Philip Rivers was truly a strong candidate for the Buffalo Bills’ head coaching job.
The position was instead filled by offensive coordinator Joe Brady on Jan. 27, but Rivers, the 18-year NFL quarterback, interviewed with the Bills during the process.
Newly-appointed team president Brandon Beane told the 44-year-old Rivers after their meeting that “I’ll be surprised if you’re not in the mix at the end,” the Buffalo News reported Monday.
Rivers’ interview went “great,” according to Beane, though the team president warned him of the all-in challenges of a job like this. And Rivers’ commitment to his family — his wife Tiffany and 10 kids — was the main hurdle for the two sides.
According to the paper, Rivers called Beane a few days later and informed him he wasn’t sure if he could fully commit to the position and backed out.
If the Bills had hired Rivers, it would been quite the wild-card selection.
Rivers played 16 seasons with the Chargers from 2004-19, making eight Pro Bowls and all but setting himself up to become a future Hall of Famer. He retired in 2020 after spending his final season with the Indianapolis Colts.
The quarterback added an unexpected chapter to his NFL journey in December when he shockingly returned to the Colts following Daniel Jones’ season-ending Achilles injury.
Rivers, who has been coaching high school football at St. Michael Catholic in Alabama, went 0-3 with Indianapolis, but finished with 544 yards and four touchdowns.
Unlike the other candidates, Rivers has zero NFL coaching experience.
Others who interviewed for the Bills’ job included former Giants head coach Brian Daboll and former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, the latter of whom was fired after the 2025 season.
Former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver were among other candidates.
The 36-year-old Brady served as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator for the past two-plus seasons and had been the team’s quarterbacks coach from 2021-’22.
He succeeds Sean McDermott, who was fired in January after the Bills’ crushing divisional round loss to the Broncos.
McDermott posted a 98-50 regular-season record across nine seasons, but held an 8-8 mark in the playoffs.