Matt Rhule to be Panthers´ next coach

Baylor coach Matt Rhule agreed to terms on a deal to become the franchise’s next head coach, the team announced Tuesday.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Rhule received a seven-year deal worth $60 million and potential to reach $70 million on incentives.

Rhule, 44, took Baylor from a 1-11 record in 2017, his first year, to a 11-3 mark and Sugar Bowl berth this season. He served as Temple’s head coach from 2013-16, compiling a 28-23 mark.

He was set to interview with the New York Giants on Tuesday for their opening. New York instead was finalizing a deal with New England Patriots wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator Joe Judge, according to ESP

The Panthers fired Ron Rivera as head coach on Dec. 3 after a nearly nine-year run.

Owner David Tepper said he wanted to start the search for a substitute immediately. The team lost its final eight matches of the year to end 5-11.

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Carolina also interviewed Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who agreed to a deal Monday with the Dallas Cowboys.

“You have a new owner who is committed to doing things the best way. He’s a very much a process oriented person,” Rhule told ESPN Central Texas radio on Tuesday. “That is really all I wanted. I wanted to go to a place that isn’t going to flail in the wind, that is going to be rooted and has a process they believe in. As we talked last night it was clear their process and my process could be one in the same.”

Rhule said it was a difficult decision to leave Baylor, but that “I felt like my work was done and it was time to try and turn around another program.”

Rhule has a history of rebuilding college football programs.

He was named Baylor’s coach on Dec. 6, 2016, after a sex scandal hit the program, resulting in the firing of Art Briles. The Bears went 1-11 in their first season under Rhule in 2017 with a depleted roster, but the team improved to 7-6 in 2018 and won a bowl game.

Baylor went 11-1 in the regular season in 2019 before losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Prior to Baylor, Rhule also helped rebuild Temple’s program, leading the Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016 after going 2-10 in his first season.

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