NC State set to hire Philip Rivers: How other ex-NFL stars have fared as college football head coaches?

With Philip Rivers set to take over his alma mater at NC State, here's a look at how other former NFL standouts have fared leading collegiate programs Nov 12, 2026 at 9:55 am ET • 5 min read Philip Rivers is set to become NC State's head coach. There are some coaching searches that seem destined from start to finish at a specific place, and for weeks, that has been the case with Rivers and his alma mater. Nearly every conversation with industry sources about the Wolfpack job started and ended with Rivers, despite ESPN reporting that CBS Sports analyst Russell Wilson interviewed for the job.This is chiefly a move to satiate donors and boosters and provide a feel-good factor for the Wolfpack. There is no doubt it will gin up excitement around the program, both locally and nationally, and increase donor support. Rivers' son Gunner is committed to play quarterback for him and continue the Rivers QB legacy in Raleigh.Rivers interviewed for the Buffalo Bills job last year after briefly coming out of retirement to quarterback the Colts, but beyond that, he had only coached at the high school level. It continues a small trend in college football of schools hiring noteworthy former NFL stars to coach their teams with little experience. So how have the legends you remember fared in college football?The question of whether Rivers will actually work out is uncertain, but former high-level NFL players taking over college jobs with slim résumés do not have a kind track record. Deion Sanders (Colorado/Jackson State)Record: 46-33 (active)The Sanders experience has proved to be more sizzle than steak in the end. Sanders started off hot at Jackson State with back-to-back Celebration Bowl appearances with son Shedeur at quarterback and Travis Hunter as a two-way phenom. Sanders took the FBS by storm with his aggressive use of the transfer portal and an improbable 3-1 start. The team finished 1-8 to end the season at 4-8, and in 2024, it rebounded for Hunter's Heisman season and a legitimate run at the Big 12 championship.The results in 2025 and 2026 have been poor, and the team is 3-6. On-field gaffes have accompanied the off-field sideshows weekly, from special teams operational woes to a second year of multiple quarterback changes.Trent Dilfer (UAB)Record: 9-21 (fired)Dilfer never truly got in gear and was fired midway through 2025. He took over a UAB program that Bill Clark had pulled out of the ashes and that had six straight winning seasons. His only experience before taking that job was as a high school coach in Tennessee. Dilfer almost immediately alienated high school coaches in his new state and had his own gaffes, such as after a 2024 loss when he quipped, "It's not like this is freakin' Alabama," to justify his grandson sitting next to him during a press conference because he wasn't coaching the Crimson Tide. It did not sit well with the fan base. The AD who hired him, Mark Ingram, is no longer part of the program as the Blazers try to turn the page institutionally on a hiring misstep.Ed Reed (Bethune-Cookman)Reed never coached a game with the Wildcats, and the school chose not to ratify his contract after he served for about a month on the job in 2023.Reed complained openly on social media about the state of the campus, the football facilities and his contract situation at the time. Reed also called athletic director Reggie Theus "evil." It was an understandable failure to launch. "As we continued to observe him, we felt that his behavior was not aligned with the traditions of our founder, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and the university," a school spokesperson said at the time.Eddie George (Tennessee State/Bowling Green)Record: 24-22 (active)George took Tennessee State to the FCS playoffs in 2024 in his fourth year and rescued the program from the doldrums it had been in for a decade. He took over Bowling Green at a difficult time after former coach Scott Loeffler left in mid-February. George's Falcons went 4-8 in 2025 and are 2-7 so far in 2026.Marshall Faulk (Southern)Record: 2-4 (active)Faulk spent a year on Sanders' staff at Colorado as a running backs coach before taking over as head coach of the Jaguars. He announced he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in October 2026 and had been living with it for 18 months. He is receiving treatment while continuing to coach."If it comes a time to where my lifestyle changes, then I will," Faulk told reporters. "Then that conversation could be had. I'm functioning. I'm good. You know, I just I think I caught it early. I'm in a good place."Michael Vick (Norfolk State)Record: 5-17After interning at a Chiefs training camp and a short stint as offensive coordinator with the Alliance of American Football, Vick received a head coaching job at Norfolk State in 2025. The team has improved to at least four wins in 2026, but infamously threw a win away against HBCU stalwart North Carolina Central when Vick thought he had told his coaches to run victory formation, only to look up and see that his offense was running an actual play, which his quarterback fumbled. The Eagles went back the other way and scored to win the game. Vick is yet to win a conference game as a coach.DeSean Jackson (Delaware State)Record: 14-8 (active)After a year as a high school offensive coordinator, Jackson has the Hornets playing well in short order. The program had two winning seasons since 2007, when he took over and won two games in both 2023 and 2024. Jackson's Hornets went 8-4 in his first year and are 6-4 near the end of his second. There is an outside chance at a truly special season. They'd have to beat South Carolina State at the end of the season, then hope for some help from North Carolina Central to keep Celebration Bowl hopes alive.Jackson made waves with a work-smarter, not-harder approach as a CEO coach and has some days when his schedule runs from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., whereas, for instance, Colorado State's defense, the nation's worst, is coordinated by a coach sleeping in his office.