Jan. 27, 2026, 6:03 p.m. ET
The ol’ “Riverboat” may be navigating back towards the NFL.
According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera has interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals regarding their head-coaching position. The 64-year-old has not coached in the pros since 2023, and spent this past season as the general manager for the University of California, Berkeley, his alma mater.
Rivera was the head coach of the Panthers from 2011 to 2019. He finished his near-nine-year tenure—a run highlighted by three straight NFC South titles (2013 to 2015), an NFC championship (2015) and a pair of NFL Coach of the Year awards (2013 and 2015)—as the winningest coach in franchise history.
After the Panthers moved on following the 2019 campaign, Rivera was hired by the then-Washington Football Team as their head coach in 2020. He’d last through 2023, having amassed a combined 26-40-1 mark over four seasons.
Arizona’s head-coaching vacancy is one of just three such openings that remain.
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