Matt Rhule Goes To Carolina And NFC East Gets Major Coaching Shakeup

Once upon a time on a hot day in October of 2015, the Temple Owls hosted their in-state rival Penn State Nittany Lions at the Linc. In what was expected to be a typical Penn State dismantling of Temple, the Owls dominated and sacked Nittany Lion quarterback Christian Hackenberg 10 times. It was Temple’s first win over Penn State since 1941 and Hackenberg would go onto be a 2nd round draft pick by the New York Jets and never take a snap in the NFL.

From that point on, Temple football became legit for the first time in decades under former New York Giants assistant coach Matt Rule. Highlights include a hard fought loss to Notre Dame on Halloween night that still earned the owls the respect of the ESPN College Gameday crew and a spot in the Top 25 rankings.

While it looked like Rhule would continue to build the Owls into a potential powerhouse, the inevitable politics and business that is College Football came in and had Rhule land himself into Baylor of all places. Inheriting a disgraced football program under brutal circumstances, Rhule too turned Baylor into a legitimate program again.

Suddenly the man who became the closest thing Philly had to Nick Saban or Bear Bryant was among the darling head coaching candidates for the NFL. He almost became head coach of the New York Jets a year ago but backed out due to not being allowed to bring his own staff. This time, the stage was set for his return to the New York Football Giants. The stars seemed to be aligned for this local New Yorker and former Giant employee to come home and rebuild the once great franchise back to contention.

And then. . . Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper opened his wallet for Rhule’s services with a contract of SEVEN years and $60 million. And there you have it! The man who gave Temple football a boost it desperately needed has now landed into the wonderland that is the National Football League. Just not in Metlife stadium.

The Giants meanwhile? Well turns out they had a fall-back plan and immediately hired a a Bill Belichick disciple. No, not Josh McDaniels, but special teams and wide receivers coach Joe Judge. So far we have no audio as to what Mr. Judge sounds right but expect plenty of fans dressing up in black gowns and wigs with plush gavels at Metlife Stadium. McDaniels meanwhile, the man who basically took Frank Reich away from us, now only has the option of going to Cleveland to become a head coach.

MEANWHILE IN THE LEION OF DOOM the Dallas Cowboys officially announced during halftime of the Eagles/Seahawks playoff game that Jason Garret wasn’t coming back to coach again. This announcement came following the their interviews of Marvin Lewis and Mike McCarthy for Garrett’s job. Because no matter how long their quarter-century NFC title game drought continues THE DALLAS COWBOYS MUST ALWAYS MATTER 25/8/366.

The next day, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys made a surprisingly smart move and hired a Super Bowl winner in former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. What to expect from the McCarthy era in Dallas? I don’t know but it is going to be very weird seeing McCarthy on Sunday Night Football not in a green and yellow jacket and in the spot Garrett made famous.

Oh yeah and the Washington R-Words already got their guy in Super Bowl finalist and 2-time Coach of the Year Ron Rivera. A good hire, who knows if it’ll work out, but it’s definitely a good sign when Dan Snyder greets the press during Rivera’s introduction wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving in late December.

With a full blown makeover of every coaching staff in the NFC East (outside of Dougie P), there’s hope that this whole division will finally grow some teeth. Not since those few years when the division had Andy Reid, Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs and Tom Coughlin all at the same has it been this interesting.

Even when the whole division is bad, all four teams (mostly the one that plays south) still get nauseating 24/7 national attention. So it should be a breath of fresh air to see all four teams become super competitive again, maybe one or two look will look good enough for Super Bowl contention (Likely the one with the most recent title.)

Now all I’m praying for is that Giants get Jason Garrett as their next offensive coordinator. It’d sure be helpful for the Joe Judge to have a former head coach on his new staff after all.