. The statement it can make for the program is that hey, we’ve done the things we want to do and we’re continuing to get better. Whether you win or lose, how we react to it is also a statement. No matter what happens, we’re going to gain from it.”
There was also a mention of maybe thinking of playing USC again?
Taking the tarps off at Memorial Stadium for the full season is something he’s pointed toward as a positive sign for attendance.
“We’ve done some really good things with our ticket sales. Having marquee games at home means an awful lot. It means attendance will be up and it’s good for television. These are part of the metrics we’re being measured on, the butts in the seats and the eyeballs on television. When you can fill the stadium consistently week after week, you’re creating another revenue source that can really help benefit the program and our athletic department. If we can keep those tarps off all year, that doesn’t just impact football, it impacts the entire athletic department.”
Rivera was complimentary of Tosh Lupoi’s leadership through training camp.
“He’s all in and focused on one thing, getting this program to an elite level, winning football games and developing the players. His leadership style is a lot in line with what the Chancellor says. We’re trying to get away from a no culture and I think this is a real good start because you have a guy that wants it.”
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele heading into year two has shown visible growth.
“The biggest thing is seeing the ease with which he’s around his teammates. His skill set continues to grow and get better. Jordan’s doing a terrific job with the offense, and having Coach Rolovich there is special in terms of the way he works with our quarterbacks. Jaron is really soaking it all up and doing some really good things for us.”
Rivera kept his success metrics pretty close to the vest.
“Winning. That’s it. There’s no number. If we can win seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve games and get ourselves in the playoffs, that’s it. Just win.”
With media rights negotiations on the horizon and possible realignment coming, the stakes of the next two years are real.
“It’s not just stacking wins. It’s getting people in the seats, not putting those tarps back up. Last year we helped impact viewership to where the ACC is number two in conference viewership behind the SEC and ahead of the Big Ten. The West Coast viewers are very valuable. This is the sixth largest TV market in America. We can only sell it if the numbers continue to rise. We need fan engagement on television and in our stadiums, and we need it now.”
His expanded title, now reflecting his role leading the football program directly, came about for a practical reason.
“The idea is that everybody recognizes I’m leading the football program. When things come up, I need to be in those conversations directly, not getting them secondhand.”
The scrimmages during camp have reinforced his optimism.
“I’m impressed, I really am. There is a different vibe, a different feel. When we first started training camp, a lot of people were excited. I said, talk to me in two weeks. Well, two weeks in we had our second scrimmage and it was explosive. A lot of good things, a lot of positive things happening on both sides of the ball.”
The fundraising picture heading into the season has also been encouraging, though Rivera knows the work is just beginning.
“I’m pretty confident because we’ve only really begun to tap into it. There are still a lot of people looking for proof of concept. Just win. Put ourselves in that position and win. I think the interest really says wait a minute, this is for real. With the way Tosh does things, if people can really get a grasp and feel for what he’s doing and see it, the enthusiasm is real. It’s not just the first few days, it’s the same thing today. You come out and watch Jaron, watch what we’re doing on defense, and you feel really good and confident about things.”
UCLA is for all practical purposes — fan base, fundraising and recruiting — a must win game. The expectations of the Cal fan base are through the roof in the hopes that Tosh & Co. can deliver a whole new era of Cal football. And UCLA is something of an unknown quantity as well, with a new coach and new portal derived players — definitely not a Wagner level team. So an impressive win will go a long way to triggering regular sellouts of CMS. This game is an opportunity for the Bears to serve notice on the rest of the ACC that the preseason rankings mean nothing and that Cal will not be a pushover or an easy win. I’m not hoping for an “Indiana Miracle” but I’m sure as hell hoping this game portends the dawn of an era of Cal football that fans haven’t seen in Berkeley for a very long time.
Riv, That Was The Best Interview And Download Of Info That I Have Ever Heard From The Cal Athletic Department! And It Was Non-Scripted!