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Panthers Ready To Sign Matt Rhule As Head Coach

In this Jan. 1, 2020, file photo, Baylor head coach Matt Rhule reacts on the sideline in the second half of the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football game against Georgia in New Orleans. A person familiar with the situation says the Carolina Panthers are completing a contract to hire Baylor's Matt Rhule as their coach. (AP Photo/Bill Feig, File)

The Carolina Panthers are ready to hire Matt Rhule as the new head coach, according to an NFL source. 

Rhule will join the Panthers after spending three seasons as head coach at Baylor, where he led the once-slumping team to an 11-3 record in 2019. He also was head coach at Temple for four seasons.

Once the deal is finalized, Rhule will become the fifth head coach in franchise history and the first to be hired from the collegiate ranks.

Rhule was scheduled to visit with the New York Giants this week and was believed to be a strong candidate there.

The Panthers fired Ron Rivera in December following a four-game losing streak that left them all but eliminated from playoff contention. Rivera has since been hired as head coach for the Washington Redskins.

Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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