Baylor rewards Rhule with contract extension
WACO — The Baylor Bears have gone all in with football coach Matt Rhule, who has engineered a quick turnaround to a program he was charged with reviving nearly three years ago.
The school announced late Sunday that it had extended Rhule’s contract through the spring of 2028.
Rhule was less than three seasons into his original seven-year deal, and the announcement came less than 24 hours after Baylor improved to 4-0 with a 23-21 Big 12 victory over Iowa State on Saturday.
Rhule, 44, said he agreed to the new deal that had been in the works because of the “joy” he and his young family have had since moving to Waco.
“We’re at a pretty special place with pretty special people,” Rhule said Monday. “I felt like this was the place we want to work and live.”
Rhule, who turned down the Oregon job to join the Bears, also has been wooed by at least two NFL teams. And that was after 1-11 and 7-6 seasons.
KRZI-AM, the ESPN radio affiliate in Central Texas, reported that Rhule’s buyout is among the highest in the country.
“You never want a buyout to keep or force someone to stay at your place,” Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades told the radio station. “You don’t want to hold them hostage. I don’t think that makes sense. Now, with that said, a buyout is important, and whether it’s coach Rhule or anyone else tells me, you know what my family feels that we want to go somewhere else … the buyout is aggressive, but not necessarily because we’re doing it to prohibit coach Rhule or others from leaving because that’s not the right mentality.”
Rhoades said the “contract includes various performance and retention incentives in addition to an enhancement to his base salary.”
After a one-win season in 2017, Rhule promised his team and fans that the Bears would make a bowl game in 2018. They did, beating Vanderbilt in the Texas Bowl.
Baylor, which received votes in both Top 25 polls this week, plays at Kansas State on Saturday.