Russell Wilson is in the mix for the North Carolina State head coaching job, and the former Wolfpack quarterback already took a step that makes the idea feel a little less far-fetched: he interviewed for the opening on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Wilson, now 37, spent three seasons at NC State from 2008-10 before finishing his college career at Wisconsin in 2011. The school is also weighing another familiar name, with ESPN reporting Saturday that eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback and NC State alum Philip Rivers has “engaged in serious discussions” about coaching his alma mater.
NC State opened the search after firing Dave Doeren on Oct. 24 following a 3-4 start. Doeren had been in charge for 14 seasons.
Wilson’s football resume is packed with the kind of accomplishments that would make any program take a hard look. He was a 10-time Pro Bowler, announced his retirement from the NFL in June after a 14-year career and is spending this fall as a CBS Sports analyst on “The NFL Today” pregame show.
His best years came in Seattle, where he played from 2012-21 and became known for his deep ball and his ability to escape trouble. Wilson led the Seahawks to two Super Bowl appearances and their first title, while also setting franchise records, finishing in the top four in AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year voting three times and earning the NFL’s 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
The ending in Seattle was abrupt. In March 2022, the Seahawks traded Wilson to the Denver Broncos in a blockbuster move that sent the two sides in very different directions. Seattle used the haul of draft picks to help build the roster that eventually won the 2025 Super Bowl, while Wilson’s career entered a rough stretch.
After the trade, Wilson went 17-27 as a starter across four seasons and three teams. He was 11-19 in Denver from 2022-23, 6-5 with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024 and 0-3 with the New York Giants in 2025 before first-round pick Jaxson Dart took over.
For his career, Wilson threw for 46,966 yards, 353 touchdowns and 114 interceptions. He also rushed for 5,568 yards and 31 scores, making him the only player in NFL history to top both 40,000 passing yards and 5,000 rushing yards.
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Ron Rivera Just Turned Up The Pressure On Tosh Lupoi
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Rivera also made clear that the next step is less about talk and more about how the team responds when things get difficult. He pointed to the need for better discipline and a cleaner overall approach, while also acknowledging that Lupoi is navigating the steep learning curve of a first-time head coach. For Cal, the message was as much about the future as the present, with Rivera setting expectations for how the program has to look if it is going to move in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
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For a group sitting at 6-5-5 overall and 2-4-2 in conference play, the margin for error was already thin, and a tournament exit like this only adds to the uncertainty around Selection Sunday. Cal now has to wait and hope its body of work is enough to keep the season going, even as a loss in a high-leverage spot leaves the Bears with one more result they would have preferred to control themselves. [Read more 🡒]
Cal May Be Becoming A Very Different Team At The Right Time
Mark Madsens Bears have started to look like a different group than the one Cal fans got used to seeing in recent seasons, and the shift is showing up in more than just the box score. The pace has picked up, the ball is moving quicker, and the offense has been getting cleaner looks from the perimeter, with Nojus Indrusaitis emerging as a major part of that change. It has given Cal a more modern feel, one that plays with more urgency and spacing than the program has often shown.
The bigger question now is whether that style can hold up once the schedule tightens. Cal has had to adjust on the defensive end because of player availability, and the Bears are about to find out how much progress they have really made against a pair of ranked opponents. Houston and USC are the kind of tests that can expose whether this is a hot stretch or the start of something more sustainable, especially for a team still sorting out its identity on both ends. [Read more 🡒]