Texas Football: Matt Rhule-Panthers hiring blazes Big 12 trail to the NFL

The Big 12 was the first conference this year to send a head coach to the NFL, but it did not come from the Texas football program.

The head coaching hires in the NFL had a lot of influence from the college football ranks this year. Two of the more recent rumors that caught Big 12 head coaches in particular in the fire for NFL openings were Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners and Matt Rhule of the Baylor Bears. Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas football program was not one of the Big 12 HC’s that received interest from the NFL heading into college football’s offseason.

However, a rise back to national contender status for the Texas Longhorns football program could ignite Herman into the conversation that Rhule and Lincoln found themselves in this year. Oklahoma played in the College Football Playoff and won their fifth straight Big 12 Title in 2019. Even though the Sooners were embarrassed in the Peach Bowl by the top seeded LSU Tigers, the stature Riley has that program at right now is remarkable.

Meanwhile, Rhule led Baylor to become one of the surprise teams in the entire country this season. Baylor was the Big 12 runner-up and Rhule took them to the Sugar Bowl, which resulted in a loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.

The stellar years that Rhule and Riley had with their respective programs was what brought on that NFL coaching spotlight. Rhule went on multiple interviews for NFL head coach openings. Riley also had a rampant conversation surrounding the potential hire with the Dallas Cowboys.

The most surprising of the head coaching hires that pulled from the college ranks this season was the Carolina Panthers bringing in Rhule from the Baylor football program. All the other major coaching hires thus far in the NFL involved other big names at that level.

The most prominent examples of that are the Washington Redskins hiring the former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera for the same role and the Cowboys hiring the former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. This left the Panthers as the only NFL team so far to take a chance on a head coach hiring from the college ranks.

Moreover, this hiring of Rhule with the Panthers does have an impact stemming beyond the NFL. Rhule was a rising star in the college football coaching ranks, and losing him will do a lot to the Big 12. This could also mean that the potential jump for Riley to the NFL happens sooner.

Other rising Big 12 coaches like Iowa State’s Matt Campbell and Kansas State’s Chris Klieman could also stay on the NFL’s radar if they keep their programs afloat. But Riley and Campbell would be the next two logical head coaching candidates that could go to the next level.

Herman doesn’t seem like he’s in a spot to leave the Longhorns anytime soon. Texas has more resources and reason to keep him on the Forty Acres, if he’s successful during his coaching tenure, than a lot of NFL teams would be willing to commit too.

The Big 12 does have a solid group of head coaches, and a wide ranging mix of experience, among their 10 teams. From Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and TCU’s Gary Patterson to potential risers like West Virginia’s Neal Brown and Texas Tech’s Matt Wells, the Big 12 is in an interesting spot with their head coaches at the moment.