Rivera has plenty of fire in the boiler for RW...
Mickey Spagnola
dallascowboys.com:
Rivera confirmed here on Thursday his contract indeed is expiring, meaning he also could legitimately be eligible to become a Cowboys' assistant coach if Jones decides to pass on him as a head coach and hire Norv Turner as he seemed headed before calling at least a five-day timeout on announcing the team's next head coach.
Rivera also insists neither he nor his agent have been contacted by the Cowboys, as are the rules for coaches still involved in the playoffs, and that he only knew of the team's possible interest when his wife called Wednesday after practice to alert him to the reports circulating on various Internet sites. But having said that, he quickly said he would welcome that call from Jones, and did not dismiss the possibility of entertaining overtures of making a lateral move to the Cowboys as at least defensive coordinator.
Rivera is held in high esteem by the Bears' players. Bears starting weak-side linebacker Lance Briggs says when asked about the possibility of his defensive coordinator becoming a head coach, "When he becomes a head coach, it will be the first deserving head coaching job I've heard about in a while."
He's got the necessary football cred with his players. "It's the respect factor he gets," says defensive end Alex Brown, a five-year veteran who arrived in Chicago before Rivera returned from a five-year coaching stay in Philadelphia. "He knows what he's talking about. He knows how to call it. He actually played in a Super Bowl, so he gets a little benefit of the doubt (from the players)."
And Rivera evidently isn't uncomfortable taking charge, even if that means getting a tad emotional, something he might have learned from his former Bears teammate Steve McMichael, who as Rivera's story goes, gets up in front of the group the night before the Bears wiped out New England in Super Bowl XX and, for effect, throws a chair so hard it sticks right in the chalkboard.
Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye tells the story about halftime in the locker room in an early-season game (he thinks Minnesota) when the defense was struggling. He said two of the team's defensive players were in the training room "complaining about something." Evidently Rivera overhears them.
"He runs in there, jumps on one of the training tables, and rips into 'em," Ogunleye says. "He says, 'Maybe I didn't put you in the right play, got you in a bad situation, but that doesn't stop you from giving effort. If I call a play, you run it.'
"He will treat you like a man, but when you don't do the right thing, he'll tell you about it. He won't let anything slide."
dallascowboys.com:
Rivera confirmed here on Thursday his contract indeed is expiring, meaning he also could legitimately be eligible to become a Cowboys' assistant coach if Jones decides to pass on him as a head coach and hire Norv Turner as he seemed headed before calling at least a five-day timeout on announcing the team's next head coach.
Rivera also insists neither he nor his agent have been contacted by the Cowboys, as are the rules for coaches still involved in the playoffs, and that he only knew of the team's possible interest when his wife called Wednesday after practice to alert him to the reports circulating on various Internet sites. But having said that, he quickly said he would welcome that call from Jones, and did not dismiss the possibility of entertaining overtures of making a lateral move to the Cowboys as at least defensive coordinator.
Rivera is held in high esteem by the Bears' players. Bears starting weak-side linebacker Lance Briggs says when asked about the possibility of his defensive coordinator becoming a head coach, "When he becomes a head coach, it will be the first deserving head coaching job I've heard about in a while."
He's got the necessary football cred with his players. "It's the respect factor he gets," says defensive end Alex Brown, a five-year veteran who arrived in Chicago before Rivera returned from a five-year coaching stay in Philadelphia. "He knows what he's talking about. He knows how to call it. He actually played in a Super Bowl, so he gets a little benefit of the doubt (from the players)."
And Rivera evidently isn't uncomfortable taking charge, even if that means getting a tad emotional, something he might have learned from his former Bears teammate Steve McMichael, who as Rivera's story goes, gets up in front of the group the night before the Bears wiped out New England in Super Bowl XX and, for effect, throws a chair so hard it sticks right in the chalkboard.
Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye tells the story about halftime in the locker room in an early-season game (he thinks Minnesota) when the defense was struggling. He said two of the team's defensive players were in the training room "complaining about something." Evidently Rivera overhears them.
"He runs in there, jumps on one of the training tables, and rips into 'em," Ogunleye says. "He says, 'Maybe I didn't put you in the right play, got you in a bad situation, but that doesn't stop you from giving effort. If I call a play, you run it.'
"He will treat you like a man, but when you don't do the right thing, he'll tell you about it. He won't let anything slide."
posted by The Gryphon at 7:41 PM
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