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Philip Rivers, the longtime Chargers quarterback who postponed his Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy to make an NFL return last season with the Colts, is expected to be hired as the next head coach at North Carolina State, a source confirmed Sunday to Front Office Sports.
Rivers, 44, has been a high school coach in Alabama. He interviewed in January for the Bills’ head coaching job but was not hired.
He moves to the college coaching ranks in a return to his alma mater. Another prominent former NFL quarterback who previously played at NC State, Russell Wilson, also interviewed for the job. But Rivers emerged in recent days as the focus of the school’s search and is expected to finish an agreement to be its coach, barring any last-minute snags.
On3 first reported that the school was working to finalize a deal with Rivers.
School officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday by FOS. Rivers was not available to comment.
His son, Gunner Rivers, plays quarterback for his father at St. Michael Catholic High School and has verbally committed to play for the Wolfpack. St. Michael was eliminated from the Alabama state playoffs on Friday.
Rivers played in three games for the Colts last season after retiring as a player following the 2020 season. His return pushed back his Hall of Fame eligibility by five years.
He was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection in 18 NFL seasons for the Chargers, both in San Diego and Los Angeles, and Colts. Rivers ranks eighth in NFL history with his 63,984 career passing yards and seventh with his 425 touchdown passes.
He had an estimated $244.2 million in career NFL earnings, according to Spotrac. He succeeds Dave Doeren, who was fired last month after 14 seasons. The school owes Doeren more than $9 million. Todd Goebbel was named the interim head coach for the remainder of this season.
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