NC State is expected to take the next formal step toward making Philip Rivers its football coach on Friday, with the Board of Trustees set to approve his contract, sources told WRAL.
The trustees are scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday in Raleigh, and the full board is due to gather Friday morning. A closed session is listed at the end of the agenda, and personnel contracts are often handled there before a final public vote.
Rivers, one of the most popular quarterbacks in Wolfpack history, met with NC State officials, including athletics director Boo Corrigan, in Alabama on Nov. 4 to talk about the opening. The school fired Dave Doeren on Oct. 24 in the middle of his 14th season.
The move would put Rivers in charge of his alma mater despite the fact that he has never coached in college or the NFL. He has been the head coach at St. Michael Catholic in Alabama since 2021.
St. Michael’s playoff run ended Friday with a 42-35 home loss, and Rivers was asked afterward about the possibility of leaving for NC State.
“I don’t know that,” he said. “It’s been a heck of a six years.
I know that and just trying to be where my feet are right now. Really was looking forward to this playoff run, and again, so it all comes to an end [Friday night].
We’ll see what the future holds.”
Asked by WRAL whether there would be another step in talks with NC State, Rivers added: “There could be. I think that the potential next step would involve all of those things you referenced.”
He was referring to his family. Rivers has 10 children and at least one grandchild.
His brother and sister live near Fairhope, Alabama, and his son, Pete, is a freshman quarterback for St. Michael.
Doeren’s dismissal came one day after a 31-28 loss at Stanford dropped NC State to 3-4. He finished 98-74 in 13-plus seasons in Raleigh. Under Doeren, the Wolfpack reached 11 bowl games and went 9-4 against rival North Carolina, but the program never won 10 games in a season and never reached the ACC Championship Game, which began in 2005.
NC State has not won an ACC football title since 1979.
In a late-October letter to Wolfpack Nation, Chancellor Kevin Howell and Corrigan said, “We believe this is the right time for a new chapter, with fresh leadership and renewed energy to elevate Wolfpack Football to the next level,”
They also wrote: “We believe that NC State will compete at an elite level, challenge for ACC Championships, and be positioned for the College Football Playoff year in and year out. Together, we are fully committed to providing the financial investment, infrastructure, and NIL support required to compete and win in this new landscape.”
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