A few critiques.1. Steele and Beall had no previous head coaching experience. In addition to their poor coaching, their lack of experience was telling. His ability to turn Temple around and successfully lead a staff and win conference championship would encourage those who want to ride this out and give him more time.
2. Our Culture. It's not Rhule's fault that our athletics department can't seem to go very long without publicly humiliating itself. Steele (over his head), Bliss (scumbag), Briles, etc show that we either have a hard time attracting qualified candidates, or we feel the need to compromise our core values to compete. This board, along with the old Baylorfans site served as a venting forum for those who feel those core values need to be changed to produce a winning program. Hugh Freeze, formerly of Ole Miss, demonstrated that a school does not have to be faith-based to expect character from their coaches. Baylor's lack of consensus in terms of administration, alumni, and students make our coaching vacancies death-traps for rising coaches. Case-in-point, Briles. This board will either worship or revile him, depending on their perspective. He has the best win-loss record and where is he coaching right now? He is accountable for his actions, but this demonstrates that we even ruin the careers of our "successful" coaches. Our school has some difficult questions to answer going forward.
Some hard truths.1. Rhule had to know this was a difficult situation. He needs to be more forthright and less defensive with the media and the alumni. Something like, "that was a terrible idea," "we will adjust to what we do best," or "that was my fault" may need to come out of his mouth in the near future.
2. Rhule is a transplant. Texans don't like transplants. Not sure he can survive this.
Recommendations.1. I'm not sure what can be done this year. It appears that player attrition and injuries make this a tough situation. Rhule is accountable for banging our guys up to the point our lack of depth is showing. Kinda like Les Miles used to do.
STOP THAT. Not sure we can heal in time to turn this around, but we need bodies.
2. There are people on this board much more qualified in the X's and O's department. Insert offensive and defensive suggestions here....
Final ThoughtsIt's looking to be a brutal year. If we get increasingly more competitive throughout the season and line up a good recruiting class, he may get to stay. That would demonstrate Rhule exhibits the traits we hired him for and there is hope he can turn it around. If we get blown out all year and our class looks bleak, the original poster's thesis may come true.
Prediction.He's the guy between the legend and the next guy. He will repair our image and absorb all of the negativity. He may be the guy between Briles and Montgomery. When he leaves, he will probably get another gig at a mid-major. We hire a head coach from SFA, UH, or some other Texas school, assuming Nick Saban (or Phil Montgomery) is not available.
