Matt Rhule Unveils the 3 Steps to His Rebuilding Blueprint
When the Carolina Panthers hired Matt Rhule away from Baylor University, it was deemed a questionable move by many in the Carolina's. Yes, he helped rebuild two college programs, but would his process translate over into the NFL? That is the question that everyone has about not only Rhule, but this coaching staff, including coordinators Phil Snow (defense) and Joe Brady (offense).
Through the first three weeks of the 2020 season, the Panthers sit at 1-2 and tied in 2nd place in the NFC South with the New Orleans Saints. In all reality, not much is expected of Carolina this year, but from what we've seen in the first three games is that this is a team that will play hard for 60 minutes. The effort, the energy, and the buy-in factor is evident which shows that things are trending in the right direction, albeit a small sample size.
If there were any one coach that Panthers GM Marty Hurney wanted to go and get it was Matt Rhule. Sure, you may have questions about him making "the jump" to the NFL but at the end of the day, it's football. Rhule didn't just take over two college programs that had a down year or two, he completely revamped a Temple team who was never really known to have much success and then took over the reigns at Baylor just two years removed from the sexual assault scandal that almost brought the program down entirely. He completely changed the narrative for both of those programs and left them in much better shape than what he found them in.
When you clean house such as GM Marty Hurney and team owner David Tepper essentially did, you have to bring in someone who has a blueprint of how to turn things around. Rhule has that blueprint.
During Monday's press conference, Rhule talked about the three steps he and his staff have implemented over the years to revitalize a program and is currently using those very three steps to do the same thing in Carolina.
1. Getting the right people
"You want to go get the right people, the right staff, the right support staff, and the right players. We run conditioning on Wednesday's and our players get up there and they run, and then the coaches run. I think if you walked out there and you saw Claire Burke, who is the assistant to the General Manager, if you saw Donnie Toner who has been here forever and they're all out there running, you would say 'wow, they've got a great group of people.'"
2. Establishing the foundation
"People win a lot of different ways. We want to be a tough, hardworking, competitive group. You have to try and build that foundation of how you want to do things."
3. Get the football right
"The football is not right yet, we're working at it. We came here and we tried to get the best roster we could, the best guys we could and I like our team. They play hard, they practice hard, they're thoughtful men, they think about issues outside of football, they're fun to be around, there's no issues and we go out and play. We'll get better and better."
"It's really those three stages. You want to become a close team, you want to be a team that plays for each other. But to me, it's just about not panicking and at the same time, not getting complacent. We don't panic when we lose and we don't act like everything is easy when we win. That's what we did at Temple, that's what we did at Baylor and the gratifying thing about those places was the guys we won a championship with were the same guys that we didn't win very many games with, so we got better with them."
Sure, results may take some time but it is more a matter of when it's going to happen rather than if. You can see the belief from just about every player on the team that you talk to. They believe they can win and win now.
Veteran safety Tre Boston appeared on the Rapsheet + Friends podcast hosted by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport back in June and alluded to the type of coach Rhule is.
"I think this guy has an edge to him. I think he has a certain 'it' that coaches have to have. I'm excited to see him more in person with the guys, because right now, I think he started with a nice lead because he has a nice momentum going in between how he's treated us, how he's respected us, how he respects our time. That means a lot to professionals and men, adults, as well. So, I think Rhule has set himself up for success with his men. We trust him. We believe in him. And when we get together, it's all about building chemistry and knowing that we are the Carolina Panthers and we're gonna do what it takes to win ballgames around here."
Following the Panthers' win on Sunday, Rhule said he was glad to get that first win under his belt, but that it was more so about the team taking a step in the right direction.
"I felt relief. When those games come down to the wire, it’s like relief, it’s like alright, we did it. But, I’m just so happy for the guys. For some of these guys, it’s been 10 straight losses. I don’t really carry that around. For me, it’s been two. I see where we are headed."
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