What Happened in Philip Rivers' Bills HC Interview, Withdrawal Revealed by Brandon Beane

Before legendary quarterback Philip Rivers withdrew his name from consideration for the Buffalo Bills' head coaching position, he impressed enough to be in the running for the job.

While speaking to Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News, Bills general manager Brandon Beane revealed some of the details behind Rivers' interview process, explaining that he would've needed to be all-in to be among the final candidates for the position.

"...I said, 'If you have any doubt, tell me, 'No'. You did a great job, and I'll be surprised if you're not in the mix at the end,'" Beane said. "By no means do you have this job, but I think you'll be in the mix."

Rivers ended his retirement to play for the Indianapolis Colts down the stretch of the 2025 season after they lost starting quarterback Daniel Jones to a torn Achilles tendon. Despite having no coaching experience beyond the high school level, Rivers was open to interviewing with Buffalo following the firing of Sean McDermott.

Despite being offered time to prepare for his interview, Rivers flew to Florida to meet with the Bills one day after being offered a shot at the job. Beane told Skurski that the 44-year-old blew them away with his football knowledge.

"I would still be sitting in that seat if he didn't have to go," Beane said. "Football savant. I learned so much. Listen, if he said, 'I want to be in,' he would have been in the final mix – that I know."

Beane added that he wasn't the only one who came around to the idea of Rivers going from quarterback to head coach.

"It would have been outside the box, but I will say this: When I told them who we were going to interview, everyone in the room was like, 'What is this about?' " Beane said. "As the interview went along, I could see every one of their heads perking up like, 'Holy s--t, this f--king guy is really good.'"

However, Beane told Rivers before he left to take some time to think about whether he would truly be committed to being Buffalo's head coach for the long term. Potentially moving his wife and 10 kids for the next decade would be no small task, and the future Hall of Famer admitted that he had to pass up the job.

"I've gone around and around on this," Rivers told Beane, "but you told me I had to be 100 percent, and I can't say I am."

The Bills promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach and introduced him in a press conference last week. Rivers will return to retirement, and he now has to wait another five years to be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame.