NC State Nears Deal to Hire 44-Year-Old Philip Rivers as Head Coach

Q: Who will Rivers bring in as experienced assistant coaches to bridge his massive collegiate experience gap at NC State?

No experienced assistant coaches have been officially named yet. What is clear from the reporting is that Rivers and NC State have treated veteran staff hires as essential because he has no college coaching background. Multiple reports say Rivers has already started sounding out potential staff members and that one of his contract priorities was a large enough assistant salary pool to attract proven college coaches. Donors and school officials were also reportedly prepared to back that with added roster and NIL support so he could “hit the ground running.” The clearest name publicly linked to his possible staff is former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chip Long. The Athletic reported Long is “one potential name to watch,” which would fit NC State’s expected need for an experienced college play-caller alongside Rivers. Long has coordinated offenses at Notre Dame, Tulane and Southern Miss and was a Broyles Award finalist during Notre Dame’s 2018 playoff season. Beyond Long, no confirmed assistants have been identified in the available reporting. Some outside speculation has mentioned Frank Reich because of his ties to Rivers, but that has not been substantiated as an active or likely hire. So the best answer right now is that Rivers appears intent on surrounding himself with veteran college assistants, with Chip Long the only concretely reported candidate to date, but the rest of the bridge staff remains unknown until NC State finalizes the hire and announcements follow.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 8

NC State is finalizing an agreement to make Philip Rivers its next head coach, elevating the former Wolfpack quarterback directly from St. Michael Catholic High School.
14-year coach Dave Doeren was fired in October after a season that unraveled, ending a tenure in which he went 98-74 but never reached an ACC title game or won 10 games.
6 seasons at St. Michael produced Rivers' unconventional résumé for a major-conference hire; with son Gunner at quarterback, his teams went 25-3 in 2024 and 2025 and reached back-to-back state semifinals.
Supporters expect Rivers to energize donors and fans as NC State tries to expand roster spending after The Athletic estimated its 2026 squad cost $22 million to $26 million, sixth in the ACC by median estimate.
2002 remains a key touchstone for the program: Rivers led NC State to 11 wins that year, still the school's only double-digit-win season.