Matt Rhule explains what it would take to lure him away from Baylor and to the NFL
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.
Rhule, who was on Adam Schefter’s podcast, said he’s not looking to leave the Bears after leading them to an 11-2 record and appearance in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia on Jan. 1.
But he’s also being honest about his future.
”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.”
That sentiment would seem to negate Rhule being an option at with the Dallas Cowboys. And rumors of Rhule being a candidate for the New York Giants head coaching job have yet to gain much traction.
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.”
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.”
“That took a lot of hard work. That took a lot of elbow grease. That was not easy,” he said. “I want to build off of that and see if we can go win a national championship. We were one play away, literally one play away from making to the college football playoff. And man I would like to get that done. So I don’t ever say never. I don’t make promises to our players. I would never say that I would never do it. But I’m really, really content with where we are, and I think we can be even better in the coming years.”
