Fixer upper
Matt Rhule seems the right man for the Baylor football job
Matt Rhule talks fast. Real fast. Philadelphia fast. East Coast fast.
“It was hard for me to understand him at first,” said Baylor junior Blake Blackmar, whose Texan drawl befits an offensive lineman from Houston.
Rhule, who was born in New York, grew up in the shadow of Penn State, was a walk-on linebacker for the Nittany Lions and coached 10 of the last 11 years at Philly’s Temple University, had no Texas ties. Seemed like the worst fit for Baylor.
Turns out, seemed was wrong. Rhule has embraced Baylor, embraced the ramifications of the Art Briles scandal and has the Bears on the road to recovery, culturally if not competitively.
Don’t mistake Rhule’s fast cadence with slick talk. After two years of scandal, two years of sordid tales of sexual assault and university cover-ups and administration excuse-making, there is gold back with the Baylor green. Sunlight peers through the shadows of Waco.
“You hope that you can share a message that good days are ahead,” Rhule said. “This is a university that’s been here since 1845, before the state of Texas was even formed. So I try to make sure that I let them know this wasn’t my only option. I came to Baylor because I knew this was the right place for me and I believed in it.”
Indeed. Rhule was atop Oregon’s list. Who would pick Baylor over Oregon? Who would take a scandal-ridden job in a place you knew through only “Fixer Upper,” the HGTV hit show in which Chip and Joanna Gaines seemingly restore every house in Waco.
“It’s funny, we watched so many episodes of ‘Fixer Upper,’ we felt like we knew the town,” Rhule said this week at Big 12 Media Days.
Rhule didn’t know Baylor, but he knew athletic director Mack Rhoades. “I knew if he came here, there was something special here,” Rhule said, starting to recite why he chose Baylor.
“It’s a university that kind of shares my values. A university that believes in faith, service and leadership. That’s how my parents raised me. The chance to come coach college football in the Big 12, an elite football institution, an elite academic institution, to live in central Texas where I can recruit all my kids within three or four hours, not getting on a plane and flying to wherever. We just said, ‘this is perfect.’ And it feels like that so far.”
Even after running off Briles, AD Ian McCaw and president Ken Starr, Baylor had factions clinging to the past. But Rhule, Rhoades and new President Linda Livingstone have acknowledged the problems. Acknowledged them and vowed to not repeat them.
“I’ve gotten to know him pretty well, and I really like what I see,” Blackmar said of Rhule’s emphasis on character. “I think we made a really good decision.
“At practice, he’ll flip the switch, get real intense, run us. Do something. You’re kind of scratching your head. Why did we just do that? He’ll break it down afterwards. ‘This is why I did this. This is how it’s going to help you on the field.’ How being responsible is going to help you in life.
“He kind of always brings everything back to how it’s going to help you on game day and how it’s going to help you the rest of your life. That’s not necessarily something new. That’s always been a very big aspect of Baylor as a school in general. That’s something I get in class with my teachers. But it’s definitely a large part of what Coach Rhule is preaching.”
Rhule says it was hard to leave Temple but easy to choose Baylor. Rhoades said he sold Rhule with an honest approach.
“We certainly talked about what we think Baylor can be in terms of the future,” Rhoades said. “I know Matt was excited about that. He certainly bought into the vision and what we can become. And that’s no disrespect. Baylor athletics certainly has had some great moments and great times, prior to Matt Rhule ever being there, Mack Rhoades ever being there.
“But I think we can be even better. When we talked about creating that culture, I think Matt was really excited about being able to come do that at Baylor. Again, very transparent in terms of, here’s the issues we face. Here’s where I think we can grow. Mistakes we’ve made. Need to learn from ‘em. Can’t move forward unless you learn from the past.”
Rhule said much the same thing earlier this week, and he did so respectful of Baylor fans who were enthralled by Briles’ on-field success. Rhule made the great point that he’s not so much interested in change at Baylor, he’s interested in establishing the cornerstones he embraced at Temple.
“We’re trying to build a program, not a team,” Rhule said. “We’re building a culture, not an attitude. We try to build a culture of excellence where everything counts. Where every single day whatever you’re asked to do, you have to do it to the best of your ability. What you do off the field, what you do in the classroom, how you treat other people is just as important as how you run a curl, how you run a post. We’re trying to do that one man at a time.
“We’re trying to make sure our kids know what it means to be a man, that they see that in the way we interact with our wives, with our kids, the way we do what we say we’re going to do. It’s not easy. It’s hard.”
When you read those words, they sound strong. They sound even better when you actually hear Rhule say them. Maybe he’s talking fast because he’s got a lot to do in fixing up the biggest house in Waco. But it sure feels like the hammer is in the right hands.
BERRY TRAMEL: BERRY CAN BE REACHED AT (405) 760-8080 OR AT BTRAMEL@OKLAHOMAN.COM. HE CAN BE HEARD MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY FROM 4:405:20 P.M. ON THE SPORTS ANIMAL RADIO NETWORK, INCLUDING FM-98.1. YOU CAN ALSO VIEW HIS PERSONALITY PAGE AT NEWSOK.COM/BERRYTRAMEL.
We’re trying to build a program, not a team. We’re building a culture, not an attitude. We try to build a culture of excellence where everything counts. Where every single day whatever you’re asked to do, you have to do it to the best of your ability. ... We’re trying to make sure our kids know what it means to be a man, that they see that in the way we interact with our wives, with our kids, the way we do what we say we’re going to do. It’s not easy. It’s hard.”
Baylor football coach Matt Rhule