Auburn Tigers are in the mix to land ‘fired up’ Gunner Rivers, son of NFL legend, as recruitment heats up
The recruitment of the son of former Los Angeles Chargers quarterback and future NFL Hall of Famer Philip Rivers is heating up as the season approaches. Gunner Rivers, a junior this fall, has an impressive array of offers on his plate. The Auburn Tigers are squarely in the mix, fighting NC State, Georgia, and Miami […]
The recruitment of the son of former Los Angeles Chargers quarterback and future NFL Hall of Famer Philip Rivers is heating up as the season approaches. Gunner Rivers, a junior this fall, has an impressive array of offers on his plate. The Auburn Tigers are squarely in the mix, fighting NC State, Georgia, and Miami as favorites.
The St. Michael’s Catholic passer already has visits planned this fall, too. The four-star talent confirmed he’ll see Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels, Auburn, and Alabama this fall. More are coming, but the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is trending upward. He tallied 3,947 yards and 36 touchdowns last season.
Philip Rivers described his sone as “fired up” to AL.com last season after Auburn offered him. The No. 2 prospect in Alabama knows he has the chance to continue his legacy, which actually includes the Tigers. Auburn offered his dad 25 years ago, despite Philip playing at NC State.
“Auburn recruited me hard, but Jason Campbell was a part of that same class,” Rivers told AL.com shortly after he was hired at St. Michael Catholic in Fairhope, Ala. “They had an undefeated season when he was there, and he had a good career in the NFL. I wasn’t so much scared of the competition as they mentioned the words ‘tight end’ to me. That made me a little nervous.”
Gunner plays a lot like his father, and Philip said his recruitment process was slow to take off. The Rivers family didn’t want to start too early, and that self-improvement has been a focus.
“He’s pretty much who he is going to be,” Philip Rivers said of his oldest son. “Gunner is a pocket passer that runs well enough. He will end up being 6-3 or 6-4 and about 220 pounds. He’s real humble about it all. He doesn’t love all the attention.”
That led to zero college camp attendances last year, and only one visit entering this summer, which was to NC State. That only happened because Philip had an alumni event there, and wasn’t considered a recruiting trip. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze desperately could use a headlining addition like Rivers to eventually supplant star freshman Deuce Knight.
Back-to-back stud quarterbacks could be enough to save Freeze’s job at Auburn. He needs his star freshman class to set the table for a big 2027 campaign.
Rivers, for now, is looking more at improvement. Philip says there’s still plenty to do.
“We will keep putting more on his plate with him being able to change things at the line of scrimmage,” he said. “He won’t have to look over at me all the time. We will give him some more tools to add to his toolbox at the line of scrimmage.
“Obviously, he will continue to work on his pocket presence and footwork. You can never do it enough. He’s naturally accurate and anticipates well, but you keep working on those things. All that said, I want to let him be a high school quarterback and go play and enjoy being a good teammate, and I know he will.”
