Berkeley – The new General Football Manager Ron Rivera with journalists for 35 minutes through a zoom call on Monday, addressing two problems in the minds of the Golden Bears fans:
– Rivera said he is gathering donors to provide the necessary money to avoid the exit of the closures to the transfer portal, but emphasized that all football programs in the country are dealing with this.
He said efforts were made to prevent the star corridor Jaydn Ottt from going out to Oklahoma.
“It’s not the end of the world,” he said about defects. “We have an action plan.”
– Hey, also that he has the highest authority on all aspects of the football program, even on hiring and dismissal issues, and that directly informs Chancellor Rich Lyons. At least one couple to heavy batter donors have indicated that they wanted guarantees that Rivera has that influence.
Rivera, a former All-America supporter in Cal who was twice as a coach at the NFL, agrees to meet the journalists after a wild day last week, where a picture of the players, including five runners, the transfer portal leied the transfer portal.
Ott was the headline, but the Bears also lost to the closed Jack Endries, their upper receiver a year ago, against Texas. And not. 2 The Jaivian Thomas corridor, a McClymonds High graduate from Oakland who played a key role last season when Ott was limited by a persistent ankle injury, also indicated his intention to transfer.
Rivera said Cal anticipated that certain players could decide to leave.
“Yes, there is at least one that we want it not to be,” he said, an apparent reference to Ott, who ran for 1,315 yards in 2023.
He is often negotiating between the program and a player entering the portal, Rivera said. He said there were discussions with Ottt, a graduate student who was consulted one of the best runners available on the transfer portal.
“Did we give Jaydn Ott a great opportunity? I think we did,” he said. “Sometimes an athlete feels that I am achieved everything I can here, it is possible that I keep going. If that is what the young man decides, we just want to wish him the best.”
When asked if CAL had enough resources to offer against other schools, Rivera acknowledged: “A fairly strong competition reappears …………………..
Regarding Thomas, who still had a public statement about his plans in the future, Rivera would only say that the program tries to have conversations with anyone who wishes to retain.
Putting Cal by equalizing financially with elite programs is part of the new position it occupies. For donors, he suggested: “This is not an expense. This is an investment in a photo of being excellent.”
In addition to being able to offer null money athletes, universities are expected to be approved to make annual payments of participation in profits for a total of $ 20.5 million to athletes that begin in autumn.
Coming from a professional fund, Rivera said the NFL has a balance with the exchange of income and a salary limit that is absent in the new university sports scene.
“There are no chaos that is happening right now,” he said.
Rivera, who said that he and chief coach Justin Wilcox have a collaborative relationship, was repeatedly asked if he has the highest authority over the program.
“I have that, apart from the chancellor,” he said. “I would like to believe that he will trust me, which I think he does.”
Rivera returned to his Alma Mater because he wants the football team to stand out. Wilcox has taken the bear to the consecutive bowl, but CAL has not had a winning season since 2019.
“We have to be relevant again,” Rivera said, added that Het the program to compete for ACCT for ACCT championships and to enter the American football playoffs. “I know that is Justin’s goal. That’s why I’m here.”
