CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Matt Rhule’s 2020 began with a 26-14 loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

He still won the month.

Rhule was installed as the fifth head coach in Carolina Panthers history on Wednesday, marking the first time the franchise hired a coach from the college ranks to lead their team.

He spoke with passion, honesty, and desire.  He spoke from the heart.

This is the next stop on a coaching road that has taken Rhule from Albright College in Pennsylvania, to Buffalo, to UCLA, to Western Carolina, to Temple, to the NY Giants (for 1 season as assistant offensive line coach), back to Temple, to Baylor, and finally Carolina.

As he took those steps, he learned all he could.  He didn’t go to those places thinking that he knew it all.  He went into those posts with a plan, but he took in everything by utilizing his ears.  It’s a trait that he says he will use again, as he embarks on his NFL head coaching tenure.

“I think the best thing you can do as a leader when you go in some place is, don’t go in there and act like you have all the answers,” Rhule said Wednesday.  “Go in there with a plan, and I certainly have a plan (here), but listen to people.”

Rhule was lockstep with team owner David Tepper when it came to the theme of a shared vision for the Panthers.  That view is of building sustained success, and that is something Tepper, GM Marty Hurney, and Rhule are all striving for.

That success can come, but it may come slower than fans may want, and that is fine with Tepper.  He gave Rhule a seven-year deal, so it appears that patience will need to be a virtue.  If that sustained success comes after some early growing pains, so be it.

There are questions facing Rhule as he starts the job. Among them, who will make up his coaching staff? How will he try to scheme his team with the players he knows will be on the roster next season?  Who will his starting quarterback be?

Those answers will come in time.  For now, Rhule is basking in the moment of ascending to the highest level of a game he truly loves.

Ok, the moment’s over.  Time to get to work.