Russell Wilson interviewed on Tuesday, Nov. 3, for the vacant head coaching job at North Carolina State, the school where he played three seasons before a long NFL career. ESPN insider Adam Schefter first reported the interview. Wilson, a Super Bowl champion quarterback who retired from the NFL in June and joined CBS Sports as an analyst, has never coached at any level, but he is now a prominent candidate in a search that also includes former NC State quarterback Philip Rivers.
How Russell Wilson came into the NC State search
NC State fired Dave Doeren on Oct. 24 after a 3-4 start to the season, including a 1-3 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Doeren had coached the Wolfpack since the 2013 season and finished 98-73 overall with a 52-57 record in ACC play, adding four bowl wins in 10 postseason appearances. He left as the program’s all-time wins leader. Todd Goebbel is serving as interim coach for the rest of the season while the school runs a national search, and NC State has not publicly commented on either candidate beyond the general announcement of that search.
Schefter reported that the school “now has two former NFL greats who starred there, Wilson and Philip Rivers, as prominent head-coaching candidates.” Rivers was named as a serious candidate days after the job opened, and Wilson’s interview on Tuesday added a second former Wolfpack quarterback to the front of the search. Russell Wilson played at NC State from 2008 to 2010, and Rivers played there before a long NFL career of his own. Bill Cowher, a former NC State player and Wilson’s colleague on the CBS set, is an adviser in the search, according to Yahoo Sports.
Rivers is the other name at the front of the search. He was named as a serious candidate for the job days after it opened, in a report by On3’s Pete Nakos, Chris Low and Brett McMurphy. Like Wilson, Rivers starred at NC State before a long NFL career, and the school now has two former quarterbacks who played there as prominent candidates. The two men took different paths after college: Wilson won a Super Bowl with Seattle and was picked for the Pro Bowl 10 times, while Rivers built a long career as an NFL starter. Neither man has run a college program before, and the school will have to weigh that against their ties to the program and their standing with fans. Russell Wilson’s interview on Tuesday put him in the same frame as Rivers, and the search will now test which of the two the school sees as the right fit.
Why the Russell Wilson interview carries history
Russell Wilson left NC State in 2011 in unhappy circumstances. After graduating in three years and playing minor-league baseball in the Colorado Rockies system, he was released from his football scholarship by then-head coach Tom O’Brien, who questioned his commitment to football. Wilson transferred to Wisconsin for his final college season. He later recalled the split on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, saying, “Kinda kicked me out of NC State a little bit.” The school that released him has now sat him down and asked whether he can run the whole program.
Russell Wilson went on to win a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks and was picked for the Pro Bowl 10 times. He announced his retirement from the NFL in June and moved into television work with CBS Sports. His lack of coaching experience could be a major factor in the school’s decision, and USA Today noted that NC State could still turn to a candidate with head coaching experience. No hire has been announced, and the search is still open.
What comes next for Russell Wilson and NC State
The Wolfpack still have games to play under Goebbel, and the search will run alongside the rest of the season. Russell Wilson’s interview gives the school a famous name with deep ties to the program, and Rivers gives it a second one. The choice will say a lot about what NC State wants next: a coach with a record of running a program, or a former star who knows the school and can sell a fresh start to recruits and fans. For now, Wilson has taken the first step, and the school has two former quarterbacks at the front of its search.