Phillip Rivers is withdrawing himself from consideration for the Buffalo Bills head-coaching vacancy, according to league sources Monday.
The former Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts quarterback interviewed with the Bills on Friday, days after the franchise fired Sean McDermott following a 33-30 divisional-round loss to the Denver Broncos.
Philip Rivers is out of the Bills HC sweepstakes. After interviewing with Buffalo, he’s withdrawing himself from consideration, per sources. pic.twitter.com/2RhouF270c
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 26, 2026
Rivers, 44, has no NFL coaching experience, but addressed the idea after the Colts’ final regular-season game in early January. While he expressed confidence in his ability to coach at the NFL level, he seemed more motivated to return to coaching his son, Gunner, at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Ala.
The school began the 2025 campaign 13-0 before losing in the state semifinals. Gunner Rivers is a consensus four-star quarterback and the No. 1-ranked player in Alabama for the 2027 class, per 247 Sports.
“Those are all big ‘what ifs,’ but I do think, as humbly as I can say it, that I can coach at this level,” the elder Rivers said at the time. “I know enough about the game, about the guys from a leadership standpoint, camaraderie, all that comes with it.
“I’m looking forward to going back home and getting back with those guys, getting back with my family. Gunner’s senior season is coming up, and we’ve been to back-to-back semifinals, and hopefully we can get over the hump this year. So, I don’t have any of those NFL things on my radar, but certainly nothing that I would shut down before it even became a possibility.”
Prior to Rivers, the Bills also interviewed their offensive coordinator, Joe Brady, former New York Giants coach Brian Daboll, and Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo for the vacancy. Anthony Lynn, Anthony Weaver and Grant Udinski have also interviewed for the job.
Rivers was drafted in 2004 and played with the Chargers until 2019 before joining the Colts in 2020. He retired after that seasaon, then returned five years later for three games after Colts starting quarterback Daniel Jones went down with a season-ending Achilles tear.
In his return, Rivers threw for 544 yards and four touchdowns against three interceptions before being benched ahead of the season finale in favor of rookie Riley Leonard. The eight-time Pro Bowler ranks sixth and eighth all-time in passing TDs (425) and passing yards (63,984). He is also the Chargers’ all-time leader in both categories and was a semifinalist for the 2026 NFL Hall-of-Fame class. His brief return from retirement pushes his candidacy to 2031.
