NC State’s coaching search took another turn Wednesday when Philip Rivers met with Wolfpack officials in Alabama about the program’s open head-coaching job.
Rivers confirmed the meeting to AL.com, and a plane that has been used in previous NC State coaching searches was tracked traveling from North Carolina to an airport near Fairhope, Alabama, where Rivers coaches St. Michael Catholic High School.
The plane later stopped in the Atlanta area after leaving the Gulf Coast. On3 reported that NC State officials were in Fairhope and that Rivers has made calls about assembling a coaching staff.
St. Michael is set to open the state playoffs Friday night.
The Wolfpack are searching for a new leader after firing Dave Doeren on Oct. 24 in the middle of his 14th season. Doeren leaves as the program’s all-time winningest coach with 98 victories.
Rivers has been tied closely to the opening from the start, and his connection to the school runs deep. His son, Gunner, is a NC State 2027 commit. Rivers told Ben Thomas, an Alabama high school sports reporter, on Friday, “You’re talking about NC State, that makes things a little bit different in terms of your love for the place,”
NC State is trying to keep its season moving while the search plays out. The Wolfpack are 4-4 and host Duke on Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium under interim coach Todd Goebbel.
Goebbel got his first win in the role on Halloween, when NC State beat Cal 31-10 at Carter-Finley. Asked this week about the outside noise surrounding the program’s future, he kept the focus on the moment.
"We're going to be where our feet are," Goebbel said. "Players, coaches, anybody that's involved in this program, we're going to be where our feet are.
We're going to serve each other. We're going to be prepared.
And then at the end of the day, when the day's over, we're going to lay our head to sleep and say, 'We know we did everything we can for NC State football to succeed'."
Rivers isn’t the only former Wolfpack quarterback to interview. Former NC State and NFL quarterback Russell Wilson interviewed for the job Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. Wilson works at CBS alongside former NC State player and Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Cowher, who is advising athletics director Boo Corrigan during the search.
Cowher said Corrigan is running the process when he spoke with Dan Patrick.
“I’ve been talking to Boo Corrigan,” Cowher said. “I think they’re going through the process right now.
And I think the biggest thing we can do is try to bring the next head coach the resources and support staff that give them the best chance to succeed. So I’ve been talking with Boo about that, and he’s going through the process right now.
Obviously, it’s his decision, and that’s where it stands.”
Rivers’ football résumé is long and decorated. He played 18 seasons in the NFL, including a three-game stint with the injury depleted Indianapolis Colts in 2025 after a four-year retirement.
He finished with 63,984 passing yards and 425 touchdowns. At NC State, he was the starting quarterback from 2000 to 2003, led the ACC in passing yards as a junior and senior, helped the Wolfpack go 11-3 in 2002, and has his No. 17 jersey retired by the school.
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NC State Still Has One Big Lineup Concern Before Duke
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Philip Rivers Could Be Coaching For More Than A Playoff Win
Philip Rivers has spent the past four seasons building a coaching rsum at St. Michael Catholic High School, where the former NC State quarterback has been on the sideline since 2021 after an 18-season NFL career. Now his next move could pull him back into the college game, with NC State searching for its next head coach and Rivers emerging as the name to watch.
The process has already moved beyond idle speculation, with university officials meeting with Rivers and the schools Board of Trustees set to approve the next coachs contract. For Wolfpack fans, the appeal is obvious - a familiar face with deep ties to the program and a long football pedigree - but the final step still has to be taken before any reunion becomes official. [Read more 🡒]
NC State Faces A Brutal Duke Test With Plenty On The Line
NC State heads into its matchup with Duke trying to keep the focus on football, even as the broader backdrop remains noisy with an ongoing coaching search. The Wolfpack have reason to feel a little better about their offense, though, with Duke Scott back in the lineup after missing the last three games, giving the run game another option as the team tries to settle in and stay present for a game that matters beyond the usual rivalry edge.
The challenge is obvious: Duke brings a physical rushing attack of its own, led by Nate Sheppard, and that kind of test can expose any team still juggling distractions. For NC State, this is the sort of week where details matter and the margin can shrink quickly, especially against an opponent that has been steady on the ground and arrives with plenty of confidence in how it wants to play. [Read more 🡒]