Philip Rivers Reportedly Potential NC State HC Candidate with Son Gunner Committed to Wolfpack

North Carolina State will reportedly consider former Wolfpack quarterback Philip Rivers for their open football head coach position after firing longtime program leader Dave Doeren on Saturday night, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Rivers has been the head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama since 2021. His son, 4-star quarterback Gunner Rivers, is set to enroll at NC State next year.

The 44-year-old Rivers enjoyed a great career at NC State capped by 2003 ACC Player of the Year honors. He played 16 seasons for the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers (2004-2019), making the Pro Bowl in half of those seasons. Rivers played one more year with the Colts in 2020 before retiring for the first time.

Five years later, Indianapolis called in need of a quarterback to help finish the 2025 season after QB1 Daniel Jones suffered a torn Achilles last December. Rivers made three starts and impressed considering his age and the fact that he hadn't played in the NFL in five years, throwing for 544 yards and four touchdowns.

Rivers remained the St. Michael's head coach and is now leading the team during Gunner's senior season. Rivers is ranked 12th overall among all quarterbacks in the class of 2027, per the latest 247Sports Composite rankings.

Rivers has led St. Michael Catholic to a 49-18 record. The 2024 and 2025 teams reached the Class 4A semifinals in the state playoffs.

He's fared quite well as St. Michael's coach. Obviously, coaching college is a much different and harder beast. Still, Rivers has a tremendous football resume and pedigree that should command respect among players and help him succeed if he takes the job.

As Thamel implied, though, NC State should likely cast a wide net. Still, Rivers would be an intriguing, potentially home run pick.