Homecoming is official. NC State announced Friday that Philip Rivers — the program's former star quarterback who went on to an 18-season NFL career — will be the Wolfpack's next head football coach, sealing the deal with a five-year contract just weeks after the school parted ways with longtime coach Dave Doeren.
A familiar face returns to Carter-Finley
For Wolfpack fans, the hire needs almost no introduction. Rivers quarterbacked NC State from 2000 to 2003, winning ACC Player of the Year in his senior season before becoming the fourth overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft. The jersey number he wore in Raleigh — No. 17 — is already retired in his honor at Carter-Finley Stadium.
"Like I'm coming home," Rivers said of the move in the school's announcement of the hire.
From the NFL to the sideline
The 44-year-old played professionally for the San Diego and Los Angeles Chargers from 2004 through 2019 and spent 2020 with the Indianapolis Colts, finishing his career with 63,984 passing yards and 425 touchdowns across 8,226 attempts. He earned eight Pro Bowl selections, led the NFL in passing yards in 2010, and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2013.
Rivers stepped away from playing after the 2020 season and has coached at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama since 2021, where he also served as head coach. The NC State job will mark his return to major-college sidelines.
A five-year deal and a family tie
NC State's Board of Trustees approved the five-year contract Friday, according to the announcement. Rivers takes over a program that fired Doeren earlier this season after a 4-6 start, capping a search that had centered on Rivers for weeks.
The Wolfpack connection runs deeper than the roster: Rivers' son, Gunner Rivers, a quarterback himself, is committed to NC State as part of its 2027 recruiting class — meaning the new head coach will have family-rooted ties to the program's future as well as its past.
What's next
NC State will formally introduce Rivers at a press conference Monday. The 2026 season wraps up for the Wolfpack on the road at Florida State on Nov. 21, after which Rivers and his staff will turn toward building the roster for 2027.
