What's Next for Matt Rhule?
As the Panthers dropped to 1-4 on Sunday following a shellacking at the hands of the 49ers, the writing on the wall was being read to the masses on Matt Rhule's tenure with Carolina. Something- or rather someone- needed to change, and patience for the third-year coach had worn from thin to microscopic.
The Panthers brass finally agreed it was time on Monday morning, as the team announced that coach Rhule would not be finishing out the rest of the season. Steve Wilks will be serving as the interim while the team tries to salvage and make sense of the remaining 12 games on the schedule.
Where does this leave Rhule's future, though?
When coaches who find success at the college level don't find that same success in the pros, it is easy to pencil them back into the amateur ranks. Rhule, who found strong success at both Temple and Baylor as a head coach, probably falls in line with this thinking.
A college team in need of a strong reset will probably be drawn to a coach who flipped a Group of 5 team into a double-digit winner, as well as a Power 5 team in a completely different geographical region into a New Years Six level team. Rhule was able to bring a patient approach to team building at the college level that produced competitive teams that were exceeding goals by the third year. Now granted this was before NIL became a thing, but who knows how that may play into Rhule's candidacies.
A team like Nebraska would make a ton of sense if Rhule is indeed interested in returning to the college ranks. Nebraska fired Scott Frost after a Week 2 loss to Georgia Southern, leaving a team with a strong tradition, fan support, and financial support with a gaping hole. Despite Nebraska not being a hotbed for home-grown talent, the Cornhuskers have actually been among the best recruiting teams in the Big 10, although a lack of player development has seen that translate to little success. A coach like Rhule could be a perfect fit to take the strong base available in Lincoln and turn them into a College Football Playoff contender. Expectations are high for the blue-blood program though, and a coach who has underperformed lately but has found success previously may or may not be what the school is looking for.
Another option at the collegiate level might be a school like Arizona State. The Herm Edwards experience had an unceremonious ending, but the school with plenty of resources, great weather, a struggling Pac-12 ripe for some churning, and a need for a cultural reset could leave Rhule with a prime opportunity to reaffirm his abilities if he were interested.
Colorado, Georgia Tech, and Wisconsin are some other major programs that have already parted ways with their head coach this season, and Rhule for various reasons could be in play for any of those openings.
Ultimately, if Rhule does decide to hop back on to the college carousel, he'd be the best fit for a program that is able to be patient and let him instill what brought success in Philly and Waco, but where the dividends could be massive for both sides.
On the other hand, if Rhule is interested in staying at the NFL level his potential spots to fill would look much different. He almost assuredly would not be a head coaching candidate again for a while at the NFL level. He's a humble guy with a lot of experience though, and some NFL teams might find that useful.
Rhule's only prior NFL coaching experience to the Carolina gig was back in 2012 when he was the assistant o-line coach for the New York Giants, so maybe that would be a good position fit. Beyond that, Rhule has actually been a positional coach for a variety of different position groups, including quarterbacks, tight ends, defensive line, and linebackers, as well as serving as a running game coordinator and special team coordinator at various points in his college coaching career.
With all of those different experiences, he may be able to slide into a variety of positional coaching jobs across the NFL, where he might be able to learn, be patient, and prove himself worthy of another head coaching position down the line.
A fresh start was necessary for the Panthers, but don't expect Rhule to be without a coaching home for long. Whether it is heading back to college, or sliding back into the pros, there should be a variety of options for him in the coming months.
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