Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera was out of a job, but not for long. Just hours after the Bears announced he wouldn't be retained, the San Diego Chargers gave him a two-year contract to coach their linebackers.

Rivera, who has talked with eight NFL teams about their head coaching positions over the last two seasons, had a three-year contract with the Bears that was set to expire next week.

After it was announced he wouldn't be coming back to the Bears, Rivera vowed he would land another job.

And he did, getting a deal to join new Chargers coach Norv Turner. Rivera had just interviewed for San Diego's head coaching job.

"It's just time to move on again, so I will move on and I will prosper. I will bounce back. I will get an opportunity," Rivera said during a conference call before his Chargers' job was announced.

But the decision by Bears coach Lovie Smith not to keep Rivera came as a surprise to many, especially the timing -- a little more than two weeks since the Bears lost the Super Bowl. Rivera said he never started talks on a new contract with Chicago.

"It's just something that Coach decided he was going to shuffle his staff and we'll go from there," Rivera said.