Welcome Home, Coach Rhule
On December 7, the Baylor family welcomed the Bears’ new head football coach, Matt Rhule during a celebratory press conference held at the Ferrell Center. The 20-year coaching veteran arrived in Waco fresh off leading Temple University to the 2016 American Athletic Conference (AAC) championship. He guided the Owls to the school’s first-ever back-to-back 10-win seasons and bowl berths in 2015 and 2016, and a two-year 14-2 record in AAC play. He served four seasons as head coach at Temple and 10 total seasons on the coaching staff.
“Baylor is a special place, and it deserves a special coach,” said Mack Rhoades, vice president and director of athletics at Baylor. “And we found him. [Rhule] is a committed Christian. He is a man of great integrity, great work ethic, and a man that has an insatiable appetite for greatness and excellence. He builds teams. He’ll bring toughness, and finally, he will prepare champions for life—athletic excellence, academic achievement, social responsibility and spiritual growth.”
His passion to serve, Rhule said, comes from a father who was an inner-city minister and youth sports coach and a mother who was a social worker.
“[My parents] told me that serving others and excellence and greatness know no borders,” Rhule said. “So, when the call came to come here, we came. And we came because we have one purpose. I’m here very simply for this: To develop and work with these young people. I’m here to coach football, and I’m here to be the best partner that I can for Baylor.”
As sure as his “sic ‘em” concluding the December press conference, Rhule is thoroughly a Baylor Bear. When he isn’t busy recruiting top talent to his team and staff, he may be spotted on campus among students or courtside at the Ferrell Center, cheering at Bears and Lady Bears home games.
Rhule has already begun to build, steadily securing a fresh coaching staff as well as several highly sought-after player commitments from around the State and nation.
“In uncertain times, when there’s transition, I think you just take your two hands and you start to build,” he said. “Each and every year, you build a new team. No matter what you did the year before, you start from scratch. You know it’s going to be hard. You know it takes time. You just keep trying to build.”
Rhule’s ultimate goal, however, is to win championships at Baylor.
“We want to win the Big 12. We want to win the national championship,” he said. “I didn’t come here for anything else. We want to win at the highest level, because we should.”