Report: Prominent Cal football donors withhold money over Ron Rivera role

Prominent donors to the Cal football name, image and likeness collective said they won't give any more money to the organization until former NFL head coach Ron Rivera is given the authority to run the Golden Bears program, SFGate reported.

Rivera, a former All-American linebacker at Cal, was hired March 20 as the school's first football general manager. He was tasked with focusing on building the program to "compete and win at the highest level" as well as fundraising.

But that isn't enough for two board members of the California Legends Collective, a third-party NIL collective, who want Rivera to hold a role similar to that of Andrew Luck at Cal's Bay Area neighbor, Stanford, and are sharing that idea with other donors.

Luck was hired in November.

"I think we feel a certain sense of obligation to inform the donors that we have brought in and cultivated for the past several years who have helped fund the collective and help generate the success that we've generated," Kevin Kennedy, president of California Legends Collective, told SFGate. "We owe them full insights into what we're personally doing with our investments. I think it behooves all of us, and we firmly believe that, to have just clear reporting lines, and have it be clearly specified that Ron Rivera is in control of football."

At Cal, Rivera reports to university chancellor Rich Lyons. Head coach Justin Wilcox reports to athletic director Jim Knowlton.

Kennedy said that isn't right.

"You don't hire Mario Andretti and ask him to sit in the passenger seat, right?" he told SFGate. "There's a reason that you bring someone like that on staff: In order to give him control."

In response to questions posed by SFGate, Lyons responded with this statement:

"I am confident we have the right people, in the right places, doing the right things in support of a Cal Athletics football program that can and will excel. The world of intercollegiate sports is changing rapidly, and Cal will continue to adapt rapidly to that."

Cal finished the 2024 season with a 6-7 (2-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) record. Stanford was 3-9 overall and 2-6 in its first year in the ACC.

--Field Level Media