Matt Rhule Interview

I am very delighted with our next to my first day after Halloween 2000 I was covering a ranked East Carolina Lincoln Riley is the office later in that time and they were completely stymied on that miserable rainy day in Philadelphia. It was temples first ranked when in forever and I was in the tunnel amid the celebration and their coach was high-fiving every body and site including this reporter watching on the periphery of that happy Alateen that man.

Of course, was Matt rule was now the head coach of the Panthers and now joins us coach. Thank you for the time I'd say quite a few things that happen between now and then I created the note though that was a great day that was stunning upset brothers were very proud. This is your first draft as a head coach that you just undertook and I'm wondering if you guys had the test run around this time last week you get Brown in the first round you move up on day two and take Jan for Southern Illinois just in terms of process and the experience of it how the expectations meet reality for this virtual draft… But what was way better than we ever could have affected, I think almost a lot want to learn a lot more about technology and how we can use it much thought and Amy and I really allowed us to eliminate a lot of the chaos and put 50 people in a room right foot traffic there to be a lot of opinion like that.

This was really clean. You know you could hop back and forth coaches to scout your ownership to the general manager myself. Maybe we were able to really get a lot of people's opinions and and do it quickly and intuitively cleanly felt. I thought it was that was really good set up in notice is a fan of football and I enjoyed watching the draft seeing all of you get the home of the family have their lives changed. Here's what I heard coach I heard you, Your girls out of the office on night one and they got a little jealous seeing all the other little girls get on TV that night. What happened there. Yeah, my son, my son Neil ratted me out Saturday. 15 he told Wheatley worker working to be like having the scenario, so my wife the girl that she would let them get their ears pierced. They would go to bed on Thursday night, which they did. Your feet for 11 only to find out the next day that all the coaches kids were on the on the video in the picture so making out in full force they would share their outfit pom-poms in the whole deal and they were there at that out so I made us take the first night but try to make up for the second night it's Panthers head coach Matt rule with this year on sports and triad and I want to learn a little bit more about you. I been doing some homework.

You're the son of a Nazarene minister who upon reading some things about you. You apparently he moved your family. 35. 40 years ago from Kansas City to New York to take a job that I can imagine paid that much, but whenever I talk to people of faith, men of faith. They always talk about calling that draws them to do so. What lessons of faith and calling did you learn from your dad as you approached football, which I'm sure there were some points you will began to wonder why you are doing what you are doing for my parents both notable yoke faith-based people that you all have a purpose in life. All of us have sort of missionary purpose that will the week that we can choose to servant, and you know you're giving gifts you're given, you know, passions and desires that that stimulates you and and you find a way to take those gifts and passions and to serve others and serve the Lord in that match your calling that your life working so for me it's always been. I love the game of football. But I really like working with young people helping people know in their lives for myself teacher. In that regard. So you have a chance to the college level.

For a long long time. You I went to Baylor at a time when people were shocked that I took that job. But you know I felt like he was a Baptist University that was in the middle of the terrible, terrible sexual assault scandal and I knew it was you would be a very easy job, but I still like you know I was supposed to go there and get it fixed and get turned around and headed in the right direction which we did so now you know for me it's really no different.

You know y'all have a chance to be talking that's pretty cool but in the damp chance to work with a bunch of great people. I want to commend the squares, all of whom have different things going on in their lives with their families and chance to come in and surf. You know the Carolinas are two great state in any way that I can so the lessons that I learned what really easy you know you recently had a chance to connect with your former head coach Kent Briggs at Western Carolina when you were there for a few years and he described you as close in Army knife on his staff and then I started looking at it coach you held for different position in your four years at Western coaching both sides of the ball.

What sticks out to you.

When you look back on your first coaching stent in North Carolina. No regular great man tell my wife and I had no kids of the time, got a call from New York City and and you had gone to Penn State and you don't put this took the leap to come to Western Carolina live in North Carolina was a beautiful place limits on the best people I could've ever met colleges I go to Georgia Tech with defensive coordinator when I was there I will want to got my staff now blue-collar positions in college football and I just I just enjoyed and as a coach you cutting in on the head. You know, at that time I had a chance, you II coastal linebackers. I was a special-teams coordinator's assistant head coach eventually became the old-line coach you know I just kind of fit took a bunch of different.job and I think that's really serve me not to continue that trend.

The I've been been off the coordinator of all the different things in my career and not a guru or not you know him no playcalling machine I what I am is a God of course a lot of different positions that I hope is knowledgeable enough to affect players and talk to players and also knowledgeable enough to make sure the football good to talk to coaches develop coaches and see it from our perspective so a lot of that really started at Western historical coach Briggs and for that I'm extremely grateful it's Panthers head coach Matt rule with this year on sports and triad so Once upon a time is going to noted you were at Penn State, you were coached by Joe Paterno and when you were in the NFL for your brief stint you were under Super Bowl champion Tom Coughlin. So now you cut your teeth as a coach and you've seen what works for you.

Being the head of the program and now the head of an organization. What's a specific way you've identified those men have influence the kind of coach you are at different ways in the boat different than me, but I think the biggest thing is that they both had a vision of philosophy in a way that they wanted to do things and that didn't change the will of the reasons why a lot of people are successful is that you know they had a flutter in the wind and they try to do what's popular to try to do what's new may try to do at school and they don't stand for something and been Tom Coughlin and Joe Paterno football coaches both very much stood for something and they work very demanding, highly disciplined people would think that they didn't have that great personalities and tremendous charisma. Great people skills and tremendous relationships, but at the end of the day they they they stood for something and they demanded what they wanted that something that I learned is a have great relationships with the people that you coach people that you work with the same time you know you have to demand excellence. You have to demand the process you have to be disciplined in your approach.

First of and demand discipline from everyone else in. I could learn better from anyone else.

Being that you're the head coach of starlets NFL team. Have you had a chance to speak with Michael Jordan since taking the job. Not having the watching the documentary the last man, and certainly enjoyed watching that but not I chance that exchange text here and there with quick radio who's been really really cool welcoming me to town, but I look forward to meet Mr. Jordan at some point so you watch the last to have Roy Williams with us tomorrow via J Millis earlier talking about MJ so I'm interested as I had coaches been around people who are certainly just so driven to to be successful. What comes to mind when you see the level of driving commitment.

MJ had in his playing days in heck still seems like he has many of the same traits back like that about Tom and Paterno didn't really care if you would like it wasn't. It wasn't you know you're so many kids nowadays say you know a lot about all lead by example got you, I will believe about lead by example. You do your job.

Major great teammate leaders inspire and/or demand others to do more than they're doing and I left them so they lost that this is twice a role in unit two years ago. Instead of going on vacation you didn't tweet a lot. He did put on Instagram post.

He didn't say you'll do an interview he got to work and he demanded that his teammates get to work in, you know, life changes and things change with the secrets to success don't really change is not what you say not what you put out there for what you do and no one worked harder knowing practice charter. No one demanded more more people around him than the Michael Jordan and it's pretty cool.

The to see that because her summary parallels to what I'm doing with some other people are doing day in day out coach.

I was just reminded that when I was at Duke Carolina in Chapel Hill this year that classic double-overtime game in February.

I remember seeing that you and Joe Brady ran a Hornets basketball game so I wonder how much interest you have in hopes and if there are any games around here you'd like to see on your sports bucket list. My sister went to Duke and my parents. My parents are big Duke fan so the kind of had actually Duke Carolina ticket that I've never been able to actually get to the game so I would love I would love to see that at some point you had a hard football you schedule even at night know after that we went in and we are watching the end of the first regulation no one in the free-throw little things that happened so I love You like will expand, but you know like him no hurry for nanometers thing that I want to do and see.

So excited to really get immersed not just in Charlotte worse than all work all across North and South Carolina thinkers.

So many great things I like to do one more football thing before we let you know we are being joined by Matt rule. The head coach of the Carolina Panthers. I'm looking at your off season as a whole. And man, it seems you have fostered a roster of put together a roster where there's just good to be competition everywhere there's not. It doesn't look like there's a lot being given to anybody in the way of long-term deals and I'm looking at your free agents. 11 of the 14 I counted free agent acquisitions on offense. They have two-year contract with the exception of Teddy Bridgewater and they're all in their 20s defensively. You pick the entire draft defensive player first team to do that all seven pics on defense in the draft. So how much of that is part of the plan when you're trying to build this thing in your one dating a young roster together, knowing that it was bound to be young when Luke equally retires and you move off cam and Greg Olson.

How much were you thinking let's get a bunch of young people and allow for them to compete in order to see who the best guys are to build around him and thinking let's do that by the year and you see there's a bunch of really good players on defense last year that were not entering their early 30s and mid to late 30 something subdivisions and you know you only have so much really salary-cap and so you're trying to position it were a group likely to be healthy, long-term and and I like the thought of bringing a free agent given about go to your opportunity to show what he can do let me. It allows your you know when you're dealing get your chance to really get to know that player other still young and see what they can do. See if their best days are ahead of them give chance to draft guys are really bold them, and so you think we have like, you know, aside from our specialist. I think you know in terms of the office of the thing really have three guys over 30, and so we are a young team. While there is a lot of experience that you have got to check Thompson's 26 is quite a lot of football while we do have some experience. We do have a really young team and and you know roster change every year. If you want to have a core group of guys that you can grow with and can grow together and just keep feeding you know young players into that and I think Marty generally nice job this off-season. I think we have a shared vision of what we wanted and you really continue this entire off-season all the way up to the season keep trying to improve the roster constantly and and make interesting coaching staff would want a great job coaching those players so we can get the most out of what we have not really do appreciate appreciate you having you on here at the stories you told you sharing those and who knows and just a few months hopefully things are back to normal and I can give you a high five and actually mean it this time. Unlike 2000. Just it seemed. I look forward to. Thank you coach that's that's Matt rule. The head coach of the Carolina Panthers kind enough to join us on sports try and