After joining Matt Rhule’s Baylor staff from Rice, Frank Okam was fired up about making the jump to a Power 5 program. Then the first game happened, and Okam wondered if his might be a short stint in Waco.
After Okam’s defensive line had a choppy performance in the 2018 opener against Abilene Christian, the Bears’ first-year assistant called his girlfriend to let her know he’d endured the wrath of Rhule.
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“The headsets were crazy and there was a lot of yelling going back and forth. And coach Rhule in frustration said, ‘Frank, this might be your last game here,’” Okam said last week. “So I called her after the game. I was like, ‘Hey, I think I might be fired from Baylor. So I’m not sure, I’m gonna show up to work tomorrow and see what happens, see if they’ll let me in the building.’”
Okam’s job was safe: A calmer Rhule explained the following day he was just trying to get the most out of him and his players. But it was a bit of a system shock for Okam, the Houston Texans’ fifth-round draft pick in 2008 who played four NFL seasons.
“I wasn’t used to having to explain my philosophy, explain what I stood for. As a young coach, you felt kind of challenged, like, ‘Why’d you hire me if you don’t trust what I’m gonna do?’” Okam said. “So you have to kind of get out of that mindset. It’s not about you. It’s about what’s right and what’s best for the guys.”
With Zoom interview sessions, mostly empty stadiums and a first-year coach still feeling his way in the NFL, what Panthers’ fans saw and heard from Rhule in Year 1 was a polished, motivational speaker and a coach who showed a knack for situational awareness on game days.
But another side of Rhule was on display at last week’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where Rhule brought high intensity — and high volume — to the three practice sessions, directing both at his coaching staff as much as the players.
“You guys might not know this because I’m so nice to you,” Rhule told media members last week during a Zoom call. “But I’m challenging.”
Rhule was responding to a question about hiring quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan, who knew Rhule from their time together on Tom Coughlin’s Giants staff in 2012. In bringing in Ryan, Rhule said he wanted someone who could work well with offensive coordinator Joe Brady and who understood Rhule.
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The majority of the assistants on Rhule’s first Panthers staff were coaches who were with him at Temple and/or Baylor. And as such, they got him.
“When I started out as a young coach in this profession, you wanted to be liked. You wanted to do your job the right way. You wanted to see if you could avoid conflict,” said Okam, who broke into coaching after playing four NFL seasons. “And with working in my time with coach Rhule, what I’ve really realized is that conflict is really necessary for growth. And confrontation allows for real, hard, honest truths to actually come out.”
A number of influences helped Rhule form his demanding approach, from former Temple coach Al Golden to Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Snow, who has more than 40 years of coaching experience. Snow, 65, who’s worked with Rhule at four different stops, said Rhule challenges his assistants every day.
“Any time that you think you’ve arrived, we all get complacent, right? I think that’s why people have a hard time working for Nick Saban. They’re always challenging you to be better at what you do,” Snow said. “And as we get older, sometimes we don’t want to hear that. If that’s what Matt means by being hard to work for, then that’s what it is.”
Rhule had three coaches leave this offseason, including two who had not worked with him before Carolina. All three left for bigger titles (and presumably more money): Quarterbacks coach Jake Peetz and offensive assistant DJ Mangas went to LSU as the offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator, respectively, while assistant offensive line coach Marcus Satterfield became South Carolina’s offensive coordinator.
“Those are guys I wanted back. But I’m not gonna be the type of person that prevents someone from having the chance to go take care of their family. And also, (to) have a chance to call plays in the SEC is a big deal,” Rhule said.
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“Satterfield’s like one of my right-hand guys. But a chance to call plays in the SEC, he’s gonna do a great job and so will Jake.”
Besides those changes, Rhule cut ties with defensive line coach Mike Phair, the former Colts assistant who played for (and later coached with) Snow at Arizona State, but did not have a prior relationship with Rhule. Rhule called Phair a great person who worked hard, but “just wasn’t the right fit in terms of how I want the position played and taught.”
Snow has coached for nearly as long as the 46-year-old Rhule has been alive. So when Rhule challenges him, Snow often will give it right back to him. Chalk it up to the process.
“I’m going to look at what he’s saying. Is there validity to it? Does it help you get better? And if it does, we’ve gotta do it,” Snow said.
“It’s like your brother that you love. You’re always fighting with him,” he added. “So we have a lot of great conversations, the guys that have been together a while on our staff. But when we walk out of the room, we’re brothers. That’s just the way it is. And I think most staffs that are real good, that’s the way that they do their business.”
Rhule coached offense, defense and special teams while climbing the coaching ladder. And while he doesn’t call the offensive or defensive plays for the Panthers, he’s heavily involved in every facet.
“Having experience on both sides of the ball, he’s got a good background in all phases of the game. So he’s got some thoughts on how he wants the game to be played and how it’s gonna look,” tight ends coach Brian Angelichio said. “That’s what you need — somebody who can look at it from above and see how he wants the sides of the ball to look and feel.”
Rhule also has strong thoughts on how he wants to run practice. That included the Senior Bowl drills, during which Rhule and his staff had a firsthand look at nearly 70 of the top draft prospects.
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“What I do evaluate is their demeanor, their personality, how they handle hard coaching. And I say hard coaching, we don’t have coaches that cuss guys and stuff like that,” Rhule said. “But … I’m coaching the same way there that I coached at Temple, Baylor or here at Carolina. It’s just kind of my way.”
William Bradley-King transferred from Arkansas State to Baylor to play for Rhule, who took the Panthers’ job before Bradley-King arrived. But the 6-foot-3, 254-pound edge rusher got a taste last week of what he missed with Rhule and his staff.
“Matt Rhule, he’s intense. The staff’s intense. They’re professionals. That’s the way they believe in conducting themselves every day,” Bradley-King said. “He holds everybody accountable, for sure.”
Bradley-King was in the group that worked with Okam, the Panthers’ assistant defensive line coach who ran the position drills in Mobile after Phair’s exit. Several times throughout the week, Rhule would yell at Okam about his players’ alignments or something else.
It was just like old times, except now Okam’s used to it.
“When you’re a new coach working with coach Rhule, it’s going to take you a little bit of time to understand his mentality,” Okam said. “It usually takes about a season when you really start to understand what he’s trying to say, what he’s trying to get. Not just the players, but the coaches, as well.
“I always tell the (new) guys that it’s different. It’s going to be an adjustment,” Okam added. “If you want it to be easy, this is not the guy for you to work for.”
(Photo of Matt Rhule: Bob Donnan / Getty Images)
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