Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Why Matt Rhule is a great hire for Baylor football


VIDEO: Temple AD Pat Kraft addresses the media after Matt Rhule leaves for Baylor

By Matt Mosley , Special Contributor Contact Matt Mosley on Twitter:

Matt Mosley, contributor to SportsDayDFW.com and columnist for Texas Monthly, answered questions from readers during a live chat Tuesday. Here are some of the highlights:

*Editor"s note: During the chat, the hiring of Matt Rhule as Baylor"s head football coach was reported by multiple outlets, and then confirmed by the school.

Question: JUST IN: Bruce Feldman is reporting that Temple"s Matt Rhule is taking the Baylor coaching job. Thoughts???

Mosley: Yes, I was hearing this morning it was heading that way. I think it"s a great hire. I know folks were excited about P.J. Fleck, but Matt Rhule"s won more games against bigger programs. The (Mike) Gundy thing was interesting, but it always seemed like a long shot. Matt Rhule had some opportunities last year and he stayed. Then he won 10 more games. I watched that Temple team against a really good Notre Dame team last season and the Owls went toe to toe with them. For Mack Rhoades to hire this guy, he must"ve blown him away in the interview. Mack liked Chad Morris and even Sonny (Dykes)because of the Texas ties. Rhule may not have all the ties, but the guy has been more impressive at Temple than anything Morris and Dykes have done in their careers. Plus, Rhule"s a 41-year-old guy with unbelievable energy. It"s going to take someone like that to deliver Baylor from this scandal. All in all, I think it"s a pretty solid hire.

Question: Have you ever seen a school release a statement so quickly that it is NOT interviewing a candidate than Houston did after the (Art) Briles rumors? What does that say about how toxic Briles is?

Mosley: I think it said what a lot of us already knew. Once the Baylor BORs went public with some of their evidence against Briles, he didn"t have a chance. I think Art is finally having to accept that it"s not going to happen at the sort of program he"d want to lead. If he wants to coach next season, he needs to explore the NFL.

Question: Who are the top three coaches that could replace (Texas A&M coach Kevin) Sumlin next year when the bottom falls out?

Mosley: Well you"re being pretty cynical, but I"ll play the game. I think Chad Morris would do anything for that gig. Same for Larry Fedora from UNC. I think the Ags would make a play for someone big like Dabo (Swinney), but of course he"ll only leave for Bama, I think.

Question: Saw the Bears had six first-place votes for the top team in the latest AP (basketball) poll. If you had a vote, would they have yours?

Mosley: Well of course! But alas, I don"t have a vote. I was at the Oregon and Xavier games. This is a really good Scott Drew team. This team will go as far as Manu Lecomte takes them, in my mind. I"l" vote them No. 2 in the country for now.

--Click/tap here for the full chat transcript.

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Source: http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/baylorbears/2016/12/06/matt-rhule-great-hire-baylor-football

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