Matt Rhule of New York, New York has been named the new head coach of the Carolina Panthers. On Tuesday, Rhule replaced interim head coach Perry Fewell of Cramerton, North Carolina, who was unable to win a game in four tries since he took over Ron Rivera on December 3. Interestingly, Rivera has since been named head coach of the Washington Redskins.
The Panthers only had a record of five wins and 11 losses in 2019. They were dead last in the NFC South and lost their last eight games of the season.
At 44 years of age, Rhule has only one season of NFL coaching experience. He was the assistant offensive line coach for the New York Giants under Tom Coughlin in 2012.
It is at the NCAA level where Rhule has the majority of his football coaching experience. He was the head coach at the University of Temple from 2013 to 2016 and then the University of Baylor from 2017-2019. Rhule has also been an assistant coach for Albright College, the University of Buffalo, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Western Carolina University and Temple.
Something that makes Rhule’s resume unique is that he has been a coordinator on the offensive and defensive side of the football. He has been in charge of linebackers, defensive linemen, offensive linemen, receivers and tight ends.
This past year, Rhule was the Big 12 Coach of the Year while with Baylor. The Bears had a record of 11 wins and three losses. However, one loss stood out as Baylor had a 28-3 lead over Oklahoma on November 16, only to lose 34-31. The inability to protect this lead in a nationally televised game shows that Rhule was clearly outcoached by Lincoln Riley of the Sooners. The Baylor Bears then lost again to Oklahoma 30-23 in overtime and then 26-14 to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. After these last two losses, one needs to question if Rhule can win the big game.
There is no doubt that the Panthers were in need of a coaching change. There is just speculation if Matt Rhule was the right choice.
