NC State and Philip Rivers reportedly negotiating deal to make him the Wolfpack's next head coach

NC State isn't wasting much time working to make Philip Rivers its next head coach.

According to On3 , the longtime NFL quarterback and NC State alum is "working to finalize a deal" to be the Wolfpack's head coach after the 2026 season. Rivers is currently coaching high school football at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama.

Rivers immediately emerged as a candidate for the job after the firing of Dave Doeren. NC State moved on from Doeren after more than 13 years following a 3-4 start to the season that included a nearly unfathomable loss to Vanderbilt.

Before the porous start to 2026, Doeren's teams had won at least eight games in five of the last six seasons. NC State was blown out by Duke on Saturday to fall to 4-5.

Rivers' potential hire would be a boost for the Wolfpack in an ACC that looks more wide-open than ever behind Miami. As the Hurricanes have emerged as the top program in the conference, Clemson is struggling to reach the heights it did before the NIL era and Florida State is also in the midst of an athletic department transition as it looks for a new athletic director and a coach to succeed Mike Norvell.

Rivers played four seasons at NC State from 2000 through 2003 before he was the No. 4 overall pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. He was initially selected by the Giants and traded to the Chargers as part of the draft day deal that sent Eli Manning to New York because of his refusal to play for the Chargers.

As a senior, Rivers was the 2003 ACC player of the year and finished seventh in the Heisman voting. He threw for nearly 4,500 yards and 34 TDs while completing over 70% of his passes.

He's also just a year removed from last playing in the NFL. Rivers briefly ended his four-year NFL retirement at the end of the 2025 season to play three games for the Indianapolis Colts as they looked for a stopgap solution at quarterback following Daniel Jones' Achilles injury. Rivers had last played for the Colts in 2020 after 16 seasons with the Chargers.

Making Rivers the team's head coach would also save NC State from a potential high-profile de-commitment from its 2027 recruiting class. Rivers' son Gunner is the No. 12 QB in the class of 2027 and verbally committed to NC State in February. Gunner Rivers plays at St. Michael for his father.

In addition to considering Rivers for the job, NC State also reportedly talked to former Wolfpack quarterback Russell Wilson about the job. Unlike Rivers, who has no college coaching experience but has been a high school head coach since 2021, Wilson doesn't have any coaching experience, having moved into TV for CBS after concluding his playing career at the end of the 2025 season.

Wilson's CBS coworker Bill Cowher also played a key role in the coaching search. After Doeren's firing, NC State AD Boo Corrigan said that the former Steelers coach and former NFL defensive back Dewayne Washington would assist him in finding the team's next head coach.