The NFL world was stunned to learn on Friday that the Buffalo Bills were set to interview longtime quarterback Philip Rivers for their head-coaching job at team owner Terry Pegula’s winter home in Florida.
While Rivers has served as a head coach for St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama, ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg noted that the 44-year-old has never coached at the collegiate or professional level. Nevertheless, former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark is among members of the football community who believe Rivers could be a legitimate option for a Bills team that fired head coach Sean McDermott earlier this week.
Why Ryan Clark loves the idea of Bills possibly hiring Philip Rivers
“I’d actually love it,” Clark said about the Bills possibly hiring Rivers during Friday’s edition of the ESPN “First Take” program, as shared by Awful Announcing. “If you’re not going to move right to (Bills offensive coordinator) Joe Brady, I’d rather you go Philip Rivers and step totally away from these recycled, failed-up head coaches that we are interviewing or that we’re looking at and step into something new.
“We’ve seen a guy like John Harbaugh never be a coordinator and make an excellent head coach because you understand how to delegate. You understand how to lead. You understand how to communicate. What Philip Rivers showed us when he stepped onto the field for the Indianapolis Colts is…I get it. I understand it.”
Harbaugh put in plenty of time working as an assistant coach and as a special teams coordinator in college and the NFL before the Baltimore Ravens took a flier on him in 2008. Meanwhile, Clark was referencing how Rivers hadn’t taken a meaningful in-game snap since the 2020 campaign before he shockingly returned to play for the Indianapolis Colts late this season.
While Rivers went 0-3 as a starter, he hardly looked lost while running the Indianapolis offense.
Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle suggested that the Bills are merely “tapping into Rivers’ vast knowledge of offense at the NFL level and pumping him for ideas on how to get the very best out of” quarterback Josh Allen. Allen reportedly is “sitting in for everything” during meetings with candidates and “will have significant say on the next coach.”
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport mentioned that Allen and Rivers have a “close relationship.” Rapoport also hinted that the Bills’ interest in Rivers “is pretty real.”
For what it’s worth, Clark isn’t entirely alone. NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah seems to think Rivers could immediately be successful as a head coach if he assembled “an outstanding” coaching staff.