Matt Rhule on control

[Mr. Scot]

I've referenced this article before so I thought I'd post it here: Baylor Head Coach Matt Rhule explains what it would take to lure him to the NFL

The piece is dated December 19th, 2019. It was written for the Fort Worth Star Telegram regarding speculation that Rhule might be a candidate for the Dallas Cowboys coaching job. 

Rhule was hired to coach the Panthers a little under three weeks later on January 7th.

Excerpts...

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What would it take to attract Matt Rhule to the NFL?

Or a bigger college football program for that matter?

Baylor’s head coach would want total control of the entire operation.

 

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”I don’t think I’m dumb enough or naive enough to say that I would never be an NFL coach,” Rhule said. “I just think for me I have such an unbelievable situation here that it would have to be next to perfect. And even then it would be hard for me to do.”

What would a “perfect” job be for Rhule? Complete autonomy. He woudn’t want a job where he was, as he put it, just brought in for his X’s and O’s abilities.

“I don’t think that I would ever want to see myself or any coach in a situation where you’re just subcontracted out for your X’s and O’s knowledge,” he said. “The teams that have won in college football — the Nick Sabans, the Dabo Swinneys — the people that win in pro football —the Mike Tomlins, the Bill Belichicks — they run a complete and total program.”

 

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Rhule said he’s seen too many coaches getting fired after a year or two years at both the college and NFL level because they weren’t given enough control of the operation.

“That just means that the coach was brought in for his X’s and O’s. He was brought in for his play-calling, and that to me is not a recipe for success We’ve all seen how the best do it,” he said. “It’s a top to bottom comprehensive football program — not playbook — program.”

Rhule said he has been contacted by other college programs but hasn’t l left Baylor because “we have a comprehensive football program being built all the way through every part of the athletic department. And I think if you want to be successful in the NFL, that’s really the only way you can do it and have sustained excellence over a period of time.”

 

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His success at Baylor is directly related to the entire program being on the same page with his vision.

“I think the reason why we’ve won at Baylor is because everyone from the players to the equipment room to the training room to the strength staff and the football staff to the personnel department to our athletic director, all the way up to the president — everybody has the same philosophy,” he said. “We have a brand here. We say we’re the toughest, hardest working, most competitive team in the country. So everyone understands our brand. Everyone understands what we do, how we do it, and most importantly they understand why we do it.”

Basically, Rhule wanted what he had at Baylor, and what guys like Bill Belichick have in the NFL.

Now, for my part, I don't necessarily think "total control" is the most accurate description here. I'd have used "coach centric", meaning that everything revolves around the head coach but he's not the guy doing all the work. Nor is he ruling with an iron fist.

What Rhule makes infinitely clear though is that just being the guy who schemes and game plans and coaches up the players isn't for him. He needs to have a hand in everything, and everybody that's on board needs to share his vision of what the team should look like.

To that end, Rhule has already added a couple of guys to the front office staff, and it's not hard to imagine him adding more. And yes, that could include a GM of his choosing.

The question then becomes whether David Tepper would be on board with that sort of setup.

Don't know, but seven years and 62 million dollars for a guy who's never been a head coach at the pro level or won a National Championship at the college level makes a pretty convincing argument.

[FuFuLamePoo]

Honestly I've said this before but I'm fine if this ends up being the situation here. On one hand there's zero chance he's any worse at this than Hurney. Also, this past offseason looks mostly okay. The draft looks fine so far, I'm impressed with Chinn/YGM but think Brown was a bad pick and he's done nothing so far for me to change this stance. Anderson was a great addition. I think Rhule has an eye for talent and knows what he wants to build, there are worse ideas than just letting him piece his plan together.

[Waldo]

This offseason we get to see him prove it. Last year was a mixed bag, I'm looking forward to this crew, except the turd in the punch bowl, and what they do this offseason. 

Total control when you have a good crew and they add to the process is fine, just total control and pulling what the dummy down in Houston did is worst case scenario here. It's going to be a big test for Rhule for sure.

[electro's horse]

i mean he got a sports research facility built as part of his hiring

seems to me you don't do that for a guy just pressing the go button

[top dawg]

GMs handle everything. There's nothing that I've seen so far that indicates that Rhule is ready to run the show! 

[LinvilleGorge]

I'm fine with it. If we're that sold on Rhule (which Tepper seemed to be) then give him every opportunity to succeed that way if he fails you don't have to play the what if game.

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, top dawg said:

GMs handle everything. There's nothing that I've seen so far that indicates that Rhule is ready to run the show! 

I don't know if he's ready or not, but it may not matter.

Person confirmed that he doesn't want the GM title or the day to day duties that go with it, but he doesn't need those things to be the center of the Panthers universe.

[LinvilleGorge]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I don't know if he's ready or not, but it may not matter.

Person confirmed that he doesn't want the GM title or the day to day duties that go with it, but he doesn't need those things to be the center of the Panthers universe.

Yep. Final approval on roster decisions would go a long way. The team definitely tried to out up a front as if it was Hurney's call to stay out and draft Brown while most of the rest of the war room wanted to investigate trade down opportunities so who knows?

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Yep. Final approval on roster decisions would go a long way. The team definitely tried to out up a front as if it was Hurney's call to stay out and draft Brown while most of the rest of the war room wanted to investigate trade down opportunities so who knows?

I feel like if he doesn't have final say on the roster already (and he might) then he will soon, maybe as soon as next season.

Hurney is here through June (maybe). Rhule is here through 2026. Even if Marty were here in some capacity next year, that's a pretty obvious difference.

[Car123]

12 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Yep. Final approval on roster decisions would go a long way. The team definitely tried to out up a front as if it was Hurney's call to stay out and draft Brown while most of the rest of the war room wanted to investigate trade down opportunities so who knows?

Why would the team want to make it seem like he drafted Brown if he didn’t? The Panthers don’t owe Hurney anything.

[ladypanther]

So Marty was there in Rhule's kitchen interviewing him.  Marty was eating meatballs and Rhule was explaining that he wants control. Marty kept eating meatballs because Tepper was smiling and nodding his head. The only thing Marty could control then was how many meatballs he was going to eat.

The fewer decisions Marty can make, the better as far as I am concerned. Not sure why he is still on the payroll...maybe to make things look kind of normal for the 1st year.  I expect things to look differently this time next year.

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, ladypanther said:

So Marty was there in Rhule's kitchen interviewing him.  Marty was eating meatballs and Rhule was explaining that he wants control. Marty kept eating meatballs because Tepper was smiling and nodding his head. The only thing Marty could control then was how many meatballs he was going to eat.

The fewer decisions Marty can make, the better as far as I am concerned. Not sure why he is still on the payroll...maybe to make things looks kind of normal for the 1st year.  I expect things to look differently this time next year.

Common theory is he's here for transition, possibly to help ease someone like Pat Stewart into the job.

Tepper is said to like him but this past offseason tacitly acknowledged that he wasn't good at pro scouting. That's why he was looking to bring in an assistant / likely successor with a pro scouting background.

That didn't work out when teams they reached out to declined to allow interviews.

[kungfoodude]

12 minutes ago, ladypanther said:

So Marty was there in Rhule's kitchen interviewing him.  Marty was eating meatballs and Rhule was explaining that he wants control. Marty kept eating meatballs because Tepper was smiling and nodding his head. The only thing Marty could control then was how many meatballs he was going to eat.

The fewer decisions Marty can make, the better as far as I am concerned. Not sure why he is still on the payroll...maybe to make things looks kind of normal for the 1st year.  I expect things to look differently this time next year.

I mean....maybe it had nothing to do with Tepper. Maybe those meatballs were just that good.

[ladypanther]

9 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I mean....maybe it had nothing to do with Tepper. Maybe those meatballs were just that good.

They may have saved us.