The Carolina Panthers hired Matt Rhule as their new head coach on Monday morning, which did not come as much of a surprise.
While many expected Rhule to end up with the New York Giants, the Panthers made their interest in Rhule very clear from the jump, and now, we are getting an idea of just how badly Carolina wanted him.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Rhule's contract with the Panthers is a seven-year, $60 million deal that could be worth up to $70 million in incentives.
For a guy who has extremely limited NFL experience, that's a pretty firm commitment.
Rhule spent 2012 with the Giants as an assistant offensive line coach, which is the extent of his experience on the professional level.
Otherwise, Rhule has primarily been in the collegiate ranks, starting as a linebackers coach at Albright back in 1998. He then moved on to Buffalo in 1999, where served as a defensive line coach for three seasons.
The 44-year-old then linked up with UCLA as a defensive line coach in 2001, spending one year there before heading over to Western Carolina, where he served in a variety of different positions from 2002 through 2005.
In 2006, Rhule was hired as Temple's defensive line coach. He moved to the offensive side of the ball the following year, taking over as the Owls' quarterbacks coach and running game coordinator before being elevated to the role of offensive coordinator in 2008.
He resided at Temple before briefly jumping to the NFL with the Giants in 2012 and then returned to the Owls as head coach the next year, holding that post for four seasons. Rhule then joined Baylor as head coach in 2017.
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