Sources: Baylor's Rhule to be Panthers' coach
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Baylor coach Matt Rhule will be the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers, multiple sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
The move was a bold one by owner David Tepper, who when previously explaining the job description didn’t rule out hiring a college coach but made it clear he understood the “difficulty” in moving from college to the NFL. Rhule spent only one year in the NFL, that in 2012 as an offensive line assistant for the New York Giants.
Rhule was scheduled to meet with the Giants on Tuesday, but canceled that after his interview with Tepper at his home in Waco, Texas, on Monday.
Rhule has a reputation for turning programs around. In his third season at Temple, the Owls went 10-2 during the regular season. A year later, he led the program to its first conference championship since 1967.
| Bowl | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 11-3 | Lost Sugar Bowl |
| 2018 | 7-6 | Won Texas Bowl |
| 2017 | 1-11 | No bowl game |
| >> Tied for most wins in school history –Elias Sports Bureau |
||
Baylor went 11-3 this past season, two years after going 1-11 in Rhule’s first season for the Big 12 program.
Rhule, 44, will inherit a Carolina team that finished 5-11 this past season and has had three losing seasons in the past four years since going to the Super Bowl after the 2015 season.
He will replace Ron Rivera, who was fired with four games left in the 2019 season with the Panthers in a losing skid that would reach eight straight. Rivera, who took over the team in 2011, was the winningest coach in Carolina history, with a record of 76-63-1.
