Philip Rivers could be heading back to Raleigh. The former NC State and Chargers quarterback has held serious talks about becoming the Wolfpack's next head coach, though a deal is not close yet.

Rivers is in his sixth season as head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama. He has led the Cardinals to the state semifinals in each of the past two seasons. He has never coached in college.

The 44-year-old has told NC State he wants to finish the current high school season first. He became the early favorite after the school fired Dave Doeren on Oct. 24. Rivers has not met with school officials in person yet. There has been outreach about building a front office if he takes the job.

"You never say never"

Rivers spoke after St. Michael's 53-32 loss to Foley on Friday night. "I mean, shoot, NC State's special to me," he said. He praised Doeren as the program's all-time winningest coach and added, "There's nothing there at this point."

"Gotta take it one day at a time," Rivers said. "I'm excited [for] this postseason with these guys here. And I guess it's like I told you last year, you never say never, but there's nothing imminent."

A family tie to the Wolfpack

His son Gunner committed to NC State on Feb. 23. Gunner hurt his knee and was shut down for the rest of St. Michael's season. He threw for 10,847 yards and 119 touchdowns in his high school career.

Philip Rivers broke nearly every school and ACC passing record at NC State. He threw for 13,484 yards and 95 touchdowns and led the Wolfpack to four straight bowl games under Chuck Amato, winning three.

A long road since the NFL

Rivers played 17 NFL seasons, all but one with the Chargers, before retiring after the 2020 season. Last year he came out of retirement to start three games for the Colts when injuries hit their quarterback room. In January he interviewed for the Bills' head coaching job before pulling out of the search.