Philip Rivers is in as the new NC State head coach after the team fired Dave Doeren midway through his 14th season with the Wolfpack, where he boasted a 98-74 overall record, including a 52-58 mark.
It wasn't long after the firing that Rivers was immediately linked to the job, seeing as he has a son who's committed to the football team and Rivers played quarterback for the program from 2000-2003.
During his time with the Wolfpack, Rivers broke many NC State and ACC records, including most consecutive starts at quarterback (51) and career passing yards for both NC State and the ACC (13,484). Same with Passing touchdowns (95) and many others.
After a great college career, Rivers was drafted in the first round, pick four, to the New York Giants but was immediately traded to the San Diego Chargers.
During his time with the Chargers, Rivers made nine Pro Bowls and was the league leader in passer rating and passing touchdowns in 2008. When he finally decided to retire from the NFL in 2021, he didn't leave football in the rearview; instead, he took a high school head coaching job at ST. Michael in Fairhope, Alabama, where his son is currently the starting quarterback.
With St. Michael, Rivers finished with a 48-21 record. Turning around a struggling high school team that, in its first four varsity seasons, went a combined 5-25 before Rivers was officially named the head coach.
In just his first season, he led the Cardinals to a 49-0 blowout before leading them to their first winning season ever. In 2024, he led them to a 12-2 record before losing in the semifinals to the eventual state champions.
Then, in 2025, he had his best season yet, leading the Cardinals to a 13-1 record and back to the semifinals, where they would lose once again to the eventual state champs.
Now, Rivers looks to take his successful high school coaching career and carry that success to NC State, and lead them to their first conference championship appearance since the game was introduced in 2005.
Rivers could also get over a hump that Doeren couldn't: get 10 wins in a season at NC State, which hasn't been done since 2002, when that team went 11-3.
Rivers will not be without resources, as the football team's boosters have pledged a large sum to the program for Rivers to use on the roster and get this team into ACC contention as soon as possible.
Rivers might have to spend some of that money keeping star quarterback C.J. Bailey on the roster; that way, for Rivers’ first year, he already has a proven quarterback and leader on the offensive side of the ball.