Philip Rivers may not be done with professional football quite yet.
The 44-year-old former NFL quarterback interviewed with the Buffalo Bills on Friday, January 23, for their open head coaching job — a shocking move that may keep Rivers connected to the NFL.
Rivers stepped in as quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts for three of the final four games of the 2025-2026 season after the team’s top two signal callers — Daniel Jones and rookie Riley Leonard — both went down with injury.
Colts coach Shane Steichen, who worked with Rivers for eight years while with the Los Angeles Chargers (formerly the San Diego Chargers), then gave his old friend a call.
After the Colts were eliminated from playoff contention, Steichen put Leonard under center for the final game of the year, all but ending Rivers’ quarterbacking career … again.
“There’s a lot of emotions there,” Steichen said. “Being 44 years old and coming out of this thing healthy is a blessing for [Rivers], too, as well. So, he’s grateful for that. And like he said, he wouldn’t change anything. Coming back out here with the guys and battling, it’s been an honor and a privilege (to watch).”
Rivers even confirmed on an episode of the “Up & Adams” podcast soon after that he would not be returning to play quarterback in the NFL in the 2026-2027 season.
“I am,” Rivers said when asked if he was done playing on the Wednesday, December 31, episode.
Rivers doesn’t have any NFL coaching experience, but has spent the last five years as head coach of the St. Michael Catholic High School football team in Alabama, where his son, Gunner, is entering his final season as the team’s quarterback.
Quarterback Philip Rivers Getty Images
He said he hopes his coaching advice will hold some more weight after his recent NFL stint.
“It’ll be fun,” Rivers said on the podcast. “It’ll kickstart our offseason program, to say the least. Maybe some things I say to them, they’ll take a little more serious now that I was just out there playing.”
He continued, “Everything lined up just right. … I’m back to the sideline. This was a fun, three-week blur that nobody saw coming, including myself. And that’ll be it.”
Rivers has stayed close with Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who has reportedly been involved with the head coaching search.
“Philip’s one of the greatest to ever play the game,” Allen said after Rivers came out of retirement to play for the Colts. “We’ll see how it works out. I’m rooting for him, though, because he’s another great human being.”
Rivers was the fourth candidate that the Bills interviewed since Sean McDermott was fired on Monday. McDermott made the playoffs in eight of his nine seasons as head coach and reached the AFC championship twice (both times losing to the Kansas City Chiefs).
After a hot 8-2 start to the season, the Colts dropped their final seven games (including the three with Rivers under center) and finished at 8-9.
Rivers originally came into the league in the 2004 draft, spending most of his career with the San Diego Chargers (he stayed with the team after they moved to Los Angeles in 2017), before finishing his career with the Colts in 2021.
He leads the Chargers in passing touchdowns (397) and passing yards (59,271) during his time with the franchise, and ranks sixth and eighth in NFL history in those categories, respectively.
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