The Carolina Panthers are giving Rhule a seven-year deal worth $60 million that with incentives could be worth up to $70 million, per league sources says Adam Schefter.
Rhule led the Baylor program from 2016 to 2019 and led them to the Sugar Bowl during the 2019 season. He was previously the coach of Temple University where he led the Owls to back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in the school's history.
Rhule began his college coaching career in 1998 and his only experience in the NFL is having spent one season as an assistant offensive line coach with the Giants in 2012.
Rhule's resume of demonstrated success was enough to convince Carolina to bring him in as a candidate for its opening, and his interview sealed the deal, according to NFL.com. As Ian Rapoport reported, owner David Tepper met with Rhule and his family in Waco, Texas on Monday and made sure Rhule didn't board his flight to New York for his scheduled interview with the Giants.
Rhule replaces Ron Rivera, who was fired by the Panthers near the end of the 2019 season and was replaced by defensive backs coach Perry Fewell in the interim.
As for Baylor, sources say they are prepared to begin searching for a new head coach and have the money to take a big swing, but promoting Joey McGuire to HC is a real possibility.