Philip Rivers says he still has years left in NFL, wants to one day be HS coach

Philip Rivers says he believes he has several years left as an NFL quarterback, but that when he does retire, he'd like to become a high school football coach for his sons when they are older.

The 35-year-old Rivers, who is under contract with the Chargers for three more seasons, told ESPN's Adam Schefter on his Know Them From Adam podcast that he feels good physically and still enjoys the preparation needed to be an NFL quarterback.

"I don't want to hang on at the end and just be a guy that's hanging on. But if I still feel like I can help a team and I enjoy it the way I do and more importantly, if the team feels that I can help them. ... I don't see myself shutting it down any time real soon," he said.

He said the team's move to Los Angeles doesn't affect that view of his future.

"I'm thankful to be a part of this organization and while it's hard for so many people, I'm excited about the challenge and the newness and the unknown that's going to come with being in a new community and playing in a new stadium," he said. "But we're going to still have that bolt on my helmet and I'm excited about what's ahead."

Rivers was selected to his sixth Pro Bowl last season after throwing for4,386 yards with 33 touchdowns and an NFL-worst 21 interceptions. He has tied or led the league in interceptions in two of the past three seasons, but he also has thrown for more than 4,000 yards in four straight seasons. With45,833 career passing yards, he ranks 12th on the all-time list.

Rivers, a father of eight children, has two sons, Gunner (age 9) and Peter (5). Rivers said he's "almost certain" that he wants "to be a head high school football coach," just like his own father, Steve. Rivers said he "doesn't want to put a number" on how many years he has left in the NFL, but he hopes "it's going to time up just right" so he can coach his sons and impact the lives of other young people.

"I want to coach my boys and coach those boys that are 15 to 18 years old," Rivers said.

"There's something about that 15- to 18-year-old boy, the time of their life that you can really impact them, not only on the field but off the field and still get the competitiveness that I love," he said. "I can't imagine ever not having a team, being a part of a team trying to win a game. Hopefully a handful of years down the road that's where I'll be."

Rivers came into the NFL in 2004, along with fellow star quarterbacks Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. Rivers is the only one of the trio not to win a Super Bowl, but he said his peers' success doesn't add extra motivation to win a title.

"I can honestly say, Ben and Eli winning championships in no way adds more motivation to wanting to win one. Am I aware of that? Honestly. Do I know that we're always going to be linked as those three guys in that draft class? Absolutely, as we should. And that's the one thing that will always come up thus far, is that I'm the one of those three that hasn't been able to lead their championship," he said.

"I want to do it for our team, do it for the Spanos family, do it for the organization and just find a way to get to the mountaintop with our teammates," he said.

The Chargers are coming off 5-11 (2016) and 4-12 (2015)seasons, but Rivers said he believes his team is not "that far away from actually saying, 'We have a chance'" to win a title.