Baylor Football: How far does Matt Rhule departure set program back?

Matt Rhule has finalized a deal to become the next Carolina Panthers head coach, so how far does that set Baylor football back?

It only took three years, but Matt Rhule turned Baylor football back into a winner but on Tuesday morning, news broke that he was finalizing a deal to become the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers, bolting for the NFL.

While this may seem like a bad dream for Baylor fans after the nightmare following the Art Briles era, this doesn’t mean that the Bears can’t continue elevating back into the national spotlight.

Three years ago, Baylor finished 1-11 in Rhule’s first season as Baylor head coach and there were rumors of him being interested in the NFL. He decided it was best for him and the program to come back and correct the wrongs, leaving Baylor in a better place than he found it. He did just that, winning seven games in 2018 as well as the Texas Bowl and then returned again in 2019 with high hopes.

Fans expected a bowl berth, but not necessarily an 11-win regular season, but Rhule elevated the program in a short period of time and his only two losses before bowl season were to Oklahoma both in the regular season and the Big 12 Championship. The Bears then ended the year with a Sugar Bowl defeat at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs.

But hey, 11-3 isn’t too shabby for a program that won 15 total games in the three previous years combined.

However, with his departure to the NFL, how far does this set the program back after finally getting back to normal?

Honestly that question can’t be answered before the hire of the next head coach. It all depends on who is hired and if the Bears go with a guy like Billy Napier, Bryan Harsin or Luke Fickell, I think you’ll only see the program trend in the right direction. Those are young coaches who can pick up right where Rhule left off and maybe not win 10-plus games in 2020, but come close and build off that for 2021.

The building blocks are in place and Rhule is leaving the cupboard quite full so fans can rest easy knowing that the program won’t completely crumble, especially with solid candidates still out there.

Sure, this departure hurts Baylor and what has been built up over the past couple of seasons, but the potential is there to keep the ball rolling. Fret not, Bears fans.