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Former NFL coach Ron Rivera is set to return to college and work at his alma mater, Cal, in Berkeley

Former NFL head coach Ron Rivera is planning to return to college to work at his alma mater.

On Wednesday, Rivera shared on social media that he is following the example of Bill Belichick and will take a position at California.

“Coach Belichick has made going back to school, cool,” Rivera wrote. “Stay tuned I am coming home.”

Neither Rivera nor the school have revealed what role he will take at Cal. Coach Justin Wilcox is starting his ninth season as the head coach of the Golden Bears with a 42-50 career record.

“Our alum, Ron Rivera is an icon in football for good reason,” UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons said. “I’m thrilled to be in discussion with him about the details of joining the Cal team to support and advance our football program. We will release more information as soon as possible.”

Cal’s rival, Stanford, recently hired former star quarterback Andrew Luck as the general manager of their program.

Chicago Bears players celebrate after an interception

Rivera was an All-American linebacker at Cal in 1983 before being drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft.

Rivera was part of a Super Bowl-winning team in his second season and had a nine-year playing career.

Rivera began his coaching career in 1997 and served as head coach for the Carolina Panthers for nine seasons and the Washington football team for four years. He finished with a regular-season record of 102-103-2 and won AP NFL Coach of the Year awards in 2013 and 2015 with the Panthers.

Rivera led his teams to the playoffs five times, with his best season in 2015 when Carolina went 15-1 in the regular season but lost the Super Bowl to Denver.

Cal aims for back-to-back wins as NC State visits Berkeley

Looking to take advantage of a stretch where five of their next six games are at home, Cal will host North Carolina State on Wednesday at Berkeley, Calif.

Cal (11-11, 4-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) still has two home games left in this stretch, including the matchup against NC State (9-12, 2-8). The teams first faced off as conference rivals on Jan. 18 in Raleigh, N.C.

In that game, Cal won 65-62, with Jovan Blacksher Jr. leading the way with 14 points. DJ Campbell added 13 points, and five Golden Bears scored in double figures. Since then, Cal has gone 2-2.

Andrej Stojakovic, who scored 10 points in that win, has not played since then due to illness and a hip injury. He remains the team’s leading scorer with 18.9 points per game.

On Monday, Stojakovic was listed as “day-to-day and week-to-week” by Cal head coach Mark Madsen, who gave a vague update on his condition. Stojakovic only participated in non-contact drills during Monday’s practice.

“We need Andrej back,” Madsen said. “Andrej is someone who can drive (the lane) and finish with his length.”

NC State is struggling this season, currently on a six-game losing streak after a 68-58 home loss to Clemson on Saturday.

Dontrez Styles scored a season-high 24 points in the loss, hitting a career-best six 3-pointers and going 9-for-14 from the field. However, the rest of the team shot just 30.4% (14-for-46) from the floor.

Despite forcing Clemson into just five turnovers, NC State only managed three points off those mistakes, which were both season lows.

“I give our guys credit for the way they fought against a really good team, with all the adversity we went through,” said NC State coach Kevin Keatts. “We just have to get better, and we have to figure out these stretches (where the offense struggles). Our defense is still doing a good job of carrying us through most of these games.”

The two teams are meeting for the fourth time, with Cal leading the series 2-1.