Russell Wilson is exploring a return to NC State, this time on the sideline. The former NFL quarterback interviewed Tuesday for the school’s head-coaching vacancy, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, bringing another prominent former Wolfpack player into the search.
NBC Sports reported the interview, citing Schefter, and noted that Wilson has no coaching experience. The report establishes that he has entered the process, not that NC State has offered him the job or selected him to lead the program.
Wilson is in his first season on CBS Sports’ The NFL Today. The broadcaster announced his addition in June, describing the 10-time Pro Bowl quarterback and Super Bowl XLVIII champion as the replacement for Matt Ryan on the pregame show. His move into television is therefore already under way; a move into coaching remains a possibility rather than an appointment.
CBS Sports announced that Wilson would join the program for the 2026 season. The reports reviewed do not establish that he has left that role or agreed to do so.
His connection to NC State predates his professional career. Wilson spent 2007 through 2010 at the school before transferring to Wisconsin for 2011, after the Wolfpack opted to move forward with Mike Glennon at quarterback. An appointment would bring him back to the program where his college football career began, but in a job he has not previously held.
Wilson is not the only former NC State quarterback linked to the vacancy. NBC Sports described Philip Rivers as the reported favorite and noted that Rivers has high-school coaching experience. That distinction matters: both candidates bring extensive playing backgrounds, but their coaching experience is not the same.
Sports Illustrated reported that NC State is searching for a replacement for Dave Doeren following his dismissal. Its account also linked Rivers to the search and identified Wilson’s lack of coaching experience as a central question about his candidacy.
For now, the reported interview is the development. It puts Wilson into a coaching search while he is establishing himself in broadcasting, and it raises the prospect of a return to his former school. Neither an appointment nor a timetable for a decision is established by the reporting cited here.
