Former NFL quarterback Philip Rivers has reportedly “emerged as the focus” of the NC State coaching search. On Friday night, he didn’t do much to throw water on the possibility.
“I mean, shoot, NC State’s special to me,” Rivers said after coaching his latest high-school game (via Ben Thomas of AL.com), “and, you know, Coach [Dave] Doren, shoot, what he did over 14 years, and all-time winningest coach is a — ton of respect and appreciation, you know, for how he went about it with the university, and, you know, there’s nothing there at this point. No, you understand — like I told you earlier in the week — you understand the chatter is out there. Gotta take it one day at a time, you know, is all I know. I’m excited this postseason with these guys here, and I guess it’s like I told you last year, you know, you never say never, but there’s nothing imminent.”
Rivers said “nothing” three times before choosing “imminent” as the next word. He could have just stopped with “nothing,” if there was nothing.
Clearly there’s something. Even more clearly, Rivers wants to delay things until the playoff run is over at St. Michael’s, the high school where he has coached since 2021.
Indeed, Rivers specifically mentioned that he’s “really looking forward to trying to send this last group off” with a state championship. He obviously wants to minimize distractions as they try to finish the job — and, more importantly, he’s fully committed to not pulling a Lane Kiffin on his current team.
