The Wolfpack legend has no college coaching experience, having spent his coaching career so far at the high school level.
NC State is finalizing a deal to make Philip Rivers its next head football coach, according to On3, moving fast after firing Dave Dorean last month. The hire would make Rivers the first coach to fill a head coaching vacancy this cycle.
Rivers brings zero college coaching experience to the job. He has been a high school coach since 2021, with a brief return to the NFL last year, but has never worked on a college sideline in any capacity. That makes him one of the more unconventional hires among major-conference programs, pulled straight from a prep job rather than a coordinator chair or coaching tree.
The last time a major-conference program reached into a high school for its head coach was Notre Dame's hiring of Gerry Faust before the 1981 season, making Rivers the first such hire since then.
Rivers remains one of the most decorated players in NC State history, and the hire comes 23 years after he finished his Wolfpack career with school records that still stand. Rivers reportedly completed his high school season before confirming an interview with NC State, and the move now appears close to becoming official.