Matt Rhule Leaves for the NFL, What Does it Mean for Oklahoma State

The Hooded Smock has left Waco, Texas for the Carolina Panthers as it was announced on Tuesday that Matt Rhule will no longer be the head coach for the Baylor Bears.

It’s probably a good career move for Rhule, who turned Baylor from a laughingstock into team that was one play (?) from making this year’s College Football Playoff. It was also a good career move for him. Baylor won four games by six or fewer points and most of those came down to the last possession. All four could have easily been Ls. Not that Baylor wasn’t good this year — they were — but their profile was about as good as it could have been given their performance.

Also, Baylor is currently ranked No. 55 in the country in recruiting and last in the Big 12. Last! After playing for the Big 12 title. It felt like that wasn’t a story that was getting enough attention even as Baylor rose up the rankings to play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

Anyway, what does this mean for OSU? Three quick thoughts.

1. Reminder of the Big 12 in 2020

The wide openness of the Big 12 this upcoming season remains intoxicating for Oklahoma State fans. Whether Rhule left or not, the battle royale for a Big 12 title slot was going to be massive. That he’s leaving is a reminder that you can pencil in OU for one of the spots and the other one is completely and totally up for grabs, which is one reason (of many) I enjoyed Tylan mentioning winning a Big 12 title in his return letter.

2. Reordering of Coaching Hierarchy

I don’t know that I thought this, but there was probably some feeling at the end of last season that Gundy had slipped to the fourth (?) or fifth (?) best coach in the league. With Rhule out and his successor unknown, I think the pretty clear hierarchy is …

1. Lincoln
2. Gundy
3. Patterson

Everyone else is either too unproven (Matt Wells) or not meteoric enough (Matt Campbell) to usurp that triumvirate. I’m sure Tom Herman will agree with these rankings!

The other part of this that’s nice is that it’s not a play Gundy is ever going to make. Every year, guys like Lincoln Riley and others are going to have to field questions about the NFL. Not Gundy. Not at this stage of his career.

Second year in a row a Big 12 coach to the NFL. League has other candidates going forward, too.

— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) January 7, 2020

3. Weakens OSU’s 2020 Schedule

If you roll down the list of tough games going into next season, obviously Bedlam is No. 1. Then what was next? There’s a case to be made for at Baylor on Nov. 7 being the second-toughest. Now? Who knows. Baylor loses a lot — Blake Lynch, Denzel Mims, JaMycal Hasty among them — but regardless, it’s rare that a team in Year 1 of a new coaching regime isn’t also at least a little bit weaker than they were the year before.

Maybe it's just because we've seen both in the modern era, but Baylor feels like the CFB program with the widest gap between its realistic ceiling and floor.

What a crucial hire to come.

— David Ubben (@davidubben) January 7, 2020