Philip Rivers says "nothing imminent" with NC State search

Philip Rivers was asked about the NC State coaching search Friday night, hours after a report emerged stating he was at the center of said search.

“I mean, shoot, NC State’s special to me. and, you know, Coach (Dave Doren, shoot, what he did over 14 years, and all-time winningest coach is a — ton of respect and appreciation, you know, for how he went about it with the university, and, you know, there’s nothing there at this point. 
No, you understand — like I told you earlier in the week — you understand the chatter is out there," Rivers said. "Gotta take it one day at a time, you know, is all I know. I’m excited this postseason with these guys here, and I guess it’s like I told you last year, you know, you never say never, but there’s nothing imminent.”

While nothing may be imminent, something is definitely there.

Rivers is the head coach at St. Michael Catholic in Fairhope, Ala., where his son Gunner, an NC State commit, plays quarterback. The Cardinals concluded a 6-4 regular season and will now embark upon a playoff run. As things appear on the surface, NC State will have to wait out the Class AA Independent playoffs before hiring its next head coach.

A 16-year NFL quarterback (with a brief cameo in 2025 at 43 years old), Rivers has no college head coaching experience.

The history of college programs hiring directly from the high school ranks is short and ugly. Bob Commings went 17-38 at Iowa, Gerry Faust went 30-26-1 with no top-25 finishes in five seasons at Notre Dame, Todd Dodge went 6-37 at North Texas, Tony Sanchez went 20-40 at UNLV and, most recently, Trent Dilfer crashed and burned at UAB. 

The difference here, though, is that Rivers isn't a candidate at NC State because of his success at the high school ranks. He's a candidate because he threw for more than 13,000 yards at NC State, and he'd be coaching in an era where player acquisition (and access to the levers of player acquisition) is the most important aspect of head coaching in college football.

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.