PHILADELPHIA – Everything hit an all-time high for Temple’s football program this week. The Owls captured the AAC Championship over the weekend by beating Navy 34-10. It was the first conference title victory for the Owls in almost 50 years. The Owls seemed to be flying high.
Until today, when news broke that Matt Rhule, accepted the head coaching at Baylor University, a Big 12 school in a power 5 conference.
Temple Athletic Director Dr. Patrick Kraft found out about the news this morning over a phone call with Rhule.
“I want to thank Matt, Julie (Rhule), their family for everything they did for Temple,” Kraft said. “They did an incredible job of continuing the evolution of this program and making it more and more competitive and putting us on the national scene and so we’re very proud of what they’ve accomplished. We’re very proud of what Matt did off the field and how he treated our young student athletes. I can not say enough about coach Rhule and I thank him very much.”
Matt Rhule bids the City of Brotherly Love farewell, accepts head coaching position at Baylor University in Waco, Texas - PSD photo by Zamani Feelings
Last year, then-Athletic Director Mack Rhoades of the University of Missouri was reportedly considering Rhule for the vacant head-coaching job. Rhoades met with Rhule last year, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, but then talks stopped.
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Rhoades is now the athletic director at Baylor, and he got his man that he tried to pull away from Temple last winter.
Rhule will take over a Baylor team from acting coach Jim Grobe. Baylor posted a 6-6 overall record this year and went 3-6 against conference opponents.
Grobe was hired as the acting coach in May after Baylor suspended Art Briles with the intent to fire him after two of his players in the program were convicted of sexual assault and another was under investigation.
Baylor will play Boise State in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl on Dec. 27 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
Assistant head coach and tight ends coach Ed Foley will be Temple’s interim head coach for the Military Bowl against Wake Forest on Dec. 30.
In four seasons, Rhule brought Temple’s program to the national spotlight.
He posted back-to-back 10 wins seasons for the first time in school history. He also won the American Athletic Conference East Division in back-to-back years and won the Conference Championship for the first time since 1967.
Kraft credited Rhule for his accomplishments at North Broad Street.
Rhule led the Owls to their first conference championship title since 1967 - PSD photo by Zamani Feelings
“It’s a great opportunity for us to continue this momentum that we have started,” Kraft said. “Al Golden got it started, Steve [Addazio] came in and Matt took it to another level.”
This is Temple’s third coaching change in the last nine years.
Al Golden coached Temple from 2007-10, including two seasons with eight-plus wins. He left Temple for the University of Miami in 2011, where he coached for four years. He’s currently the tight ends coach of the Detroit Lions.
Steve Addazio coached Temple from 2011-12, where he won the 2011 Gildan New Mexico Bowl over the University of Wyoming 37-15. He left for Boston College, where he still coaches today.
As far as the next coach, Kraft said they have to find a guy who fits Temple’s environment.
“We’re going to take our time to do it right and it may be fast,” Kraft said. “We’re going to make sure it’s a good fit. We’re going to make sure everyone knows that Temple is a unique and special place; we’re a fabric of an institution. It’s not the football program and everybody else. So you got to get the right person, that’s going to be the biggest piece for us moving forward.”
Owls Celebrate Winning AAC Championship vs Navy in Annapolis, MD. /PSD photo