How the Panthers won over Matt Rhule’s family and convinced him to become their coach
Matt Rhule already had to work on the fly.
Prior to getting up to speak before his first news conference as head coach of the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday, the team showed a video of him being introduced at his two most recent stops, Temple and Baylor, that included him repeating some of his phrases and beliefs.
Rhule, who had a speech written out for the day, was forced to cross a couple things out of his first NFL address to avoid repeating himself, because in his words, “I really believe in what I believe.”
In the month that the Panthers went without a full-time head coach, there were a lot of words used to describe what the team’s next coach would look like.
Hypotheticals and names were thrown about to cast an image of qualities the fifth person to lead the franchise would inhabit. What his background would be. What he would bring to Charlotte.
Rhule is no stranger to words. He’s been repeating the same words and beliefs for years. But what he showed in his first day on the job, in the first day of a seven-year contract, is that when he speaks, it’s hard not to listen, no matter what’s being said.
Which is exactly what got him to this place, after being named the head coach of an NFL team less than 24 hours after interviewing, despite lacking the professional experience that team owner David Tepper said he was looking for.
“Did you hear the guy speak?” Tepper responded when asked about Rhule’s lack of significant NFL experience. “It is what it is. This is a guy who sets a standard … this is an elite manager ... an elite trainer of men, an elite motivator of men.”
What convinced the owner to make this decision?
After interviewing former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who was announced as the Cowboys head coach Wednesday as well, at his home near Green Bay and Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy at a hotel in Kansas City, two days after Tepper had spent time in the emergency room, there still wasn’t a decision on the Panthers next head coach.
So the trio of Tepper, general manager Marty Hurney and Vice President of Communications and External Affairs Steven Drummond all went to visit Rhule at his house in Waco, Texas, on Monday morning immediately following the coach’s family trip to Mexico. The Panthers group pulled up in the driveway while the Rhule family was still getting out of their own car from the airport. Rhule was in shorts and a “Mexico t-shirt” from the vacation. Tepper even helped them bring their luggage inside.
“We go to the house and I mean, he’s pulling up in his driveway from Mexico with his family and they didn’t flinch,” Hurney said. “We pull right up behind and we go in and we sit down at the table and we went for about five-and-half hours.”
Of the three Panthers representatives taking part in the conversation, Hurney was the most skeptical of Rhule and if he would be the right fit.
“You go into it and you have preconceived notions and I was probably more toward Matt Rhule in the process, the ranking, just for me. Marty had other rankings,” Tepper said. “And then I think once we saw him switch over — me and Steven were kind of on the Matt Rhule, leaning that way — once Marty, who was a little bit skeptical, went over that way, then we went into recruiting mode.”
From Hurney’s perspective, the things that he was unsure about with Rhule went away in the first hour and half that they met. It was all in what Rhule said. Those beliefs that he had to take out of his speech, the things that are so important for a head coach and GM to be on the same page about, that’s what Hurney found himself connecting with.
“This is a guy who has old-school principles and talks about running the ball, stopping the run and has got all this modern day knowledge with the sports science and making players better and he had people skills,” Hurney said. “I have a big thing that most successful people have three things: their intellect, common sense and people skills. And he’s three for three. He had the same vision.
“... He’s so easy to talk to, but you could just tell we were on the same page ... then we had a meeting (before the news conference) and he was talking to some of the staff and I sat there thinking I feel like a bobble head because every time he talks I’m just like nodding my head. He really has a lot of the same principles I do, and you can just tell it’s very obvious why he’s been successful every place he’s been.”
Over the meatballs and other food that Rhule’s wife, Julie, served for the meeting, the Panthers found that they had a lot of the same views and ideas and after that hour-and-a-half mark, things, as Tepper said, turned from an interview toward recruiting, trying to make him want to come to Charlotte. Instead of continuing with the interviews they had planned for the week with people like Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, they decided that they had found their guy.
His family felt the same way. After the Panthers group walked out the door Monday, Julie turned to her husband, as she has for his other big coaching moves, and said, “What are you doing? You need to go work for them. That’s you.” His son, Bryant, agreed. When he asked his dad if they were going to Carolina and Rhule at the time said no, he stormed out of the house saying, “you had one job!”
While there were rumors that Rhule was interested in taking the Giants job and committing to his hometown football team and a franchise he worked for in 2012 as an assistant offensive line coach, he says he never talked to New York personally. The Panthers were the only team he spoke with, but he did acknowledge that his agent was talking to a variety of teams and stayed away from giving more details.
During Rhule’s introductory news conference Wednesday, he shared that the seven-year contract, reportedly worth $62 million, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, showed the team’s commitment to him. Having the richest owner in the NFL willing to put up money for team resources doesn’t hurt either. But he also walked away from the meeting with the same feeling of connection.
“I believe in process and I believe in doing things the right way when you’re trying to make a decision about moving your family,” Rhule said. “You want to go to someone who does things right. … I sat there and said to my wife, ‘there’s no doubt that we share a common vision, there’s no doubt that we believe in doing things the right way.’ ”
Rhule’s vision for the team matched what the Panthers wanted to do. And he knew he wanted to coach an NFL team, “to be a part of the greatest game at the highest stage.” The Panthers, because of the connection and the contract, were that right fit in his mind.
In his news conference, Rhule used phrases like, “keep pounding isn’t just a slogan, it’s a way of life” and shared his outlook on what he wants from his team, including to be competitive and the best at everything they do.
A lot of words were said to get here. Now the work begins.
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 7:16 PM.
