Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid will face off against Carolina Panthers HC Matt Rhule for the first time on Sunday. They might be squaring up for the first time, but Reid isn’t exactly unfamiliar with Rhule. In fact, had the timing been right, Chiefs fans might have seen Rhule as a member of the Kansas City coaching staff under Reid.
Rhule, a first-year NFL head coach, rose up through the college coaching ranks. He most recently was the head coach of the Baylor Bears, but before that Rhule spent some time down the road from the Philadelphia Eagles with the Temple Owls.
“Yeah, well, Britt (Reid) worked with him and told me I needed to hire him,” Reid revealed to reporters on Wednesday.
Britt and Rhule were both offensive assistants on the Temple coaching staff circa 2011. So why didn’t Rhule end up with Reid at Philadelphia in 2012 or with the Chiefs in 2013? It was simply a matter of bad timing.
“Well, I had a full staff and when it got time to hire him, he started up with the Giants,” Reid explained. “So, he had an opportunity to go with (Tom) Coughlin up there, and so Coach (Coughlin) got him as a quality control coach and he did a nice job there and then came back and became this head coach that really did a great job at all the stops in college.”
Rhule joined the Giants staff in 2012 as an assistant offensive line coach when Reid’s staff with the Eagles was full. When Reid had agreed to become the head coach of the Chiefs following the 2012 season, Rhule had already agreed to become the head coach at Temple. Had the timing been different, perhaps Rhule would have been an offensive assistant in Kansas City.
Things seemed to turn out alright for Rhule regardless, with all stops leading to an opportunity as one of the 32 head coaches in the NFL. Reid isn’t surprised by it either, he’s been very impressed with what he’s seen from Rhule during the course of his career.
“But yeah, I’ve had a chance to get to know him,” Reid said. “He’s doing a great job now. I loved watching him at the college level and he did a great job there, too. So, he’s good for the National Football League. My youngest son had a chance to play for him too, so that was a plus.”
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