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Welcome to Wrexham… in League One: What happens next?

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Welcome to Wrexham… in League One: What happens next?

As Wrexham’s lap of honour after clinching a second promotion in as many years reached the Tech End, where the Racecourse Ground’s most vociferous supporters can be found, Paul Mullin decided to take charge of the PA microphone.

“I saw my mate the other day,

He said to me he’d seen the ‘white Pele’,

So I asked, ‘Who is he?’

He goes by the name of Elliot Lee…”

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Mullin’s voice may not quite match the standard of his finishing in front of goal. But the thousands of partying supporters didn’t care, as they joined in with a song that, like its subject, has become a real terrace favourite these past couple of years.


(Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)

Next up was a ditty in honour of Arthur Okonkwo, the on-loan Arsenal goalkeeper. By now, the microphone had been returned to its rightful owner but that didn’t matter as the 22-year-old danced along to the fans chanting his name.

Over the next 10 or so minutes, most of the squad received a name-check, including Mullin, James McClean, Steven Fletcher, Ollie Palmer and Max Cleworth, the clearly shy defender being touchingly nudged forward to bask in the adoration by captain Ben Tozer.

It felt fitting, because promotion had been a real team effort, from Lee’s early goals which helped make up for the absence of the injured Mullin in the early weeks of the season or how new arrivals Okonkwo, McClean and George Evans helped take Wrexham to the next level.

Then there was Cleworth, who made the right-sided centre-half position his own from Christmas onwards, despite his only starts in the opening months coming in the cups as manager Phil Parkinson rotated his squad.

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Max Cleworth and Ryan Barnett celebrate promotion (Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)

All have a strong case to be named what has to be the most keenly-fought Player of the Year award in a long, long time, as does Mullin for hitting such a rich vein of form at just the right time.

The togetherness that has powered Wrexham to back-to-back promotions will be tested again next season, when the club returns to the third tier for the first time since 2005.

Parkinson admits the step up is likely to be a “bigger one” than last summer’s return to the EFL. But he also believes there’s plenty more to come from a club whose highest-ever position is 15th in the old Second Division (now the Championship).

“We have progressed quickly,” says the 56-year-old. “But I said last year when we won promotion (from the National League) that there’s a lot more chapters to be written. I firmly believe that’s still the case now.”

So, what can Wrexham expect next season? Are they equipped to thrive once again at a higher level? And what personnel changes will be needed?

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How will life in the third tier differ to the last couple of years?

You only have to look at some of the teams who Wrexham could face next season to realise just what a big deal this promotion is for a club who not so long ago seemed marooned in non-League.

For a start, there’s a trio of clubs who were in the Premier League — Reading, Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic — in the not-too-distant past. Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, are going up, probably to be joined by Derby County. But that still leaves Bolton Wanderers, currently sitting third in the table, potentially on the roster for next season.


Charlton Athletic are one of the bigger sides in League One currently (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Then, there are the sides in danger of dropping out of the Championship. As it stands with three games remaining, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town, a Premier League team just five years ago, occupy the final two relegation places above already doomed Rotherham United.

But Birmingham City, Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers could all yet drop, opening up the possibility of not only some big-name visitors to The Racecourse next season but also some cracking away trips to famous old grounds such as Hillsborough or St Andrew’s.

Midfielder Lee is certainly relishing the step up. “There could be some massive teams in League One next year,” he says. “We’ve come so far from being in the National League a year ago to be potentially playing massive teams next season.

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“It will be hard next year. But that’s why we are here — we want to test ourselves against better players and better teams.”


Will Wrexham suddenly be up against rivals with much deeper pockets?

There’s no doubt the spending power of their new peers will be much bigger. Wednesday, for instance, had a wage bill of £14million ($17.4m) in a 2022-23 season that saw Darren Moore’s side clinch promotion via the League One play-offs.

Even with their Hollywood backing, Wrexham are unlikely to be able to top such a sum. However, the Welsh club’s extraordinary ability to generate cash — revenue for the current season has soared beyond £20million, putting them on a par with most Championship outfits — means they’ll be competitive in the market.

With League One clubs allowed to spend up to 60 per cent of their annual turnover on wages (up from 55 per cent in League Two), Wrexham’s healthy balance sheet should provide Parkinson with the necessary funds.


How do promoted teams usually fare in League One?

In the last five seasons, five clubs have gone straight back down just a year after winning promotion, including Carlisle United this time around. Forest Green Rovers, Swindon Town, Northampton Town and Tranmere Rovers complete the list, while Bury disappeared altogether after being declared bankrupt before the 2018-19 campaign got under way.

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More encouragingly, the three teams who went up automatically last season have all adapted well with Stevenage, Leyton Orient and Northampton sitting ninth, 10th and 11th respectively.

Those expecting another tilt at success by Wrexham in 2024-25 may wish to take note of how no promoted team has gone up again the following season since 2018-19. Or, in fact, even made the play-offs, underlining just how difficult a step up this can be.


Are we expecting a busy summer in the transfer market?

Yes. Unlike a year ago when Wrexham needed just a bit of fine-tuning thanks to a recruitment model that had effectively future-proofed the squad by prioritising players with League Two experience when still in the National League, this time around more of an overhaul will be needed.

Parkinson admitted as much following his fifth career promotion as a manager. “We can now start planning for the summer and build a squad which can hopefully be competitive,” he says.

Any overhaul is likely to be helped by several senior players being out of contract, including three centre-halves in Aaron Hayden, Jordan Tunnicliffe and captain Tozer. Luke Young, the club’s longest-serving player, is another whose current deal expires on June 30 along with defender Callum McFadzean and goalkeeping duo Rob Lainton and Mark Howard.

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Okonkwo’s loan also ends in a couple of weeks, the 22-year-old possibly becoming a free agent with Arsenal yet to offer a contract extension. If he does leave the Emirates Stadium, expect a scramble for his signature. Whether Wrexham would be part of that perhaps depends on his wage demands, the club having paid just under half his current salary this season with Arsenal picking up the rest.


Arthur Okonkwo’s loan from Arsenal has been a successful one (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Where do Wrexham need to strengthen?

Goalkeeper is obviously one. Potentially losing three centre-halves also means this area will have to be looked at, though the emergence of Cleworth these past few months is likely to save Wrexham some money.

Midfield looks strong with George Evans, Andy Cannon and Elliot Lee all having played in the Championship, never mind the third tier. As do the two wing-back slots, with McClean still the fittest member of the squad a week or so short of his 35th birthday and Ryan Barnett finishing this season strongly. Jacob Mendy and Luke Bolton respectively bring competition to the wide areas.

Mullin’s experience in League One is limited to just half a season at Tranmere Rovers. But, like a fine wine, he’s improving with age and will expect to score goals in the third tier.

What will perhaps be key this summer is finding a partner that dove-tails with the Liverpudlian’s attributes. Palmer and Fletcher, 32 and 37 respectively, have made telling contributions this season but the step up is likely to mean a younger upgrade is required, even though Palmer has 12 months remaining on his contract.

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Veteran Steven Fletcher (left) is out of contract this summer (Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)

Reasons to be optimistic for 2024-25?

The manager. Not only is Parkinson well versed at this level, having taken charge of several League One clubs in a little over two decades as a manager. But he’s also steered two of those to runners-up spot — Colchester United in 2006 and Bolton Wanderers 11 years later — as well as taking Bradford City to the play-offs.


(Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)

He also has the respect and backing of the dressing room, as Eoghan O’Connell makes clear. “Ask anyone in the dressing room,” says the Irish defender, “they can’t speak highly enough about the gaffer. He is someone you want to play for, someone you want to run through a brick wall for.

“He gets it right in terms of how he deals with people. The way he carries himself rubs off on you and makes us want to do more for him. So level-headed, too. Whether we win, lose or draw, I’d say he is the best I’ve ever worked with in terms of you turn up on Monday and everything is geared towards the next moment.”


How far can Wrexham realistically climb to?

O’Connell is in no doubt as to the potential. “This club can become as big as it wants,” insists the former Celtic defender. “Wrexham are global. That hit us all in the summer, when we were in North Carolina playing Chelsea (in a pre-season friendly).

“I remember being in the tunnel before the warm-up. They went out and there was a little roar. We then went out and the place really lifted. That’s why I say it is a global club.

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“I also think back to Halifax away last year and the numbers we took (4,500 fans made the trip). We got beat but I remember thinking in the warm-up it was similar to a Celtic away day when I was there as a younger player.


(Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

“I do think with the fanbase, the people involved running the club and the owners, the world is your oyster, really.”


Is there an example for Wrexham to follow on their return to League One?

A year of consolidation wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially after back-to-back promotions. So, maybe any one of the trio who went up automatically a year ago.

Lee, however, believes Luton Town, the club he left to join Wrexham in 2022, can be the ultimate inspiration after going all the way from the National League to the Premier League in just nine years.

“Anything can happen,” he says. “Look at my old club Luton. When I left, I said I wanted a project similar to Luton. I wanted to go up the leagues and Wrexham fitted the bill.

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“Of course, you can’t get ahead of yourself. And I’m not saying we will be in the Premier League any time soon. But I am saying we have all the foundations to be a successful club.

“It has the potential to go all the way, thanks to the backing of the owners and the staff we have here. I’ve always said this place reminds me of Luton, in that it’s a great environment to work in every day and people come here to work hard.


Luton were promoted from the National League in 2014 and winning away at Everton in the Premier League nine years later (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

“Special things can happen. I’ve said that since I came here and I know that because of what we had at Luton. Look at them now in the Premier League.”

With Luton the last promoted team from League Two to go straight up again 12 months later — a feat they achieved in 2017-18 after finishing as champions of the third tier — Wrexham could certainly do a lot worse than study a club whose average gates at a cramped Kenilworth Road are similar to those at the Racecourse.

(Header photo: Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)

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Why USC’s win over UConn is so significant: ‘This is what basketball excellence was’

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Why USC’s win over UConn is so significant: ‘This is what basketball excellence was’

HARTFORD, Conn. — As USC’s bench emptied onto the XL Center floor, with the No. 7 Trojans having defeated the No. 4 UConn Huskies 72-70, JuJu Watkins’ hands shot to the sky. Basking in her 25-point performance that lifted USC past UConn for the first time in school history, Watkins turned to the small section of supporters decked out in red and yellow inside the sold-out arena and acknowledged their support.

“It hit a little different knowing the history from last year and how they sent us home,” Watkins said.

The stakes were different this time. In April, in the Elite Eight, the Huskies knocked the top-seeded Trojans out of the NCAA Tournament. But Saturday night’s 2-point victory was meaningful nevertheless. Not only for Watkins and USC senior transfer Kiki Iriafen, but for their coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, who has long admired the program UConn coach Geno Auriemma has built.

“This is a really significant win, and it’s a really significant win because of the stature of UConn’s program and what Geno Auriemma has done for our sport,” Gottlieb said. “For my entire high school (career) on, this is what basketball excellence was. This is what we saw, and it’s challenged all of us to want to be better, to find players who want to be better and be that elite. And I don’t think that’s gone away.”

Gottlieb is in her fourth season with the Trojans, and she aspires to build a sustained program similar to the Huskies. A season ago, USC won its second Pac-12 tournament title in program history and made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in nearly two decades. Over her brief tenure, she has reminded onlookers not only of USC’s history of success — two national titles and three Final Four appearances in the 1980s, Hall of Fame players such as Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, Cheryl Miller and Tina Thompson — but of what it can be in the present. Watkins, last year’s national freshman of the year and a first-team All-American, is at the center of the latest chapter. Victories like Saturday’s help make lofty aspirations feel more attainable.

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USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb wants to emulate what Geno Auriemma has built in Connecticut. (David Butler II / Imagn Images)

Gottlieb grew up just outside New York City, but she wasn’t recruited by Auriemma in high school. Nevertheless, when she was 15 or 16, she accompanied one of her friends to one of his camps. UConn was always the local draw, and following Saturday’s win, she recalled a trip she made during her senior year at Brown University, in nearby Providence, Rhode Island, when she and her father drove to Storrs to see UConn take on Tennessee.

“It was sold out,” Gottlieb said, “and I was in that building and saw this atmosphere.”

Saturday was raucous, too. And Watkins, USC’s star guard, said it might have been the largest crowd she has played in front of. Nearly 16,000 people packed inside XL Center, almost all of whom wore navy and white.

Still, Watkins added, “just to see my family here, all the SC fans, it meant the world.”

If anyone needed reminding, the Trojans’ victory reinforced their status as one of this season’s national title contenders. At 11-1, their lone defeat came at home to Notre Dame by 13 points. It would have been easy, Gottlieb said, for those inside the program to blame each other after that November loss — for the Trojans to fracture.

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“As long as we stick together, this can make us better,” she said she told them afterward. “And (the loss) has in every way.”

Entering Saturday’s victory, the Trojans sported the country’s third-best defense and No. 15 offense. They convert in transition (nearly 20 percent of their points come in transition) and off turnovers (averaging 28.7 points per game), important measurables that could serve them well in the future. Their victory over the Huskies reinforced that they could come on the road, in one of the most-anticipated games of the season, and punch first. It proved they could surrender a 13-point halftime lead, trail by a point with just under five minutes to play and still recover.

“No one got off the treadmill,” Gottlieb said.

Of course, having a transcendent star like Watkins helps calm any nerves. Not only did she lead the game in scoring, she added six rebounds, five assists and three blocks, including one just before halftime on UConn star Paige Bueckers. Bueckers was prolific in the second half and finished with 22 points, but she also guarded Watkins as the USC star got off to a fast start in the first quarter.

“Every scouting report that you put together or every film that you watch, it’s very evident that one player can’t guard (Watkins),” Auriemma said. “When she gets into a little bit of a rhythm, you have to hope she misses.”

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With the score within one possession with only 4:30 to play, Watkins recorded 6 of USC’s 8 points and assisted forward Rayah Marshall on the lone basket she didn’t score.

“A lot of the things she does is super hard, but she makes it look so easy,” Iriafen said. “We all know she is a superstar, so playing with her definitely relieves pressure on everybody else.”

Any remnants of pressure dissipated even further in the postgame locker room. Players doused Gottlieb with water as she entered. They leaped together in celebration.

“For me now to bring a team here, to know we could do it, and then to actually do it is incredibly meaningful,” Gottlieb said. “Really proud of the big win.”

(Top photo of JuJu Watkins driving between Paige Bueckers, left, and Kaitlyn Chen: Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)

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Penn State, Louisville volleyball will make history in NCAA championship. Their coaches are why

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Penn State, Louisville volleyball will make history in NCAA championship. Their coaches are why

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  — What’s remarkable is not that two women are coaching for the national championship and one will win a title for the first time in the 44 years of NCAA women’s volleyball. It’s remarkable that these women, Katie Schumacher-Cawley and Dani Busboom Kelly, are the two doing it.

Because they are the ideal representatives.

In this historic moment, as Schumacher-Cawley at Penn State and Louisville’s Busboom Kelly match wits before a sold-out KFC Yum! Center and a national ABC audience on Sunday at 3 p.m., they are the embodiment of what it takes to get to the top in an industry dominated by men.

Eighteen of the 20 winningest coaches in Division I women’s volleyball history are men.

“It’s going to be awesome for the sport to get this monkey off its back and move on from this, where it’s not historic that a woman wins,” said Busboom Kelly, 39, in her eighth season and making a second trip to the national championship match with the Cardinals. “It’s just a regular thing.”

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Penn State (34-2) and Louisville (30-5) reflect their coaches’ drive and resilience. They won national semifinal matches on Thursday against Nebraska and Pittsburgh, respectively, in dramatic fashion.

Schumacher-Cawley and Busboom Kelly both coached with a steady hand. They fostered confidence from the sideline as their squads’ manufactured comebacks against opponents considered to rank first and second nationally in talent, depth and championship-level experience.

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The Nittany Lions pulled a five-set reverse sweep, fighting off two match points for Nebraska in the fourth set.

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At the start of the decisive fifth set, junior libero Gillian Grimes heard a voice of reassurance in the Penn State huddle: “We’re made for this.” The phrase didn’t come from Schumacher-Cawley. But she is why it was spoken.

Louisville players faced pressure all season to earn a spot in the Final Four at home. As stress rose when Pitt won the opening set and took the lead in the second, Busboom Kelly implored the Cardinals to keep their composure.

“This is going to start to work,” she said.

Without star attacker Anna DeBeer, the senior was injured two points into the fourth set, they swarmed Pitt after turning back three set points for the Panthers in the third.

In short, Penn State and Louisville refused to go away. They kept taking huge swings. They played to win.

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“We’re not talking about losing ever,” Penn State outside hitter Jess Mruzik. “We’re never counting ourselves out, no matter how big of a deficit we’re facing.”

In matches played in front of an NCAA-postseason record crowd of 21,726, Penn State and Louisville were the tougher teams.

Is it any surprise, considering the coaches?

“Women are tough,” said Nebraska coach John Cook, who’s won four national championships. “And those two are really tough. Look at them as players. They both won national championships, so this isn’t a fluke. These guys are winners. They’re great competitors. And their teams play like it.”


Schumacher-Cawley, 44, is a Chicago brand of tough. She grew up in the city and starred in multiple sports at Mother McAuley High. She played at Penn State, earned two All-America honors and won a national championship, the school’s first in women’s volleyball, in 1999 for coach Russ Rose.

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Rose won six more titles. He’s the all-time leader in championships and wins among Division I coaches. In 2008, Schumacher-Cawley was inducted into the Chicagoland Hall of Fame in a class alongside Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers and Andre Dawson.

She ran the program at Illinois-Chicago for eight seasons and returned to Penn State to work for Rose in 2018 — four years after the Nittany Lions’ most recent Final Four appearance until last week.

Schumacher Cawley took over when Rose retired in 2022.

“Following Russ Rose, to take the team back to the Final Four in just three years,” Busboom Kelly said, “take being a man or woman out of it, that’s an amazing accomplishment.”

Early in her third season this fall, Schumacher-Cawley revealed a Stage 2 breast cancer diagnosis and she began chemotherapy. She lost her hair but did not miss a practice with her team.

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“We’re obviously wanting to do this for her because she’s been so amazing throughout this season,” said Mruzik, who hammered a match-best 26 kills against Nebraska. “So that gritty five-set win helped put another brick into the piece that we’re trying to build this season.”

Schumacher-Cawley deflects questions about her health and the gender issue in coaching.

“I’m just really excited to represent Penn State,” she said.

Maybe it’ll sink in, she said, the magnitude of two women on the bench, both in charge with a trophy on the court, when they step out under the lights Sunday.

“I’m proud of this team,” Schumacher-Cauley said. “I think I’ve said that every day. I’m proud of their fight.”

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The fight transcends volleyball.



Louisville coach Dani Busboom Kelly was the 2021 AVCA national coach of the year. (Sam Upshaw Jr. / Courier Journal / USA Today via Imagn Images)

When Busboom Kelly took over at Louisville in 2017, she doubled the Cardinals’ win total, from 12 to 24, in one season.

In 2019, Louisville advanced to the round of eight for the first time. In 2021, Busboom Kelly was named the national coach of the year as the Cardinals went undefeated until the Final Four, losing in five sets against Wisconsin. A year later, Texas beat Louisville for the national championship.

“She’s led one of the great turnarounds in any college volleyball program,” Cook said.

Busboom Kelly played for Cook at Nebraska from 2003 to 2006. He recruited her off a farm near Cortland Neb. She was a multi-sport star at tiny Adams Freeman High School.

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In college, she moved from setter to libero and helped spark the Huskers, alongside future Olympians Jordan Larson and Sarah Pavan, to a national championship in 2006. She won another title with Cook and the Huskers as an assistant coach in 2015.

A year later, she took over at Louisville.

“I hope people appreciate what she’s done here,” Cook said.

Louisville fans appreciate Busboom Kelly, based on the reception Thursday that she and the Cardinals received.

“I think the last time I was on the mic talking about Dani, I called her a badass,” Louisville middle blocker Phekran Kong said Friday at the news conference to preview the championship. “So I’m going to double down on that one. Because she’s legit.”

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In the fourth set on Thursday, after DeBeer left with the injury that could keep the senior All-American out of the championship match, middle blocker Cara Cresse promised Busboom Kelly that she would deliver two blocks.

Cresse produced. Momentum flipped. The Panthers fell apart late in the match. Even sophomore opposite hitter Olivia Babcock, crowned Friday as the national player of the year, felt the pressure. The Cardinals embraced it.

“This is for all the people who doubted us,” Louisville outside hitter Charitie Luper said.

Her coach looked on and smiled.

More than to shatter a glass ceiling on Sunday, Busbom Kelly said, she’s excited that a woman will coach her team to the national championship so that athletic directors and future players who might go into coaching understand that it can be done.

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“It’s more just being really proud that we can be role models,” she said, “and hopefully blazing new trails.”

(Top photo of Schumacher-Cawley: Dan Rainville / USA Today via Imagn Images

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The Bears need a coach who holds players accountable. Look no further than Ron Rivera

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The Bears need a coach who holds players accountable. Look no further than Ron Rivera

In 1982, George Halas reached into Chicago Bears history to find a head coach and hired Mike Ditka.

In 2025, the team Halas founded needs to consider its history again.

There are candidates with no ties to the Bears who deserve consideration.

Foremost among them is Mike Vrabel, who never should have been fired by the Tennessee Titans and can win Super Bowls — plural — in the right situation. If Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions is as dazzling as a head coach as he is as an offensive coordinator, he will transform an organization. His defensive counterpart in Detroit, Aaron Glenn, seems to have leadership and coaching qualities that few have. Steve Spagnuolo’s long history of building defenses and relationships may be evidence he could thrive with a second chance. The way Joe Brady has easily lifted the Buffalo Bills offense suggests he can handle more plates on the bar.

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And there are others. Maybe in the final analysis, one of them is best suited for the job.

However, only one person has had a football role on both Bears Super Bowl teams. Ron Rivera was a linebacker on the 1985 champions. On the 2006 Bears that lost to the Indianapolis Colts, he was their defensive coordinator.

Now he should be first in line to interview.

Rivera’s 2006 defense allowed the third-fewest points in the NFL. Without justification, he was fired after that season, and the Bears took a cold plunge. In the 19 seasons since, they have made the playoffs three times and have a .439 winning percentage.

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Drafted by Jim Finks, built up by Ditka and mentored by Mike Singletary, Rivera, more than any potential candidate, comprehends what it means to be a Bear. He knows where Chicago’s potholes are. He understands the organizational strengths and limitations, the fan base and the local media.

There is no doubt Halas would have endorsed interviewing Rivera. Same for Walter Payton, who sat across from Rivera on plane rides to and from games.

Ditka was not the only former Bears player to become their coach. In their first 54 years, every one of their coaches except Ralph Jones was a former player for the team. Halas himself played for the Bears. The other Bears players who became the franchise’s head coach were Luke Johnsos, Hunk Anderson, Paddy Driscoll, Jim Dooley and Abe Gibron.

The Bears have been criticized — justifiably — for not considering former Bear Jim Harbaugh as a head coaching candidate. Ignoring Rivera would be making a similar mistake.

History is not the only reason Rivera should be considered. Like Harbaugh, Rivera is a proven coaching commodity. His coaching journey began humbly as a quality control coach for his Bears in 1997. Two years later, he went to work for Andy Reid in Philadelphia as a linebackers coach before returning to Chicago to coordinate the defense in 2004.

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Ron Rivera returned to the Bears as defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2006. (Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)

When he was head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Rivera’s teams made it to the playoffs four times and the Super Bowl once. He was voted coach of the year twice, which makes him one of 13 to be honored more than once. Seven of the 13 are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with Halas and Ditka among them.

After new Panthers owner David Tepper fired him in 2019, Rivera was unemployed for less than a month when he agreed to lead Dan Snyder’s Washington Redskins, who became the Football Team and then the Commanders in Rivera’s tumultuous tenure as their coach. And he wasn’t just their coach. He was their de facto general manager. Then he became Snyder’s frontman/shield when workplace culture transgressions and financial improprieties came to light and Snyder went underground.

Rivera arguably was the most sought-after coach in the 2020 cycle. The four regrettable years he spent with Snyder, arguably the worst owner in the NFL’s history, changed perceptions. Rivera was not the first to have his reputation diminished by the association.

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In his tenure with Washington before Snyder, the great Joe Gibbs won 67 percent of his games and three Super Bowls. After retiring and returning with Snyder as owner, he went 30-34. As a college coach, Steve Spurrier won 71 percent of his games and a national championship. With Snyder, he won 37 percent of his games. Mike Shanahan, who should be on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, had a .598 career winning percentage and two Super Bowl rings as a head coach before partnering with Snyder. In Washington, his winning percentage was .375.

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Rivera’s winning percentage before Snyder was .546, one percentage point better than Vrabel’s. In Washington, it was .396.

Some will question if a defensive-minded coach like Rivera is right for the Bears because of the presence of quarterback Caleb Williams, as if a coach without an offensive background should be disqualified. Hiring a head coach with one player in mind when 53 need to be led is an absurdity.

Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, John Madden, Don Shula, George Allen, Bill Parcells, Marv Levy, Dick Vermeil, Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson have busts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Almost assuredly on their way to Canton are Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin. None of them had offensive backgrounds before becoming head coaches.

In 2011, when Rivera was hired in Carolina, there were similar concerns about his ability to handle an offense. With the first pick in the draft, the team chose a quarterback, Cam Newton. Rivera sent offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, quarterbacks coach Mike Shula and offensive quality control coach Scott Turner to Auburn to meet with the school’s offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, and try to understand what Malzahn did with Newton in helping him win a national championship and Heisman Trophy.

Panthers coaches implemented concepts Newton succeeded with at Auburn, including RPO plays that weren’t widely used at the time. Newton was named offensive rookie of the year. Four years later, Newton was voted the NFL’s most valuable player — while playing for a defensive-minded coach.

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Rivera connects with players. He earns respect with authenticity, class and toughness. And apparently, these Bears need a coach who will hold players accountable.

The year after Newton was the league’s MVP, Rivera benched him because he refused to follow a team rule requiring players to wear ties on the plane. When Newton showed up tieless, Rivera tried to give him a tie to wear. Newton said it didn’t match his outfit. Rivera told him there would be repercussions, and Newton subsequently was held out the first series of a game. Newton later apologized to the team.

Rivera, who learned about aggressive strategies from Buddy Ryan and his Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, never has been afraid to take a chance. Before they called the head coach of the Lions Dan “Gamble,” they called Rivera “Riverboat Ron.”

In his first training camp in Washington, Rivera was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer in a lymph node. That season, he had 35 proton therapy treatments and three chemotherapy treatments. Rivera lost 25 pounds and grew so weak he had to be brought into the office with one arm around his wife’s shoulder and one around the team trainer’s. He never stopped coaching and leading, though, and his team rallied, winning five of its last seven games to make the playoffs.

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Rivera eventually rang the bell and is cancer-free. For his perseverance, the Pro Football Writers of America voted him the recipient of the George Halas Award, which is given for overcoming adversity.

The significance of Rivera winning the award named after the founder of the Bears should not be lost on those entrusted with maintaining the Halas legacy.

(Top photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)

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