Philip Rivers is the next college football coach at North Carolina State. His contract will pay him an annual salary that is less than his predecessor, which allows the Wolfpack to concentrate its money toward the coaching staff, NIL and roster management.
It is an extremely school-friendly deal.
As the newest coach in college football, Rivers is not worried about the amount of zeros. The focus is on winning. The rest will follow.
Philip Rivers made a lot of money in the NFL.
As one of the most legendary quarterbacks of the current millennium, Philip Rivers is right on the verge of the Hall of Fame. He was an eight-time Pro Bowler (when the Pro Bowl still mattered), the 2010 passing yards leader, 2008 passing touchdowns co-leader and the 2013 completion percentage leader, won 134 regular season games in 234 starts in 18 years, made the playoffs seven times, and was named as the Comeback Player of the Year in 2013.
Over the course of his professional football career, Rivers earned a total of approximately $234 million. Money is no object!
The lack of financial need allowed Rivers to begin his coaching career on the high school level at St. Michael Catholic in Alabama. I’m sure he got paid pretty well to coach the Cardinals but it was no more than six figures, at the most.
Therefore, North Carolina State was able to land the schools’ most legendary quarterback with a fairly inexpensive contract. Rivers does not have any prior coaching experience beyond the high school level, and — assuming he has the right financial advisory team in place — it’s not like he needs to make a certain dollar amount to live.
Dave Doeren was fired on Oct. 24, 2026. The former head football coach in Raleigh signed a contract extension in 2022 that bumped his annual salary from ~$3.5 million to ~$5 million. He signed another extension in 2024 that bumped his annual compensation from ~$5 million to ~$5.5 million. The Wolfpack will pay him ~10 million to buy him out of his deal.
According to Brian Murphy of the WRAL News, Philip Rivers will get paid $3.25 million per year over five years. That makes him one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the Power Six conferences of college football.
North Carolina State can pay its college football players!
Doeren spoke with the media after his ouster. In doing so, the former head coach at North Carolina State emphasized that “the resources need to match the expectations” in order for the Wolfpack to be successful. Trent Dilfer also warned Philip Rivers to be careful of what he signs up for. The program and its fanbase must buy in.
With all of that in mind, North Carolina State was able to land Rivers for cheap— relatively speaking. That is a great move.
Because Rivers took a pay cut (compared to Doeren), the Wolfpack can put more money into his coaching staff. He will be able to pay more money to a top offensive and defensive coordinator, which will help him adjust to the next level.
Once the staff is in place, Rivers can take the money that North Carolina State did not spend on his salary and put it toward the roster. It is much easier to win football games if the school is able to lure in top talent with large amounts of “NIL” money.
There will be critics of the hire, because Rivers has not done this before, but the move makes sense from a financial standpoint. And, at the very least, the Wolfpack will be relevant from a national conversation standpoint for the first time in a long time.
His first schedule looks like this:
- vs. North Carolina A&T
- vs. Kansas State
- vs. Louisiana Tech
- vs. Clemson
- vs. Miami
- vs. North Carolina
- vs. Pitt
- at Duke
- at SMU
- at Syracuse
- at Virginia Tech
- at Wake Forest
If North Carolina State is not competitive in year one, its new head coach’s salary provides a positive outlook for the future.