When the Carolina Panthers fired Ron Rivera, everyone was in shock. While the Panthers have had their struggles this season, Rivera was a coach that turned around that team. But Rivera is a coach that’s likely to land on his feet fairly quickly this offseason as he seeks a new team.
The former Chicago Bears player and defensive coordinator, Rivera is reportedly interested in two landing spots that aren’t projected to have openings, according to CBS Sports’ Jason LaCanfora. One of those landing spots would be the Bears.
The two positions that would most closely appeal to Rivera on a personal level, according to several sources who know him well, would be the Chargers, with a chance to return to his Southern California roots, or the Bears, where he played and coached.
The only problem is that both of those jobs aren’t open and don’t appear to be open heading into the offseason. Some coaching positions that could open in the offseason include with the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons or, depending on things go the rest of the year, the Dallas Cowboys.
While the Bears haven’t lived up to expectations this season, Matt Nagy remains in firm control of that team since taking over as head coach in 2018.
Even if Rivera decided to return to his defensive coordinator roots, the Bears are one year into Chuck Pagano’s tenure as defensive coordinator, and it’s not likely they’d move on from him so quickly. Not that they should, considering he’s coaching the defense allowing the fourth-fewest points in the league.
But it’s nearly a certainty that Rivera will return in 2020 as a head coach in the NFL. Just not in Chicago.
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