Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera got his start in professional football as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears. In fact, he was a member of the team’s dominant 1985 Super Bowl-winning defense. In all, Rivera played nine seasons in Chicago, winning plenty of games in the process.
But this Thursday, Rivera will try to send Chicago home with a loss when his Commanders play host to the Monsters of the Midway. If he can, it’ll mark the 101st victory of his coaching career and help propel the Commanders back over .500.
Rivera’s struggled to achieve a winning record during his Washington tenure. The closest he’s come was an 8-8-1 finish a season ago. But he did enjoy a good deal of success during his tenure with the Carolina Panthers. Between 2013 and 2017, Rivera coached the Panthers to four playoff appearances, three NFC South championships, and one Super Bowl berth.
Rivera, nicknamed “Riverboat Ron” for his proclivity for taking calculated risks, is highly regarded in football circles for his ferocious playing career, coaching intellect, and even his heroism in beating cancer. For all those reasons and more, Rivera has been compensated handsomely.
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What Is Ron Rivera’s Net Worth?
Ron Rivera's final treatment was today.
He didn't miss a game coaching.
(@WashingtonNFL)pic.twitter.com/6oa8uCRMxk
— ESPN (@espn) October 26, 2020
According to Sportico, Rivera gets paid at a rate of $8.5 million annually. That puts him in line with Buffalo’s Sean McDermott ($8.5 million) and Jacksonville’s Doug Pederson ($9 million) — not bad company to keep.
There are higher-earning head coaches. New England’s Bill Belichick is at the top of the list and reportedly earns around $20 million yearly. Pete Carroll, Sean McVay, Mike Tomlin, Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, Josh McDaniels, and Kyle Shanahan join Belichick in the eight-figure club.
But the 61-year-old Rivera has been in the coaching game for a full quarter-century now, including 13 years as a head coach, which means he’s had plenty of time to stack cheddar. And that shows in a number of ways, including Rivera’s substantial net worth.
Multiple sources, including Celebrity Net Worth, put Rivera’s in the neighborhood of $10-12 million. That puts him in line with other prominent names in the coaching profession, including Mike McCarthy ($9 million), McDermott ($10 million), and Pederson ($12 million).
Ron Rivera on how it feels to have experienced so much organizational change since facing the Bears a year ago:
"Very Fortunate." pic.twitter.com/tzzI2p8rjU
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) October 3, 2023
One of the reasons Rivera’s managed to stick around so long in the coaching profession — and be compensated so handsomely in the process — is that he knows better than to overlook any one opponent.
He knows any team, including his old one, can be dangerous and is wisely making sure that his Commanders don’t overlook the winless Bears in tonight’s Week 5 opening tilt (as per Sports Illustrated).
MORE: Is Ron Rivera Married?
“The thing I’m looking at more than anything else is that this is a team that’s going to come in, and they’re hungry to win,” Rivera said.
“It’s one of those games that you can’t fall asleep on a young team like that because they don’t know the difference. They go out every week, they want to win every week. They’re going to play and be very competitive. I think Coach (Matt) Eberflus is going to bring these guys in ready to roll.”