We now know how much the Bills wanted to hire Philip Rivers as their new head coach

The Buffalo Bills surprised the NFL world a bit when they fired head coach Sean McDermott.

They shocked the football universe some more when they brought Philip Rivers in to interview for the opening.

Rivers, 44, had just completed a comeback with the Indianapolis Colts that came after nearly five years retired from playing QB in the NFL.

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He'd been coaching high school football in Alabama, and he's clearly well respected, but many thought it'd be quite the jump.

Despite that, the Bills really wanted Rivers.

The Buffalo News' Jay Skurski wrote a new story digging into the coaching search that ended with the promotion of Joe Brady from offensive coordinator to head coach.

Turns out, the Bills really liked Rivers.

This is what Skurski wrote:

After Rivers completed his interview, Beane walked him outside. He had one final question: Do you really want this job? It had been less than 48 hours since the idea was even first presented to him, so Beane wanted to make sure Rivers knew that he wasn’t going to be making a one- or two-year commitment. He had to be all in. That meant possibly moving his family — he has 10 kids with his wife, Tiffany — to Buffalo, potentially for the next 10 years. Take a couple of days and think about it, Beane told Rivers.

“I said, ‘If you have any doubt, tell me, "No." You did a great job, and I'll be surprised if you're not in the mix at the end,’” Beane said. “By no means do you have this job, but I think you'll be in the mix.”

Sunday afternoon, Beane got a call back. Rivers’ voice was cracking. The opportunity to work with Josh Allen was one that was hard to pass up, but Rivers told Beane that he did have some doubt as to whether he could be fully committed right now.

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When Rivers' name first came up, analysts pointed out that he and the superstar QB Allen knew each other and might really enjoy working together.

It was also assumed Rivers would assemble an all-star staff around him given all his years in the league.

There were questions, for sure, but it clearly looked like a legitimate pursuit. This story from Skurski confirms that.

It'll make Rivers' next foray into a head coaching interview process very interesting. Because it seems like when Rivers is ready, he'll land a job.

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