Baylor football: Matt Rhule opens up on his stolen truck

By Doug Holleman

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HOUSTON -- Baylor coach Matt Rhule was running the gambit last week. He went from Big 12 media days in Arlington to the Big 12 officiating convention in Irving, and was all set to go down to the Texas High School Coaches Association convention in Houston on Saturday. 

And then, he got a message from associate athletic director Sean Padden. 

“I think someone stole your truck.” 

As a 10-year Philadelphian, Rhule knew that there wasn’t much point in wasting tears over his Chevy Silverado 2500 Texas Edition. It had been more than 24 hours since he saw the truck at the DFW Marriott. Plus, it seemed to be an unfortunate trend – another high school assistant said his was stolen from the same place last week.

So instead, Rhule took out his phone and did what came naturally – he tweeted. 

“In those moments, you feel powerless,” Rhule said with a laugh. “That’s why I sent out that tweet, to take control of the situation a little bit.” 

The worst part is that his son’s golf clubs were in the back seat; those are probably gone for good. The only bright side? The truck was a dealer model from Jim Turner Chevrolet in McGregor, and the dealership has taken a front row in handling it. Rhule hasn’t been back home as yet after flying into Houston for Coaching School, so there’s no telling what his ride might be when he gets home. 

That said, Rhule did avert disaster. Instead of driving his dealer truck to Dallas for the officiating convention, he almost drove his wife’s truck.

“I’m just glad that I didn’t, because that would have been a totally different story,” Rhule said. 

The theft put a damper on what was otherwise a great week for Rhule. He won even more people over with a strong performance at Big 12 media days and once again had the strongest staff appearance at THSCA coaching school. Les Miles was the only Big 12 coach to even stop by the officiating convention, where Rhule believes he learned a lot in his two days.

“Really, the level of accountability and level of pressure was really, really eye-opening for me,” Rhule said. “Not just getting the call right, but also just the mechanics of it. I really appreciated the opportunity to be around that level of detail.”

Rhule does see some of the tiny advantages of losing a vehicle, though. 

“I’ve always wanted to get a Harley,” Rhule said. “My wife has always said no. I think this is God stepping in and saying that it’s time.”

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