The first major hiring news of this college football coaching carousel was announced Sunday, as NC State is reportedly working to finalize a deal to make Philip Rivers its next head coach. Rivers appears set to lead the Wolfpack program after spending the past six seasons as a head coach at the high school level with St. Michael Catholic in Alabama.
The former 18-year NFL veteran will return to his alma mater, where he played quarterback for the Wolfpack from 2000-2003. Over his four-year career in Raleigh, Rivers started 51 games, threw for over 13,000 yards and 95 touchdowns, and was named ACC Player of the Year as a senior. He also played under current Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, who served as his quarterbacks coach at NC State.
Now, Rivers will look to revive an NC State program that has been stuck in mediocrity and hit a low point this season, currently sitting at 4-5 and firing Dave Doeren midway through the season.
While coaches returning to their alma maters is nothing new in college football, Rivers' situation is a bit different. Many coaches who have taken that path spent years working their way up through the college coaching ranks, while Rivers has only coached at the high school level. However, having 18 years of NFL playing experience is something that sets him apart.
Let's take a look at some other notable college football coaches who Philip Rivers will join as former players who returned to their former schools to become head coaches.
Kirby Smart - Georgia
- Defensive Back (1995-1998)
- Head Coach (2016-Present)
Long before becoming the energetic figure on the sidelines and arguably the best active head coach in college football, Kirby Smart was a safety for the Bulldogs. He had 13 interceptions during his career and was an All-SEC selection as a senior. Smart served as an administrative assistant for Georgia in his first year out of college, along with a one-year stint as the team's running backs coach in 2005. From 2000-2015, he made stops at Alabama, LSU, and Florida State, among others, before returning to Athens as head coach in 2016. Since then, he has led the Bulldogs to two national championships and double-digit wins in eight of his ten seasons.
Mario Cristobal - Miami
- Offensive Lineman (1989-1992)
- Head Coach (2022-Present)
Cristobal left his head coaching job at Oregon to return to his former school with hopes of bringing Miami back to the days of his time there at The U. He has certainly done a great job of doing that, coming off a national championship game appearance and looking like a legitimate contender for the title this season. Cristobal was part of two national championship teams with the Canes as an offensive lineman, and that experience has shown in how he models his teams and emphasizes winning at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
Jim Harbaugh - Michigan
- Quarterback (1982-1986)
- Head Coach (2015-2023)
Harbaugh was brought back to Michigan, where he played quarterback, and was viewed as a sort of savior figure after the historic program had fallen off following two unsuccessful head coaching hires in Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. He had an immediate impact in Ann Arbor, bringing the program back to relevancy but took some time to get the Wolverines over the hump. Harbaugh led Michigan to three straight College Football Playoff appearances, culminating in a national championship in 2023.
Pat Fitzgerald - Northwestern
- Linebacker (1993-1996)
- Head Coach (2006-2022)
The now-Michigan State head coach spent 22 years at his alma mater Northwestern, including 17 seasons as the Wildcats' head coach. Fitzgerald kept a program that never had high expectations relevant during his time there and occasionally put together some really good seasons, but his time in Evanston came to an unfortunate end. As good a coach as he was for the Wildcats, he was an even better player. He was a force at linebacker, earning two-time All-American honors and being named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year twice.
Scott Frost - Nebraska
- Quarterback (1995-1997)
- Head Coach (2018-2022)
Frost was a phenomenal quarterback for the Cornhuskers when they were a college football powerhouse. He led the program to a share of the national championship in 1997 in a season in which he threw and rushed for over 1,000 yards. Coming off a perfect 13-0 season as head coach at UCF in 2017, Frost's return home to a Nebraska program starving to get back to where it once was felt perfect. Well, it didn't quite work out as well as most had hoped or expected. Frost finished with a 16-31 record, zero winning seasons, and several heartbreaking losses, leaving the Nebraska program in a worse spot than when he arrived.
Kliff Kingsbury - Texas Tech
- Quarterback (1998-2002)
- Head Coach (2013-2018)
Kliff Kingsbury took over the Texas Tech program at just 33 years old, and with only five years of coaching experience. He never won more than eight games in a season with the Red Raiders and finished with an overall record of 35-40, which ultimately led to his firing in 2018. However, his high-powered offenses, along with the development of Patrick Mahomes in college, helped him land an NFL head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals the following season.
Others of note:
- Jeff Brohm (Louisville)
- Kalani Sitake (BYU)
- Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State)
- David Shaw (Stanford)
- Steve Spurrier (Florida)
- Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech)
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