Ron Rivera Officially Named Cal Football Athletic Director

Cal football now appears to be entirely independent of the athletic department.

With a contract now officially inked, the California Golden Bears have proceeded to set in stone what has already been occurring in name. Ron Rivera is now officially the main overseer of Cal football, with a direct line to the Chancellor’s Office. This essentially bifurcates the Cal Athletic Department, which now oversees all non-football operations.

Cal Football@CalFootball

Leading the way 🐻👏 Ron Rivera will serve as our General Manager and Athletic Director of Football through March 2028. #GoBears

5:12 PM · Jul 10, 2026 · 103K Views

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Rivera has already been making many of the tough decisions for football in the last few years, starting with the decision to replace Justin Wilcox with Tosh Lupoi. He has been instrumental in NIL work that has yielded multiple top 25 classes, working in tandem with assistant GM Marshall Cherrington and Recruiting Chief of Staff Benji Palu. And he has been an essential fundraiser, helping Cal rake in record numbers in athletic donations in the past few seasons in the ACC.

Rivera will be in charge of this program for at least the next two years, which will be the most crucial moments in the future of this program. The next round of conference realignment is likely to kickoff in the next year, as TV contracts are all set to expire at the end of the decade and negotiations for which schools will end up where. Rivera, along with Chancellor Rich Lyons and head coach Tosh Lupoi, will provide a very established leadership triumvirate to advocate for the future of the California Golden Bears in the major football landscape.

There’s a lot of work ahead, but the foundation has been laid to give the Bears their best shot to win in the present and the near future.