Another stunning NFL return could be in store for Philip Rivers.
This time as a head coach.
Rivers was set to interview Friday for the Buffalo Bills’ head coaching job, according to reports.
The former quarterback, 44, has been the head football coach at St. Michael Catholic High in Fairhope, Ala., since 2021, but he’s never been part of an NFL coaching staff.
Yet the close relationship between Bills star quarterback Josh Allen and Rivers has helped make the latter a legitimate candidate, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
“Buffalo has been looking for a leader. Hard to imagine a better one,” Rapoport wrote on social media. “We shall see. But this is pretty real.”
The interview comes less than two months after Rivers came out of retirement to start three games for the injury-riddled Indianapolis Colts.
Appearing in his first games since 2020, Rivers completed 63% of his passes for 544 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions, but the Colts went 0-3.
“The one thing that I’ve just loved since I was however old, playing this game and being now the coach, is I’ve been able to have some impact on the score,” Rivers said this month on FanDuel’s “Up & Adams” show.
“That’s why I love coaching. Yeah, I’m not playing the game — it’s about the boys — but you have an impact on the score. You are involved in the game.”
Buffalo fired head coach Sean McDermott this week after being eliminated by the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round of the playoffs — an overtime loss that featured multiple controversial calls by the officials.
The Bills made the playoffs in eight of McDermott’s nine seasons in the role but never advanced to a Super Bowl.
“I felt like we hit the proverbial playoff wall year after year,” owner Terry Peguila said at a press conference this week.
“I just sensed in that locker room, like, where do we go from here with what we have? And that was the basis for my decision.”
Among the other candidates to replace McDermott is Brian Daboll, who interviewed with the Bills on Thursday.
Daboll was the Bills’ offensive coordinator from 2018-21 — Allen’s first four seasons — and has been credited for his role in the quarterback’s development.
The Giants fired Daboll in November after nearly four seasons as their head coach, during which he went 20-40-1 with one playoff berth.
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo have also interviewed for Buffalo’s head coach opening.
