A few months after it was reported he was transferring from LSU, and a few weeks after it was reported Vanderbilt would be a likely landing spot, Stephen Rivers is indeed ticketed for Nashville.
In a tweet posted to his personal Twitter account, the quarterback wrote that’s he’s [e]xcited about a new opportunity and meeting new teammates! #AnchorDown” followed by a photo of the Commodores’ logo. In a sure sign that Rivers, the younger brother of San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, is headed to Vandy, the football program’s official Twitter account retweeted that tweet.
The school subsequently released a statement confirming the addition.
“I’m happy for Stephen and looking forward to having him join our program,” said first-year head coach Derek Mason. “Stephen brings both ability and experience to our team, and he fits the offensive system we will run under (offensive coordinator) Karl Dorrell. I’m looking forward to seeing great competition at the quarterback position this August.”
Rivers, a three-star members of the Tigers’ 2011 recruiting class, graduated last month from LSU and will be eligible to play immediately in 2014 -- even at an SEC school as LSU placed no restrictions on where he could transfer, even within the conference. He will also have two years of eligibility remaining. A sizable portion of the reason for Rivers’ transfer from the Tigers is that he was set to be a part of would have been a five-player quarterback competition but has since been whittled down further with another transfer at the position.
Other programs that had been mentioned in connection to the Athens, Ala., product include Hawaii, San Diego State (for obvious reasons) Tennessee and North Carolina State, his older brother’s alma mater.