Who is Ron Rivera’s wife Stephanie? Commanders HC’s personal life explored

Ron Rivera parlayed his playing experience with Mike Ditka and the Chicago Bears’ “46” defense into a successful coaching career. He started with the Bears as defensive quality control coach, a position he held for two seasons.

He coached for the Philadelphia Eagles before returning to the Bears as defensive coordinator. Rivera has also worked for the San Diego Chargers, Carolina Panthers, and currently with the Washington Commanders. His wife has been his number-one fan throughout his coaching career and life’s struggles.

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Ron Rivera’s love story started in college

The former Bears linebacker and special teamer calls California home. He was born in the now-closed Fort Ord military post in 1962 and went to high school at Seaside. When it was time to go to college, he chose to play for the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears.

That’s where he met his wife, Stephanie Tamayo. She and her family, a middle-class Filipino household, rooted for the Oakland Raiders. While Ron Rivera joined the Cal football team, Stephanie was a point guard for the university’s women’s basketball team.

They officially met in August of 1983 at Yogurt Park. Ron and Stephanie have seen each other in Cal’s gymnasium but haven’t been introduced to one another. From there, Ron and his friends played pick-up basketball against Stephanie and her teammates.

After playing pick-up ball for three consecutive days, Ron asked her out on a date. They got engaged in December 1983 and married the following year. When they tied the knot, Ron Rivera was still finding his spot as a rookie with the Chicago Bears.

Meanwhile, Stephanie initially returned for her junior season with the Golden Bears. However, a midseason knee injury forced her to end her playing career. She didn’t want to risk going through the recovery process anymore, especially after undergoing a torn ACL injury during her freshman season.

After her injury, Ron and Stephanie Rivera married in front of over 400 guests at The Galleria in San Francisco. As Ron started his NFL career, Stephanie found her way into coaching.

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Ron Rivera’s wife was a former WNBA coach

Stephanie Rivera returned to Cal to finish her psychology degree after giving birth to her first child, Christopher. After earning her degree, she went through some coaching jobs, starting with the Chicago Twisters of the now-defunct Women’s Basketball Association.

She also coached for the Chicago Condors of the American Basketball League and Trinity University in Deerfield. But the peak of her coaching career came in 2000. While Ron Rivera was working as a linebackers coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, Stephanie was an assistant to Nancy Darsch and Darrell Walker with the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.

The Mystics entered the playoffs with a 14-18 record. However, the New York Liberty swept them in the first round of that year’s playoffs.

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Stephanie has been Ron Rivera’s rock

It’s not all roses between Stephanie and Ron Rivera, especially when the current Washington Commanders head coach was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in 2020. He underwent a seven-week treatment, which involved three chemotherapy cycles.

Rivera lost 30 pounds because of the treatment, and he would get intravenous therapy during halftime of games to address his fatigue. With Stephanie’s support, Rivera was declared cancer-free by January 2021.

As they celebrate five decades of marriage, they also support the endeavors of their children, Christopher and Courtney.