Temple sends another coach to a Power 5

Addazio's successor at Temple is moving up to the big time. Baylor hired Matt Rhule to be their new head coach and signed him to a seven year contract. Rhule's association with Temple means he was never going to be a BC coach, but is interesting to look at Baylor's move as it relates to BC.

There were plenty of jokes online after the announcement that Baylor clearly didn't learn from Al Golden and Steve Addazio that winning at Temple is not always a good indicator of future success. But I don't even know if Baylor would see themselves as something comparable to BC. This process has shown they are in their own bubble and lack perspective. I am sure they see themselves above BC given their location and financial commitment to football. I see them as a program that struggled for a long time prior to Art Briles and one that could likely struggle again, especially if Texas ascends back to the top of the Big XII. If anything, Baylor should look at the challenges Golden faced at Miami and realize Rhule could have the same issues due to "fit."

Al Golden never became part of the "U." He was an outsider and that hurt with the fanbase, the local recruits and the alumni. If he had won at a higher rate things would have been smoother, but ultimately they never embraced him and that made it easier to fire him. Rhule is a true northeast guy going to a very religious school in the middle of nowhere. He is going to heavily recruit Texas for the first time. Plus, like Golden, he will have the looming scandal repercussions hanging over the rebuild. It is not an ideal situation. We had many questions about Addazio coming to BC, but a culture and recruiting fit was not one of them. 

I don't know how Rhule will do at Baylor. No one does. But I don't know if it is fair to use Addazio as a benchmark for anything. Each coach is his own man and each job has its own unique challenges. 

Does Baylor's decision offer a little validation to Brad Bates' hire? Is Temple really a legitimate stepping stone to Power 5 jobs? I think we are past the point of validating the process that produced Addazio. It doesn't really matter after four years of on-the-job results. And it doesn't really matter for Bates since he won't be hiring the next BC Football coach. The only lesson that BC should take away from Baylor is that they made a major investment in their program and it led to more wins. I think BC can do the same thing, and hopefully unlike Baylor, not ruin our reputation by covering up the crimes of the football players. 

2014 Preview Questions: Will this be like Addazio's second year at Temple?

Last season was great. Even after losing much of last year's team there is plenty of optimism about Year 2 of Addazio. Temple fans know that optimism. They shared it when Addazio led them back to the Big East in his second year. Yet things did not go well. Temple slid back to their all too familiar losing ways and the coach bailed when BC came calling. I don't expect this season to be easy but I also don't expect a repeat of Addazio's second year in Philly. Fortunately there are enough differences between the two situations for BC fans to feel hope.

The conference transition. Switching conferences can be tough. It is even tougher when there is a big jump in talent. As strong as the program was, Temple still probably wasn't ready to move from the MAC. Addazio recruited well, but much of that talent was young in 2012.

New Offensive Coordinator. Want to add a degree of difficulty to a conference move? How about changing OCs! I like Ryan Day and Addazio is a former OC, so all his Coordinators are influenced by him, but things were bumpy in Year 2. Some of it was due to injuries and depth. Eventually they started clicking once they started using creative run schemes (sound familiar?) but it was too late to save the season record.

Frontloaded schedule. After taking on Villanova, Addazio took on Maryland and Penn State out of conference. BC's out of conference schedule is not as challenging and we get to start our season at home or in Gillette.

The other change is that Addazio is two year wiser. He's now been through a Year 2. Ideally he's learned and can avoid the same mistakes that hurt Temple in 2012.