Philip Rivers' Reported Interview for Bills HC Job Stuns NFL Fans Amid Rumors on Coaching Search

Three weeks after confirming his retirement for good as a player, Philip Rivers could be back in the NFL next season as a head coach.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Buffalo Bills are set to interview Rivers for their vacant head coaching position on Friday.

As you might expect, the reaction from fans and analysts to seeing this news was met with widespread shock and surprise.

Rivers was a candidate for the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame as one of 25 people named to the semifinal list released in November before signing with the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 9 after Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending injury.

The Colts used Rivers as their starting quarterback for three consecutive games from Weeks 15-17 before they were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Before the Colts' final game of the season, Rivers said on Jack Doyle's podcast he was definitely walking away from the NFL as a player this time around.

"My only regret is that we couldn't find a way to get it done. But other than that, it's just nothing but gratitude and thankful for this opportunity," Rivers said.

Even though it seems like a long shot that the Bills would entrust their franchise to a first-time head coach with no experience above the high school level, there are reasons to think it might be something that would interest the organization.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Jan. 4 that multiple teams had started doing research on Rivers as a coaching candidate.

Rapoport added on Friday that Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who has a close relationship with Rivers, has been sitting in on the team's interviews since they fired Sean McDermott.

Considering how appealing the Bills job likely is because of how good Allen is, Rivers might be hard pressed to pass up on the opportunity if he is able to convince the club of his readiness for this amount of responsibility.

The Bills are also set to meet in person with Mike McDaniel, Anthony Lynn, Anthony Weaver, Grant Udinski as they gather information on more candidates to replace McDermott.