Here’s how Bill Belichick described Philip Rivers as an NFL foe. Now they might be college rivals.
By Google News Sports ·
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick won nearly all of his meetings against quarterback Philip Rivers in the NFL.
The two could soon meet on opposing sidelines in college football with NC State poised to hire Rivers, an alum, as its next head coach. A formal announcement could come by the end of the week after the university’s trustees sign off on a contract.
Belichick, who won six Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots, went 8-1 against Rivers, a longtime standout for the Chargers and Colts. Belichick was 3-0 against Rivers in the playoffs and 5-1 in the regular season. Their first meeting was in January 2007 and their final meeting was in January 2019, both in the playoffs.
“Fantastic. Excellent competitor. Tough,” Belichick said Monday when asked what he remembers about competing against Rivers. “One of the toughest guys we ever played against.”
Like Belichick, Rivers would come to the job without any prior collegiate coaching experience. But Belichick spent nearly five decades in the NFL, cementing his status as one of the greatest coaches in history. Rivers has been the head coach at St. Michael Catholic in Fairhope, Alabama since 2021.
Belichick is in his second season at UNC. He is 0-1 against NC State, which has won its last five games against the Tar Heels.
NC State fired Dave Doeren on Oct. 24 in the middle of his 14th season in Raleigh. Doeren’s 98 wins are the most all-time for the Wolfpack. Rivers played for NC State from 2000 to 2003, leading the Wolfpack to a program-best 11-3 record in 2002, before he was selected No. 4 overall in the 2004 draft. He threw for nearly 64,000 yards and 425 touchdowns in his 18 NFL seasons.
“Philip was and is a great competitor,” said Duke coach Manny Diaz, who was an assistant at NC State during Rivers’ playing days. “When you’re a quarterback, you have a chance to inspire everybody else on offense. I think that was a big part of who he was and his success in the National Football League. I’m sure that’s carried through into his abilities as a football coach as well.”
Originally published by Google News Sports
