Yesterday, it became a reality that Matt Rhule was leaving Temple behind to take the head coaching job at Baylor, which is the kind of news no Temple football fan ever wanted to hear. According to Brett McMurphy of ESPN, Matt Rhule received a seven-year deal from Baylor.
“I am truly honored and humbled to join the Baylor Family,” Rhule said. “I know the passion that so many have for the Bears will help me bring the community together to reach even greater heights.”
Part of every Temple fan will be pissed off about this because it’s going to hurt after the type of success Rhule had with the program and how he basically put Temple football on the map in the span of four years, breaking out of College Football purgatory. The biggest fear for a lot of people now is the program collapsing again after two remarkable years and it’s now up to AD Pat Kraft and the administration to ace this hiring to ensure a bright future will still exist for Temple football.
“I appreciate all he did for this program,” Kraft said. “He left it in a better place, and I appreciate that.”
The pain of Rhule’s departure will linger a bit, but let’s dwell on all the good he did for Temple. He made Temple into AAC champions this year, AAC East division champions for two straight years, back to back 10-win seasons for the first time in program history, back to back bowl games, appearances in the Top 25 rankings, College Game day came to Philadelphia, finally defeated Penn State, and most importantly of all, the belief he had in the program and the players took Temple to the next level.
For the time being, tight ends coach ED Foley has been named interim coach for Temple and he will lead the charge for the Owls against Wake Forest in the Military Bowl on Dec. 27. Temple will look to keep it as business as usual and finish the job they were unable to do last year.
As for Matt Rhule, I wish him the best of luck and hope Baylor treats him well. He will be remembered by me as the “Philadelphia Miracle Man” for what he did for Temple and I trust he will mean as much to Baylor as he did to Temple.
I will keep an eye on Temple’s search for a new coach and let you know of any updates. The future will be in the hands of whomever this new coach is and Temple needs to be sure it’s the right one.
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