NC State Finalizing Deal to Hire Philip Rivers as Head Coach

Philip Rivers is coming home, and this time he is bringing his son with him. NC State is finalizing a deal to hire Rivers, the program legend and eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback, as its 37th head coach, On3, Fox Sports and 247Sports report. He has never coached at the college level. He has spent the last six seasons coaching high-school football in Alabama. And his first college job will be at the school where he became a legend, coaching the four-star quarterback commit who happens to be his oldest son.

What is the deal?

Rivers is finalizing a deal to take over as the 37th head coach in NC State history, On3 reports, replacing Dave Doeren, who was fired on October 24 after a 3-4 start to his 14th season. The university has not formally announced the hire. The next step is the Board of Trustees, which is scheduled to meet on November 12, though 247Sports reports the meeting could be moved up for an emergency vote on the contract. Rivers has already started working to bring in staff, 247Sports reports, which is the clearest sign the deal is done in everything but the signature.

The speed of it is the story. Doeren was fired two weeks ago, and 247Sports reports Rivers was the only true candidate since the search began, and even before it started. There was no long list and no second round. The program decided it wanted its defining quarterback back, and it moved before anyone else could make the case for a safer hire.

Has Rivers ever coached in college before?

No, and that is the gamble. He has spent the last six seasons as the head coach at Fairhope (Ala.) St. Michael Catholic, On3 reports, and the record there is a real one: 8-4, 5-5 and 6-5 in his first three seasons, then 12-2 in 2024 and 13-1 in 2025, reaching the state semifinals in both of the latter two campaigns. This fall the Cardinals went 6-5, much of it without his son Gunner, who was limited to three regular-season appearances by injury.

He will be the first high-school coach hired straight from that level for the NC State job since John Van Liew in 1930, On3 reports. That is nearly a century of the sport deciding that the jump is too far, and NC State has decided to make it anyway. Michigan’s season has shown what a coaching staff under pressure looks like from the inside, after a coordinator’s leaked texts forced a public apology, and Rivers will walk into a program that has just fired the winningest coach in its history, which is a different kind of pressure entirely.

What about his son Gunner?

That is the part of the hire no other candidate could offer. Gunner Rivers is Philip’s oldest son, a four-star quarterback commit in the 2027 class and the No. 4 overall quarterback in the class, per 247Sports. He reaffirmed his commitment to NC State in late October, saying he is staying 100 percent locked in with the Pack, and he is set to wear his father’s retired No. 17 as a freshman quarterback next season, On3 reports.

The father-son angle is not a side note. Philip addressed it after St. Michael’s season ended on Friday in a 42-35 playoff loss to Glenwood, calling the chance to coach Gunner in college certainly a factor, though not the deciding one. “Should it come to that, I wouldn’t call that the deciding factor. But certainly would be special,” he said, Fox Sports reports. Gunner, for his part, has treated it as a dream: “It’s been awesome,” he told TheWolfpacker.com. “It’s a dream come true.” Georgia’s win over Alabama showed how quickly a college season can turn on one call, and the Rivers hire is the opposite kind of turn: a program choosing a story it can build around for years.

Why Rivers, and why now?

Because the program wanted its legend back, and because Rivers has spent the last year proving he wants a bigger stage. He interviewed for the Buffalo Bills’ head-coaching job in January, On3 reports, impressing the decision makers in the room, though he did not receive an offer. Then he came out of a five-year retirement to play three games for the Indianapolis Colts last December, which On3 says seemed to spark a desire to deploy his skill set at a higher level.

The playing career is the credential. At NC State he started as a true freshman and never missed a start, winning ACC Rookie of the Year in 2000 and ACC Player of the Year in 2003, with his No. 17 retired on his senior day, On3 reports. He threw for 13,484 yards with 95 touchdowns and 34 interceptions in college, Fox Sports reports, finishing seventh in Heisman Trophy voting as a senior. In the NFL he threw for 63,984 yards and 425 touchdowns and made eight Pro Bowls. NC State has produced its share of unforgettable plays, including a 109-yard kick-six against Duke, but it has never had a coach who was the program’s most famous player.

Who else was in the running?

Russell Wilson, who also played quarterback at NC State, interviewed for the job earlier in November, Fox Sports reports. That is the detail that shows how unusual this search was: two of the most famous quarterbacks in the program’s history both wanted the job, and the school chose the one who had never coached in college over the one who is still playing in the NFL. Wilson’s candidacy ended when the Wolfpack moved toward Rivers, and the hire makes Rivers the fourth former NC State player to become the program’s head coach, after Harry Hartsell, Tal Stafford and Chuck Amato, On3 reports.

The choice also says something about what NC State thinks it needs. Doeren leaves as the winningest coach in program history at 95-70, Fox Sports reports, but the program never won more than 10 games under him and missed three bowl games in his tenure. Rivers is not a safe hire. He is a bet that a legend who knows the place, and whose son is already committed to it, can do what a steady hand could not. Cleveland’s quarterback decision this week showed how fast a team can move on from a young starter when the veteran is healthy, and NC State has made the opposite move: it has bet its future on a first-timer.

What happens next?

The Board vote, then the announcement, then the staff. The Trustees meet on November 12, or sooner if an emergency meeting is called, 247Sports reports, and Rivers has already started working on his staff. The formal announcement is expected in the near future, and the first season will be judged against the standard Doeren set and never quite reached: a program that wins nine games most years and has won 11 only once, in Rivers’s own 2002 season. He is now tasked with getting the Wolfpack back to that level, On3 writes, just this time as the one in full control of the team.