Matt Rhule had an opportunity to become an NFL head coach with the Jets, but he’s doing just fine in Waco, Texas.
It appeared Gang Green was set to hire the Baylor coach, but there was a snag in negotiations over how Rhule’s coaching staff would be determined. The Jets ultimately went in a different direction, hiring Adam Gase.
While the chance to coach in the NFL doesn’t come around too often, Rhule has no regrets over how things played out.
“No, not at all,” the New York native told NBC Sports’ Peter King. “I’m great. I have a great job. That’s been the one thing … I wasn’t out trying to get a job. We’re building a football program that was in a bad place. I’ll look back someday and say, ‘Hey, we did something good from a human perspective. We’ve made a change in the world for the better.’ And we have a chance to win. I’m in a great place for football. It was really cool being a guy who spent his childhood in New York, huge sports fan, used to go to Knicks and Mets games all the time, to go through that process with the Jets. Good people. Very cool experience.”
At the time of the falling out, it was reported that general manager Mike Maccagnan wanted to put together Rhule’s staff for him because Rhule lacked NFL experience. That had Rhule running. He said he didn’t want to be in an “arranged marriage” just to get a head coaching job in the NFL.
Looking back on it though, Rhule took a lot out of being interviewed by NFL teams.
“When you go through these interviews, it makes you re-think what’s your philosophy,” he said. “I’m sitting there talking to somebody about what I would do and it makes you say to yourself, ‘What do I really believe in? What’s important to me?’ That part of it refines your own philosophy when you go back to your job, and I think it makes you better.”
At the end of the day, it worked out for both parties. Rhule seems to be doing just fine at Baylor, while the Jets are happy with Gase as their new head coach.
