Former Nittany Lion Matt Rhule fired by the Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers fired Matt Rhule. Could he possibly return to Penn State in some capacity?

Former Penn State Nittany Lion player and coach [autotag]Matt Rhule[/autotag] has been removed from his head coaching position with the Carolina Panthers. Rhule had proved to be a successful college coach but couldn’t find a way to make the transition to the NFL.

In the NFL, Matt Rhule had a record of 11-27 versus his college coaching record of 75-43 during stops at both Temple and Baylor. Both programs he really built from the ground up after being a successful coaching assistant prior to that.

Rhule was raised to be a Nittany Lion

Rhule has Penn State in his blood. His family had Matt Rhule in New York, New York and he grew up there until he was a teenager when his family moved to State College. He would attend and graduate from State College Area High School before attending Penn State University, where he played linebacker under Joe Paterno.

He was a four-year starter and a three-time scholar athlete and Big Ten Academic All-American. He would do both of these while earning a degree in politcal science from the school.

He would stay in State College after graduating as he became a member of the staff as a graduate assistant.

Penn State fans may be seeing him again…

While James Franklin has proven to be a coach to bring in recently fired head coaches, Matt Rhule isn’t taking any job as an assistant at this point. Unlike Nick Saban at Alabama, Franklin simply isn’t on that level yet. Despite Manny Diaz coming in and having the success he is having, no one else sees State College as a recovery stop.

For Matt Rhule, Penn State fans will likely see him on another college sideline before he is on the home sideline. So far this year there have been five college coaches fired, with two in the Big Ten. Colorado, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, and Nebraska all have openings at head coach. The question is not if Rhule gets offered these jobs (he will) but if he has any interest.

Of this massive deal that Matt Rhule signed just short of three years ago, he is still owed $40 million dollars. He can sit out this year and wait for a college job that he likes to open and take advantage of it. All in all, Nebraska seems like a perfect fit. At this point, if he were to take a job, I would have to imagine it is there. The division in which Nebraska competes in is significantly easier than the other. Rhule could thrive in that and have Nebraska in a Big Ten title game in short time.

Whether they win is another story.

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