Philip Rivers Reportedly Favored Over Russell Wilson for NC State HC Job in New Rumors on Search

Former NFL quarterback Philip Rivers is reportedly considered the favorite to land the head coaching job at his alma mater of NC State.

According to Jonathan Jones of The Athletic, "all signs are pointing" in the direction of Rivers becoming the next head football coach at NC State despite another former NC State and NFL quarterback in Russell Wilson reportedly also interviewing for the job.

Rivers' St. Michael Catholic High School football team was eliminated from the Alabama state playoffs on Friday night, and Rivers addressed his candidacy at NC State after the game, saying, "We'll see what the future holds."

Per Jones, Rivers "has been assembling his staff the last several weeks" in the event that he is hired.

Talks between Rivers and NC State were first reported by ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Pete Thamel a week ago, and while Wilson emerged as a potential candidate in the days that followed, Jones noted that his entry into the mix "did not materially alter things."

Jones pointed toward the fact that Rivers has much stronger ties in NC State's home of Raleigh than Wilson, partly due to the fact that Rivers' son, quarterback Gunner Rivers, has committed to play at NC State starting next season.

Rivers has no coaching experience beyond the high school level, but he did have a head coaching interview with the NFL's Buffalo Bills this past offseason.

That came on the heels of Rivers temporarily ending a four-year retirement from playing in order to help out the quarterback-needy Indianapolis Colts.

With both Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson out injured, the 44-year-old Rivers started three games for the Colts last season, going 0-3, and completing 63.0 percent of his passes for 544 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.

It was a valiant effort given how long he had been out of the game, but Rivers hung up his cleats again at the end of the 2026 season in order to refocus on coaching.

Now, Rivers may be on the verge of securing the biggest coaching opportunity of his career with the Wolfpack.

NC State recently fired head coach Dave Doeren after a 3-4 start this season, ending his 14-year tenure in Raleigh.

Doeren went 98-74 and took the Wolfpack to 10 bowl games, but they have not been true contenders for ACC titles, nor have they won double-digit games since going 11-3 in 2002 with Rivers as the quarterback.