FAIRHOPE, Ala. — St. Michael Catholic’s season ended sooner than anyone in Fairhope expected Friday night, and the question hanging over the program grew louder in the moments after the final whistle: Was that Philip Rivers’ last game as the Cardinals’ head coach?
Rivers did not have an answer.
“Shoot, I don’t know that,” Rivers said after Glenwood upset St. Michael 42-35 in the first round of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Private Class AA playoffs on Nov. 6. “I don’t know that. It’s been a heck of a six years, I know that.”
The loss came two days after Rivers met with officials from North Carolina State University, his college alma mater, about the Wolfpack’s vacant head football coaching job. He acknowledged Friday that news could come in the days ahead but said a locker room full of players whose season had just ended was not the place for it.
How the season ended
St. Michael, the No. 3 seed from Private Class AA, Region 1, hosted Glenwood of Phenix City, a team the Cardinals had beaten 48-27 on the road during the regular season. This time the visitors made the plays late.
The game was tied 28-28 early in the fourth quarter when Glenwood scored to go ahead, recovered an onside kick and scored again to take a 42-28 lead, according to USA Today’s account of the game. St. Michael pulled within one score with less than three minutes to play, but Glenwood recovered the Cardinals’ onside kick and ran out the clock.
The night also marked the return of senior quarterback Gunner Rivers, Philip’s son, who had missed the previous two games with a right knee injury. A four-star prospect committed to N.C. State, Gunner threw two touchdown passes in the loss. He was hurt in the season opener and missed most of the year, but he finishes his high school career as St. Michael’s all-time leader in every passing category.
St. Michael finished 6-5. Rivers is now 48-21 in six seasons as the Cardinals’ head coach.
“Certainly, this wasn’t the night any of us expected tonight that this season came to an end right now,” Rivers said. “So, I think thinking any further than tonight, these guys in the locker room would probably not be the way to go about it.”
The meeting with N.C. State
N.C. State fired Dave Doeren, its head coach for 14 seasons, last month, and Rivers’ name surfaced almost immediately on lists of possible replacements. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, Rivers confirmed by text message that he had met with N.C. State officials in Fairhope, but he declined further comment at the time, as South AL News reported.
He said a little more on Friday.
“We met and visited,” Rivers said. “I’ve known some of those guys for a while now. It was good to visit with them, but there is nothing else to report at this point.”
Reports citing several sources have said Rivers has begun making preliminary phone calls to assemble a coaching staff and front office. Neither Rivers nor the university has confirmed those reports, and N.C. State has not announced a hire.
“We’ll just have to see,” Rivers said Friday.
‘Left better than it was’
Rivers took over a St. Michael program that had gone 5-25 before his arrival and had never reached the playoffs. Under Rivers, the Cardinals made the postseason four straight years and reached the state semifinals in each of the past two seasons, losing both times to eventual state champion Jackson.
Asked to reflect on that run, Rivers spoke as a coach weighing the possibility of goodbye without saying it outright.
“If it were to be the last time out here, shoot, there’s a lot to be, a lot was accomplished,” he said. “Certainly, if that were to be the case, it will be left, you know, better than it was six years ago.”
Rivers’ path to Fairhope was unusual. While still playing in the NFL, he often said he planned to coach high school football when his career ended, just as his father, Steve, had coached him at Athens High School in north Alabama. He agreed to become St. Michael’s coach before what was expected to be his final NFL season and took over the program after retiring.
A Wolfpack legend
Rivers remains one of the most celebrated players in N.C. State history. His No. 17 jersey is retired by the school. He was the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2003 and the ACC Athlete of the Year for 2003-04, and he started 51 straight games at quarterback for the Wolfpack from 2000 to 2003.
He then played 17 seasons in the NFL. After last season at St. Michael ended, he briefly returned to the league when the Indianapolis Colts, with quarterbacks Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson injured, asked him to fill in. He started three of the team’s final four games, all losses, though his play was considered solid. That comeback led to an interview for the Buffalo Bills’ head coaching job, which went to Joe Brady.
Rivers has never coached in college as a head coach or an assistant, the most common criticism of a potential hire. His supporters point instead to his knowledge of the game, his standing with Wolfpack fans and donors, and his ability to draw attention to a program that has struggled to break through.
Family ties to Raleigh
The N.C. State connection extends beyond Rivers himself. Gunner Rivers has been committed to the Wolfpack since this summer, and Noah Moss, an All-State performer for St. Michael last season, is now playing at N.C. State.
A hire would create a father-and-son, coach-and-quarterback pairing at a Power Four program, a storyline sure to draw national attention.
What others are saying
Rivers’ candidacy has drawn strong endorsements from national commentators and from one of Alabama’s most successful high school coaches.
Paul Finebaum called Rivers “the best and only choice for the job.”
“I think he would be a sensational hire. He has several key ingredients that are necessary today,” Finebaum said. “He has proven himself as a coach. He has a dynamic personality and, more importantly, his stature as a great former player at N.C. State carries considerable weight.”
College football analyst Danny Kanell pointed to Rivers’ record of building a winner and his potential appeal to boosters.
“He has built up a winning program in high school. He would wake up potential donors,” Kanell said. “The dude is a winner.”
James Henderson said a Rivers hire “would immediately energize the fanbase, excite donors and generate national attention at a time when it is needed most.”
Brandon Marcello focused on fundraising and name, image and likeness money.
“N.C. State is tired of middling success and hiring Rivers provides more support and attention that will likely supercharge their NIL efforts,” Marcello said, adding that whom Rivers hires for his staff will be critical.
Terry Curtis, one of Alabama’s all-time winningest high school football coaches, said Rivers has the tools to make the jump.
“He knows Xs and Os. He knows recruiting. He should be able to raise money,” Curtis said. “I think that’s a reason some high school coaches have a hard time making the jump to big-time college football because they have to be able to rally the troops and fan base. Philip would be great at those things.”
Curtis also vouched for Rivers’ character. “Philip is going to do things the right way. He’s not going to skirt the rules,” he said.
All-Star Classic withdrawal
Rivers had already stepped away from one December commitment. He withdrew from the Dec. 12 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic in Mobile, where he was scheduled to serve as the Alabama team’s offensive coordinator. Alabama head coach Richie Busby said last month that Rivers could not elaborate on his reason for withdrawing but said it was not because Gunner had been left off the roster.
What happens next
With St. Michael’s season over, attention turns fully to the coaching search. N.C. State has not publicly set a timeline for its search. For St. Michael families and the Fairhope community, the coming days could determine whether the coach who rebuilt the Cardinals stays on the Eastern Shore or heads back to Raleigh.
The Private Class AA bracket moves on without the Cardinals. Glenwood advances to the second round, and the state championship games are scheduled for Dec. 2-5 at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the University of South Alabama campus in Mobile.
For more background, see our earlier reports on Rivers emerging as a candidate after Doeren’s firing and on the final week of the regular season.
