INDIANAPOLIS — Philip Rivers says he’s still very much a high school coach. But he would be open to something bigger one day.
The 44-year-old Indianapolis Colts quarterback, who came out of retirement last month to help the reeling Colts amid multiple quarterback injuries, said he’s headed back to retirement and his role as head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama. His son, Gunner, will be a senior there in the fall and is one of the nation’s top quarterback recruits.
As for the NFL and the prospect of coaching at the pro level, Rivers was clear nothing has been discussed but said he would not rule out the idea in the future.
“There’s nothing concrete to that,” Rivers said of reported interest in him as a coaching candidate. “I think if this past month has taught me is you’re open, obviously, to anything, I guess. Then you go from there. But I’m looking forward to going back home and getting back with those [players], getting back to my family and Gunner’s senior season coming up.”
Rivers went 0-3 as a starter down the stretch as the Colts fell short of making the postseason. But he also poured into the team’s younger quarterbacks during his time in Indianapolis, raising the specter of him perhaps doing so on a full-time basis. Rivers thinks he could pull it off.
“I do think, as humbly as I can say it, that I could coach at this level,” Rivers said. “I know enough about the game and about the guys, and from a leadership standpoint, camaraderie, all that comes with it. But, again, that’s not something that I’m sitting here pursuing. If anything I learned the last four weeks, it’s take it one day at a time. Because there was a Sunday afternoon, I had no thought of being in Indianapolis the next day. Then, 24 hours later, I was here.”
Rivers arrived after a spur-of-the-moment phone call from coach Shane Steichen following Daniel Jones‘ season-ending injury. Nearly five seasons had passed since his retirement, but the Colts saw Rivers as a better option than sixth-round pick Riley Leonard, who had some good moments in his lone start on Sunday against the Houston Texans.
But Steichen said he doesn’t regret the decision to move forward with Rivers, who played respectably given the circumstances and would make the same decision again.
“That experience with Philip being here, I think, was great for everybody involved,” Steichen said.
