The crossroads of Matt Rhule’s coaching career arrived at a stop sign.
A few days before Christmas in 2005, Rhule decided to show up unannounced at the Temple football offices. He and his wife, Julie, had packed up their black Nissan Maxima in South Carolina and headed back to their native Pennsylvania for Christmas. They had their 1-year old son, Bryant, in his car seat and three pets in tow.
It wasn’t an ideal timing for a three-hour detour to make a cold call to inquire about a job. Especially considering that Rhule, an assistant coach at Western Carolina, had never even met new Temple coach Al Golden.