Russell Wilson has surfaced in the search for NC State’s next head coach.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the former Seattle Seahawks quarterback interviewed for the Wolfpack job on Tuesday. Wilson spent three seasons at NC State from 2008-10 before transferring to Wisconsin for his final college season in 2011.
Wilson’s name comes into the mix as NC State looks to replace Dave Doeren, who was fired on Oct. 24 after the Wolfpack opened 3-4. Doeren had been in his 14th season leading the program.
ESPN also reported Saturday that Philip Rivers, another NC State alum and an eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback, has “engaged in serious discussions” about coaching his alma mater.
Wilson, 37, stepped away 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 playing resume is the kind that still jumps off the page. In Seattle from 2012-21, Wilson helped the Seahawks reach two Super Bowls and win the franchise’s first title. He became known for his deep ball and his ability to escape pressure, while also setting franchise records, finishing in the top four of AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year voting three times and earning the NFL’s 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
Wilson’s career took a different turn after Seattle traded him to the Denver Broncos in March 2022 in a blockbuster deal. The Seahawks used the draft capital from that trade to help build toward their 2025 Super Bowl-winning team, while Wilson’s own results declined.
After leaving Seattle, he went 17-27 as a starter across three teams in four seasons. 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 being replaced by first-round pick Jaxson Dart.
Over his NFL career, Wilson threw for 46,966 yards, 353 touchdowns and 114 interceptions. He also rushed for 5,568 yards and 31 touchdowns, making him the only player in league history to top both 40,000 passing yards and 5,000 rushing yards.
In Other News...
Wake Forest Gets An Early Chance To End A Brutal Ranked Road Drought
Wake Forests mens basketball team gets an early measuring-stick game on the road, with No. 24 Vanderbilt waiting in a building that should tell the Demon Deacons plenty about where they stand. After opening the season with a win over Maryland Eastern Shore, Wake Forest has some encouraging signs to carry into the matchup, including the play of freshman twins Gavin and Gallagher Placide and transfer guard Kevair Kennedy.
The bigger backdrop is the one that hangs over any trip like this: Wake Forest has gone 16 years without a true road win against an AP Top 25 opponent. Vanderbilt, coming off a strong season and a decisive opening victory, figures to make this another stern test, and it gives the Demon Deacons a chance to see whether their early momentum can translate when the lights get brighter and the crowd is against them. [Read more 🡒]
Wake Forest Has Everything To Lose In This Merrimack Tune-Up
Wake Forest heads into Saturdays meeting with Merrimack at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium carrying the kind of momentum that changes the conversation around a program. The Deacons are coming off a 51-7 win over Virginia and sit 16th in the College Football Playoff rankings, which means this is the sort of late-season game where the expectations are less about surviving and more about looking the part.
Merrimack arrives with a 4-5 record and an offense averaging 18 points per game at the FCS level, so the gap on paper is obvious. For Wake Forest, the bigger question is not whether it should win, but whether it can do so cleanly enough to avoid turning a tune-up into an unnecessary stress test, especially with the stakes around its national standing only growing from here. [Read more 🡒]