Matt Rhule is back on the market, folks. After an abysmal stint in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers, it appears the former Baylor head coach is headed back to the college ranks with one school or another.
A few jobs have already opened this season, and a few more are expected to come open before this 2022 season is up. Rhule is expected to be one of the hottest names on the market and will have his phone very busy. However, with his massive buyout from the Panthers, Rhule has roughly 40 million reasons to think carefully about his next stop.
Here are the five jobs that make the most sense to hire Matt Rhule, ranked.
5. Arizona State
Arizona State is a job that came free after the firing of Herm Edwards, but it makes the least sense of all the big jobs currently open, and for one big reason. There is a giant NCAA-shaped shadow hanging over this program right now, and they're likely to receive some pretty hefty sanctions. This doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would be very attractive to a big-time coach.
Nonetheless, it's a Power Five job at a school with a decent enough football history. They deserve a mention, even if it's unlikely they get past a phone call with Matt Rhule's camp.
4. Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a job that came open a bit surprisingly after the firing of Paul Chryst following a blowout 34-10 loss to Illinois. However, they're low on the list for a different reason. A lot of speculation around the program has revolved around the idea that the interim tag on interim head coach Jim Leonhard is mostly a formality, and that he will be given the full-time job unless the Badgers have a catastrophic end to the year.
However, should Leonhard not make the grade, you'd have to think Wisconsin would move up this list in a hurry as one of the better programs in the Big Ten.
3. Georgia Tech
Could Matt Rhule take over in Atlanta? Possibly. Could Georgia Tech be looking at someone a little more Primetime? Absolutely. However, it is undoubtedly one of the more attractive jobs on the market, if only for the situation smack in the middle of one of the biggest recruiting hotbeds in the country.
If Georgia Tech is able to pull even a fraction more of the kids from their home turf, they'll be one of the most dangerous programs in the ACC. But that thought process is also why the Yellow Jackets might be looking at Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders instead. Either way, you'd expect Rhule to get contacted by Georgia Tech even if only as a secondary option should no agreement with Sanders be reached.
2. Nebraska
The biggest job currently open is the one vacated by Scott Frost at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers haven't quite recovered from their quite puzzling decision to fire former head coach Mike Riley, but they still have visions of Osborn and Frazier dancing in their heads. This is a program that wants to become a major player in the national college football scene on a perennial basis once again, and they have the money to do so.
Plus, being in the Big Ten means that money is only going to increase over the next decade as realignment and new TV contracts come into play. Not many programs in the country are well-suited enough to support Matt Rhule with the firepower he needs to build a serious contender, but Nebraska is certainly one of them.
1. Auburn
Is it cheating to offer up a job that's not even available yet? Maybe, but it seems almost a foregone conclusion at this point that Bryan Harsin is a dead man walking, so to speak. If/when it does, Auburn can offer Matt Rhule something no other school can: a chance to compete in the SEC, and a very enthusiastic booster with about $900 million to his name.
Jimmy Rane, CEO of Great Southern Wood Preserving, the company that makes Yellawood, helped pick Harsin. But with that kind of money, possibly the wealthiest single booster in the conference, you'd have to imagine he'd help pick Rhule too if necessary. He has the money, along with other Auburn boosters, to provide one of the biggest NIL funds in the country, and we all know how ambitious Auburn is as a program. For Auburn, it seems more a question of who they want rather than who wants them.
If it's Rhule, it'd certainly be an interesting marriage to watch unfold.
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