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Ronald Eugene Rivera  ( Riverboat Ron or Chico )

Born: January 7 , 1962 in Fort Ord,  CA

High School : Seaside ( CA )

As Exec : 1 Yr ( Full Record )

As Player : 9 Yrs ( Full Stats )

Twitter: @RiverboatRonHC

• 2x AP Coach/Year
• 2005 PFWA Asst. Coach/Year
• 2x PFWA Coach/Year
• 2x SN Coach/Year

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‘Riverboat’ Ron Rivera has a great nickname, but he’s not the gambler you think

New Washington Redskins coach Ron Rivera has embraced the “Riverboat Ron” nickname he earned for his aggressive fourth-down decision-making with the Carolina Panthers, though he prefers to be known more as a calculated risk-taker than a gambler. “Analytical Ron” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Early in his coaching career, Rivera was quite the opposite, and it led to calls for his job. In Week 2 of the 2013 season, Rivera’s third year at the helm of the Panthers, Carolina led Buffalo 20-17 with less than two minutes remaining. Facing fourth and one from the Buffalo 21-yard line, Rivera opted to kick a field goal to take a six-point lead. The decision was hardly surprising; since 2011, only one other NFL coach had gone for it fewer times on fourth down than Rivera. The Bills drove 65 yards for the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds, dropping Carolina to 0-2.

After the loss, the Charlotte Observer ran an online poll asking whether then-owner Jerry Richardson should fire Rivera immediately. Eighty-three percent of the respondents said yes.

Redskins to introduce Ron Rivera as head coach

Rivera’s transformation began the following week against the Giants. In the first quarter, on fourth and one from the New York 2-yard line, the Panthers went for it. Fullback Mike Tolbert scored a touchdown en route to a 38-0 Carolina win. Three weeks later, the Panthers converted a pair of fourth downs on an early touchdown drive in a 35-10 win at Minnesota.

ESPN’s David Newton, who helped coin the “Riverboat Ron” nickname after the win over the Vikings, asked Rivera a couple of days later whether, in hindsight, he would have gone for it on fourth down against Buffalo in Week 2.

“Which is the right call?” Rivera said with a smile . “The right call turns out to be one that you win with. If you win, it’s a great call.”

Good luck with that. pic.twitter.com/XUgR7Jdj8b — Josh (@GoldAndOrSmith) December 1, 2013

The Panthers won 11 of their last 12 games and converted 10 of their 13 fourth-down opportunities to close the season, resulting in an NFC South title.

“I needed to realize that playing conservative, playing close to the vest, playing by the book — sometimes you’ve just got to throw all that away,” Rivera told the Observer in 2014 .

But is Rivera truly a gambler on the gridiron? Not exactly.

The Panthers went for it on fourth down 123 times from 2011 to 2019, giving them just the 25th-most attempts in that span. The Redskins, by comparison, went for it 140 times in that same span. The average NFL team made nearly 137 fourth-down attempts.

The Panthers, though, were a winning team under Rivera, and so we can also look solely at fourth-down decisions in the first three quarters when the score was within eight points — eliminating obvious catch-up situations. In those situations, the Panthers went for it on fourth down 36 times from 2011 to 2019. Nine teams went for it more often in similar situations.

Brewer: Ron Rivera is traditional, hard-nosed and just what the Redskins need

Carolina was, however, one of the most successful teams when it gambled, converting 78 percent of its score-neutral fourth-down opportunities. Only the Kansas City Chiefs had more success moving the chains during that nine-year window, converting 81 percent of their score-neutral fourth-down chances. Like Rivera said, “If you win, it’s a great call.”

In fact, since that 2013 campaign, Rivera has gone for it on fourth down in score-neutral situations only 23 times, a below-average rate for the years 2014 to 2019 and just a few tries fewer than his new team attempted. (The Redskins went for it 20 times in those situations; the Ravens led the NFL with 53 score-neutral fourth-down attempts).

If you make one more adjustment and isolate only those score-neutral situations in which Rivera found himself in his own territory — true riverboat territory — he went for it on fourth down only four times in nine seasons. (The Ravens led the NFL with 11 attempts in those situations, and the Cowboys were next with 10.)

It was a similar story in the playoffs: Rivera went for it only seven times in seven postseason games, and just two of those were in the first three quarters with the score within eight points. None of them were with the Panthers bogged down in their own territory. Playoff teams as a whole went for it 206 times on fourth down (all situations) over 176 playoff games from 2011 to 2018, which averages to just over one attempt per game, slightly more often than Rivera.

But the nickname persisted, and Rivera occasionally did enough to justify it. In November, for example, Rivera’s Panthers had two fourth-down conversions in a 30-20 win over the Titans, including one on fourth and four from their own 36-yard line.

“I just felt we needed a little momentum,” Rivera told reporters of his decision to go for it in a situation when most NFL coaches would punt. “Sure, we had a 10-point lead, but they’d just gone down and scored on us, and that was disappointing to me. But I just felt, sometimes you just can’t measure those things with numbers. There’s a feel in the game, and it’s just one of those things I felt we had to do something.”

Read more on the Redskins :

Jack Del Rio to become Redskins defensive coordinator, will switch to a 4-3 scheme

Ron Rivera agrees to become Redskins’ next coach, begins building staff

After a decade of change everywhere but the top, Redskins finally move on from Bruce Allen

From ‘winning off the field’ to ‘damn good’ culture: Bruce Allen’s Redskins tenure in quotes

Svrluga: With Bruce Allen gone, Daniel Snyder has no more excuses

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Ron Rivera joins Twitter, embraces 'Riverboat' nickname

Ron rivera joined twitter on monday, embracing his "riverboat ron" nickname..

More NFL: Photos  |    Videos & GIFs |   Stories  | Training Camps  |  Johnny Manziel watch  

It's not usually news when someone joins Twitter. But it is news when a guy like Panthers coach Ron Rivera hops on the social media network and embraces a nickname he's pushed back on in the past.

Yes, America, rejoice and behold: RIVERBOAT RON LIVES.

Hey #Panthers fans, please welcome head coach Ron Rivera ( @RiverboatRonHC ) to twitter! — Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) July 21, 2014

Thus far, Rivera's just tweeted a pair of links to a "Make a Wish" feature Cam Newton 's involved in. There's no telling how active he'll actually be once he gets rolling.

But the crazy thing is he's embracing the "Riverboat Ron" nickname. Rivera previously pushed back a bit on the nickname; he's said he prefers something a little less crazy.

Good luck with that. pic.twitter.com/XUgR7Jdj8b — Josh Gold-Smith (@GoldAndOrSmith) December 1, 2013

Rivera reiterated his preference for a less wild nickname even after he analytically gambled his way into multiple Coach of the Year awards in 2013 .

Something must've changed, because it appears Rivera's on the Riverboat bandwagon now.

Look out, world.

Riverboat Ron has a one question for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. pic.twitter.com/HFOvzKfsxQ — ryan wilson (@ryanwilson_07) November 19, 2013

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“Riverboat Ron” is Sailing Towards the Waterfall

On January 1, 2020, Ron Rivera was hired as the head coach of the then Washington Football Team, now the Washington Commanders . Nicknamed Riverboat Ron for his aggressive and bold coaching decisions, it seemed as though a new era of football was just over the horizon for Washington. Rivera inherited a team that went just 3-13 the prior season and was a complete mess from top to bottom. The Jay Gruden era in Washington went down in flames, and Rivera had the job of building Washington back up from the ashes.

There was plenty of reason to be excited for the “Rivera era.” After all, Rivera had a 76-63 record in Carolina, where the Panthers made the playoffs four times in a five-year span, including three straight NFC South crowns. Washington was a team in desperate need of a cultural revival, and Ron Rivera presented the ability to build from the ground up and start again from scratch.

Fans were desperate for something positive to latch onto after almost a half-decade of pure disappointment.

In the years prior to Rivera’s hiring, Washington fans had watched the rise of Kirk Cousins, giving them a playoff birth in 2015, the first since Robert Griffin III’s career was ruined by his knee injuries. Fans watched as Cousins then walked away in free agency a few seasons later. When Cousins’ replacement, Alex Smith went down with a gruesome leg injury that almost ended his life, Washington started six different quarterbacks over the course of a mere two seasons. Fans watched as Jay Gruden started 0-5 in 2019 and was then fired after the abysmal start, and after two measly playoff births since 2008, fans were desperate for something good to watch.

Enter Ron Rivera. Washington also fired longtime GM Bruce Allen, a move that many fans felt was long overdo. The team changed its name, leaving the Washington Redskins behind and instead deciding to start a new era of Washington football with a brand new name. It couldn’t really get much worse for Washington, and fans were thankful that a fresh start had finally happened. A new coach, and new GM, and a new name was exactly what this franchised needed to get back on track.

Rivera’s first season in Washington did nothing but add more hype and excitement for the future.

In 2020, Riverboat Ron lead the Washington Football Team to a 7-9 record, a definite improvement from 3-13, and while it was still a losing season, fans were happy to see improvement. However, the real reason that the 2020 season was such a point of excitement was that since the NFC East was so bad that year, the Football Team somehow managed to win the division with a losing record, becoming only the third team in the 16-game era to make the playoffs with more losses than wins. There was plenty of reason to be excited for the future in Washington.

There were many, many small but wonderful victories for Washington over the course of the 2020 season.

For starters, Washington had the 4 th best team defense, according to Pro Football Reference. The defense singlehandedly kept them in games, not allowing a single team to score more than 20 points after week 11. The Football Team started 2-7 but won five of their last seven games. Washington fans know just how many bright spots there truly were that season. They destroyed the Cowboys 41-16 on Thanksgiving in Dallas, a fantastic win and truly a great feeling to humiliate their arch-rivals. In week 14, a few weeks later, they handed the Steelers their first loss of the season, stunning Pittsburgh 23-17 and starting the downfall of the Steelers that season. Despite losing by a combined 64 points in the first five losses of the season, the Football Team rallied down the stretch and gave fans something to cheer for.

The list of positives don’t end there, however. In a season full of COVID-19 and empty stadiums, Washington was still able to rise above the  difficulties that the pandemic presented and give football-desperate fans something good to watch. Let’s not forget also that Ron Rivera overcame cancer as well. Washington was able to persevere through its head coach battling with cancer, a global pandemic and empty stadiums, and name-change controversy, all to make the playoffs despite a losing record. Washington lost to the eventual Super Bowl champs in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild card round, but that really didn’t matter. What mattered is that there was hope, and Washington fans were excited to see how Rivera and Washington would build off of this first, successful season.

But this is where things start to come off the rails.

Going into the 2021 season, the Football Team made a plethora of moves to try to improve the team. Alex Smith won Comeback Player of the year in 2020 and deservingly so, and retired shortly after the season ended. Washington had released Dwayne Haskins after it was abundantly clear that Haskins was a bust . Washington needed a quarterback, and while it liked Taylor Heinicke after a solid performance against the Bucs in the wildcard round of the playoffs, they viewed him as a good backup. As a result, Washington turned to QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Coming off an overall successful stint with the Miami Dolphins, Ryan Fitzpatrick seemed to be a great answer for Washington. A gunslinger quarterback that would give Washington the big play potential it needed after Washington ranked as the 30 th total offense in 2020 according to StatMuse . They also signed WR Curtis Samuel from the Carolina Panthers, WR DeAndre Carter from the Chicago Bears, and WR Adam Humphries from the Tennessee Titans, giving Washington some much-needed receiving help. Along with the additions of rookie LB Jamin Davis and the highest paid free agent acquisition of the offseason for Washington in CB William Jackson, Washington looked ready to take that next step forward.

But it never happened.

In the very first game of the 2021 season, Ryan Fitzpatrick suffered a hip injury that ended up being his career-ending injury. I wrote about the struggles of the 2021 team here , but long story short the defense, and pretty much everything else for that matter, left so much to be desired. Washington’s 2021 defense was horrible, ranking 29 th in the league against the pass, 25 th in the league in scoring defense, and 32 nd in the league in third down conversion percentage, allowing opponents to convert 111 third downs.

The defense was bad, really bad. The offense jumped up from 30 th to 21 st in the league, but it was not good enough to win games on its own. The defense deserves a chunk of the blame for Washington’s recent failure, but Ron Rivera has had his own long list of reasons to blame for Washington’s failures.

Let’s go over some of Rivera’s miscues

First off, Rivera’s decision-making has been extremely poor. River was called Riverboat Ron for his aggressive decisions such as going for it on 4th and short, however the decisions that Riverboat Ron made proved to be just downright stupid. Bad two point conversion decisions , poor game management and so many more issues have plagued this team. Rivera’s decision to stick with OC Scott Turner and DC Jack Del Rio have proved to be ill-advised decisions. Specifically, the decision of sticking with Del Rio after the defense was atrocious last year and off to a horrible start this year has not been the best, at leas that is the way it looks so far.

The decision to draft Jamin Davis instead of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah looks bad. The decisions to constantly sign former Carolina Panthers rather than going out and getting a veteran player to fill a whole looks bad. The decision to keep Del Rio after last season looks bad. And finally, the bad decisions in the actual football games themselves is the cherry on top.

In summary, bad coaching decisions, mediocre draft decisions, and subpar free-agency decisions have all contributed to Rivera’s falling out with the fans.

Rivera is 15-21 so far in Washington, and fans are at their breaking point. Washington is only 1-2 so far this season, but some fans have already given up on Riverboat Ron. Riverboat Ron is sailing towards the waterfall, and if Washington can not turn it around soon, we’ll be looking at a brand new head coach for the Washington Commanders in 2023.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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Ron Rivera @RiverboatRonHC

Riverboat Ron is Officially the New Redskins Head Coach!

• Author: Chris Russell

It's official! "Riverboat Ron" Rivera is the new head coach of the Washington Redskins. 

Rivera added this on his official twitter account, which seems refreshing, weird and cool all at the same time that the new Redskins boss man has embraced social media. 

Oh and there's a new logo courtesy of ol' "Riverboat Ron" that he debuted. 

The Redskins officially announced what was formalized yesterday morning . They'll introduce Rivera Thursday at 2 PM. 

“After several meetings with Coach Rivera, it was clear he is the right person to bring winning football back to Washington D.C.,” Redskins Owner Dan Snyder said via press release.  “He is widely respected around the league as a man of great integrity and has proven to be one of the finest coaches in the country.”

It's not official yet, but it certainly seems like Jack Del Rio will be joining him as defensive coordinator. 

Also, Rivera will apparently be meeting shortly with offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell to see if BOTH sides can move forward. 

There were conflicting reports yesterday that Senior Vice President of Football Operations Eric Schaffer was fired , however that turned out to be untrue or at least very preliminary. 

On Monday, conflicting reports emerged on Redskins Pro Personnel Director, Alex Santos. 

Clearly, either someone is testing out who is leaking reports inside Redskins Park or people are jumping to conclusions. 

It seems like Rivera, correctly, will take his time to evaluate who he wants to work with and who he doesn't. 

I have ZERO problem with this and I am also glad that he's not immediately firing people that he doesn't know, hasn't worked with or maybe doesn't have an obvious replacement for (Del Rio for Greg Manusky). 

It also shows that Dan Snyder is listening and correctly allowing the culture changer to run the show. As he should.

There's a new sheriff in town and he's here to clean up a mess. It's Riverboat Ron and it's 2020! Happy New Year, Redskins fans! Happy new decade Redskins fans. This one can't be as destructive as the last one. 

Chris Russell is the Publisher of Maven & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com . Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621. 

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River Hill To Maryland To Ravens: Beau Brade On His Path As Undrafted Free Agent

Undrafted rookie Beau Brade has written a remarkable hometown hero story, from River Hill High School to the University of Maryland to earning a spot as a safety with the Baltimore Ravens.

Brade, 22, is from Clarksville, Md. A standout at River Hill, he was the 2019 Howard County Defensive Player of the Year. He had the second-most career tackles in Howard County history (450) and broke his school’s record for assisted tackles.

Brade played for Maryland from 2020-2023 under head coach Michael Locksley, who is looking to take the Terps to a fourth straight bowl game this year.

“It’s been an amazing experience with that coaching staff,” Brade said on The Arthur Maulet Show Sept. 10 . “I know there’s been a lot of [turnover] the four years I was there, but I know every coach that I had, the assistant coaches I had, helped me a lot [with] my game and helped me be the player I am now.”

Brade was instrumental in shaping Maryland’s football culture and defense, serving as a team captain in 2023 and earning honorable mention All-Big Ten selections in 2022 and 2023.

As a junior in 2022, he led the Terps with 85 tackles and added five pass breakups, four tackles for loss, two interceptions and two forced tumbles. As a senior in 2023, Brade led the way for a second straight season with 75 total tackles. He had a career-high 10 solo tackles against eventual national champion Michigan.

After his final season of college ball, Brade declared for the 2024 NFL Draft. He was expected to be chosen, but he didn’t hear his name called. Multiple teams were reportedly interested in signing him as an undrafted free agent, but he ended up staying local.

Brade made the active roster out of training camp following a productive preseason.

“Me coming here to the Ravens, everything happens for a reason,” Brade said. “Whether that’s how I’m impacted, being on such a great organization, or how I can impact people that are watching me or are around me, I feel fortunate. I feel like everything happens for a reason, so I’m trying to make the most of it.”

The Ravens have a solid track record of finding undrafted talent. Players like Super Bowl champion Jameel McClain serve as an inspiration to Ravens undrafted free agents. No matter where young players come from, they have a purpose with the team.

Still, entering the NFL as an undrafted player is a tough path. Not many succeed going down that road, but Brade is fortunate to have teammate Arthur Maulet by his side to guide him along the way. Maulet began his career as an undrafted rookie for the New Orleans Saints, and since 2017, he has been able to stay in the league and prove his worth.

“I tell a lot of guys, ‘Once you get that UD in front of your name, man, you signed up for the NFL. This is an everyday job now. Seven days a week, you’ve got to work until you retire,'” Maulet said. “If you don’t have that mindset of being an undrafted guy then you’re not going to be in the league for long at all.”

Brade has been able to fit in just fine with his teammates. He understands Baltimore’s culture and what it entails to be part of the organization. He believes sticking it out in College Park has given him a chance to fit in with the Ravens, and he hopes other Terps can follow his path.

“I just hope that the guys that are there now and in the future see who came before them and just keep that work [ethic] and just ball out,” Brade said.

For more from Brade, watch the full conversation here .

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox

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Caleb Williams' Week 1 struggles likely to be meaningless blip in expected rise

There's reason to expect caleb williams to make giant leaps forward quickly after a rough debut., by josh schrock, bears insider • published september 12, 2024 • updated on september 12, 2024 at 4:56 pm.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Caleb Williams' rough NFL debut is unlikely to be a precursor of things to come. Rookie quarterbacks almost always struggle at some point early in their career, and the great ones quickly learn from it and use it as fuel to take a giant leap forward.

Houston Texans star quarterback C.J. Stroud, who the Bears will face Sunday night, knows all about this. Stroud had one of the best seasons by a rookie quarterback in NFL history last season, but his coming-out party wasn't without a few duds from Week 5 to Week 7.

“He’s definitely a playmaker, somebody who can expend plays and make all the cool throws, a tough player, takes hits," Stroud told Houston reporters Thursday when asked about Williams. "And [he’s] really just really talented, so I definitely do think that he has great things coming in his career, and I definitely do think he’ll get his rhythm going."

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Rhythm is something Williams needs to polish as the 1-0 Bears travel to Houston after an improbable 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans.

Williams went just 14-for-29 for 93 yards in his NFL debut. The No. 1 overall pick pointed to several things he can clean up, specifically noting the tempo in his drops and how it impacted his accuracy.

Accuracy was one of Williams' calling cards coming out of USC. He flashed precision and touch throughout camp but missed several throws that should have been easy completions against the Titans.

The Bears are confident Williams' trademark accuracy will return as he gets his feet under him and fine-tunes his footwork, which got sloppy in the opener.

"I think for Caleb, it’s about reps, and the more time he is out there," offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said Thursday at Halas Hall. "I know Caleb had mentioned the tempo of his feet. I think just playing with that good clean tempo, and we mentioned clean eyes, clean feet, and sticking to that. That’ll obviously lead to an improved accuracy on a couple throws here and there. But, like we said, we have seen him make all these throws throughout the course of practice, throughout his college career, and have all the confidence in the world that each week that will get incrementally better and we’ll be excited with what we see."

Williams got sped up in the opener against Tennessee. That was likely due to a combination of adrenaline, some shaky interior protection, and frustration as the offense continued to struggle.

But after going over the film with Waldron and the Bears' staff, Williams believes those critical steps forward are on the horizon.

An early speed bump did not shake his confidence.

"I think having a realization, like I said earlier, understanding that it's not throws that I usually miss throughout all the time that I've been playing quarterback," Williams said. "I think that's one, and then also understanding it's the NFL. They've got good players on the other side. They're gonna make plays. Like a few batted balls that we had. Go in the right spot, throwing the right shoulder, trying to throw it over back, all these other things that sometimes a player's gonna get his arm up, bat it down.

"Having an understanding of those two things is very important to keep growing and progressing and to not lose faith in whether it's the play, the team, yourself, offense, whatever the case may be, you keep that confidence and understand that we obviously play as well as we wanted to and we came out 24-17 Chicago Bears win."

Playing with better tempo, rhythm, and cleaner footwork should help Williams settle down as his NFL journey begins.

But it's also up to Waldron to make life easy for the rookie quarterback. That's why he was brought to Chicago to oversee the development of this prized prospect.

Waldron is highly-regarded as a creative play-caller, but Sunday isn't going on his career highlight reel. There were very few easy throws to get Williams in rhythm and settle him down. That needs to change Sunday when Williams makes his first career road start.

"I think any time we can get the ball-out plays, where we have guys and we can get those things going, those elements do have an impact on the quarterback," Waldron said. "I think early on in the game, we didn’t have some of those elements in place. And then I think about the completion to Keenan [Allen] and some of those where we had some multiple plays where we were able to get the ball out right around that two-second mark, get the ball out, get the ball in space.

"We just need to keep doing a better job as a staff in terms of manufacturing those early on and get us rolling."

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The Bears built a roster to support and, when necessary, carry Williams during the early stages of his development. But that supporting cast might be down two key members Sunday as wide receivers Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen have yet to practice this week.

If Odunze and/or Allen can't play Sunday, more will be placed on Williams' shoulders.

Even if that is the case, Waldron and the Bears just want Williams to "be where his feet are" and execute the plan.

If you ask Stroud, that's the key to success at the NFL level. If Williams can master the art of boring quarterback play, he'll rise as expected.

"Be yourself," Stroud said when asked about his advice for Williams. "Understand whatever got you here is just good enough. You don’t have to be a superhero. You don’t have to try to make all the plays. Sometimes, the boring plays are good."

Boring, accurate, and efficient Caleb is who the Bears want to see starting Sunday in Houston. He needs to be a chain mover before he can become the cheat code that Stroud has become.

But that's in his future. Just as a pebble doesn't alter the course of a river, an expected rookie dud won't change the planned trajectory of the Bears' new signal-caller.

But Caleb Williams has to master the little things before the march up to where Stroud sits begins.

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