What college football will miss with Matt Rhule leaving Baylor for the NFL

By Matt Fortuna Jan 7, 2020 46
The ESPN set was barricaded in on Market Street, with the passersby going about their business on another Friday afternoon in Philadelphia.

“Hey Matt,” one of those pedestrians shouted on his walk back from lunch.

Preparations for “College Football Live” were taking place in those closed corners. Matt Rhule was that pedestrian, content to just shoot the bull with a then-ESPN reporter and sneak a peek at the circus that had traveled to the City of Brotherly Love to watch undefeated Temple host Notre Dame the following night.

Only when the show’s special guest, Philly legend Ron Jaworski, called out Rhule’s name did the modest crowd notice who was among them, with Temple students heading his way to thank him for making the Owls big enough to host “College GameDay” that weekend.

That was four years, two rebuilding jobs and millions upon millions of dollars ago, as Rhule made official Tuesday what had always seemed inevitable for a coach...