Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule got his first taste of being an NFL coach in 2012 when he worked as the assistant offensive line coach alongside Pat Flaherty on Tom Coughlin's Giants staff.
After spending one year in East Rutherford, Rhule's coaching journey took him through the college ranks, where he gained head coaching experience with Temple and then later at Baylor, a path that Rhule admitted was hard for him to take.
"One of the hardest decisions I made in my life was even just taking the Temple job, just because obviously I wanted to be a head coach, but I had a chance to go and work at the New York Giants," Rhule told the Giants reporters on a conference call Thursday.
"I grew up in New York City, working at the Giants was something that I grew up dreaming of being (Former Giants Head Coach) Bill Parcells. (Former Giants Wide Receiver) Phil McConkey and (Former Giants Tight End) Mark Bavaro and (Former Giants Quarterback) Phil Simms, those were my heroes, right? So, having a chance to work there was awesome. It was a really special place, a great building, a great place to be."
As the 46-year-old began to build his reputation, it was no surprise to see his name emerge as a head coaching candidate. But when his chance to maybe become the next Bill Parcells arose, Rhule, who was supposed to interview for it, never made it back to East Rutherford since Carolina made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
"That whole situation, obviously, I had a chance to have a conversation with them," Rhule said. "I was unbelievably flattered, but the truth is it never really got to that point. I got offered the job in Carolina and took it. It just seemed like the right thing for us at the time."
As for the Giants, Rhule hinted that New York was never really in the mix once the Panther's head coaching job was on the table.
"My agent does a good job. He’s always trying to do a good job for me and protect me and all those things, so it’s just one of those deals where it just never got to that point. I know he probably had conversations with them, but it just wasn’t there, so we took this one," he said.
The Giants, of course, ended up hiring now-former New England special teams coordinator Joe Judge to be their new head coach, the 19th in franchise history, and the fourth new head coach in six years.
When asked about Rhule, Giants team president John Mara sounded turned off about the prospect of having to match the seven-year, $62 million contract Carolina gave to Rhule.
According to a report by the New York Post, Judge got a five-year deal believed to be worth a little more than $5 million per season.
Although things didn't work out for Rhule in New York, he still has a lot of fond memories from his short time here.
"I absolutely loved, absolutely loved, my time there. I loved the people that I met. I loved working for (Former Giants Head Coach) Tom Coughlin. I thought Tom Coughlin and (Former Giants Offensive Coordinator) Kevin Gilbride Sr. and all the people I worked with were unbelievable."
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