Phillip Rivers named head coach in waiting at a 4A HS in Alabama

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Philip Rivers will be the football coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Ala., pending his retirement from the NFL -- whenever that happens.

The news was announced at a 10 a.m. press conference at the school this morning. Athletic director Paul Knapstein will be the interim coach. Rivers will take over when his NFL career ends.

Rivers, a 16-year NFL veteran, signed a contract for the 2020 season to quarterback the Indianapolis Colts. He was an All-State quarterback for his dad, Steve Rivers, at Athens High School in 1999 and played his college football at N.C. State.

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“My dad was my high school football coach, so I want to coach my boys and I want to coach young boys down the road, so I do know what’s next when my playing time’s over, so we did talk about it a little bit,” he said. “I think really where we settled in was: I still love to play. Certainly not coming off my best year, but in a year where I still know I can play at a high level. I did it in spurts. I just didn’t do it consistently enough. And I love it, and, shoot, it was one of those deals where we said, ‘Well, if there’s nothing else out there, then that’ll be our answer.’ We kind of said, ‘Whatever God wants, so if there’s nothing out there, I don’t want to just try to hang on to play. If nothing’s out there, shoot, we’ll start coaching.’”

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"Obviously, St. Michael's a young school that's just getting started," Rivers said. "But I know a few people in the area, and then this particular school, not only athletically what I believe they're trying to grow to, but it really aligns with what I believe in spiritually and academically. It has kind of worked out to be able to be here and give a little time. A couple of hours for me and I have as much fun as anybody out here, I think. Hopefully, they learn a little something, have a little fun and, hopefully, again I help the school. …

“This young school again really lines up with everything our family believes in in all three of those areas I mentioned. It’s like, ‘Shoot, I can give three hours.’ We spend a lot of time on the Gulf this time of year, so it makes it easy to get over here before training camp.”

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