Rhule was hired as Baylor's head coach following Temple's victory in the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship Game.

He played for the Nittany Lions for four years and became a three-time Penn State Scholar-Athlete and a 1997 Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

[3] When Golden left for Miami in 2010, Rhule interviewed for Temple's vacant head coaching job, which was instead given to Steve Addazio.

[3] When Addazio departed for Boston College following the 2012 season, several veteran Owls players voiced their support for Rhule to return.

[5] Rhule, an area native who had referred to Temple as a "dream job," was formally hired as the school's twenty-sixth head coach on December 17, 2012.

[8] Rhule was reportedly a target of Missouri and Syracuse during the 2015 season;[9][10] a four-year contract extension he had signed in July was re-negotiated to keep him at Temple.

[11] Longtime head coach Art Briles and his entire staff were fired or resigned as a result of the school's sexual assault scandal.

[12] Briles's immediate successor was veteran Jim Grobe, who took over in an interim capacity in 2016, leading Baylor to a 7–6 record and a seventh consecutive bowl appearance.

[20] Panthers owner David Tepper, overseeing his first head coaching hire, referred to Rhule as a "program builder" who "can build an organization for the next thirty or forty years.

Prior to his second season in Carolina, Rhule, who had final say over the Panthers' roster decisions,[24] traded incumbent starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and acquired Sam Darnold, the third overall selection in the 2018 NFL draft.

[27] Rhule finished his first season as head coach of Nebraska with a 5–7 record, tying his predecessor's highest win total in just his first year.

[28] Rhule's Huskers finished the year with a conference record of 3–6, tied for last in the Big Ten West division after losing the final four games of the season.