NFL news: Panthers to hire Baylor’s Matt Rhule; Giants near deal with Joe Judge

The Carolina Panthers are completing a contract to hire Baylor’s Matt Rhule as their coach, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The person spoke to the Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the deal is not done. The Panthers have not spoken publicly about the coaching search.

The person says Panthers owner David Tepper visited with Rhule at his home in Waco, Texas, and decided he would succeed Ron Rivera, who was fired with four games remaining in the season. Rivera was the winningest coach in franchise history and was twice named AP NFL coach of the year.

Rhule was scheduled to visit with the New York Giants this week and was believed to be a strong candidate there.

Rhule was named Baylor’s coach on Dec. 6, 2016. The Bears went 11-1 in the regular season this past year before losing to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship and Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

Rhule began his college coaching career in 1998 and his only experience in the NFL is one season he spent as an assistant offensive line coach with the Giants in 2012.

When Tepper met with a small group of reporters after making the decision to fire Rivera, he seemed to downplay the idea of hiring a college coach.

“I do understand the difficulty of the transition [from college] though,” Tepper said. “That doesn’t mean I’m closing it off, but you’ve got to understand, anybody who’s been around football understands the difficulty of that transition.”

Giants to hire Joe Judge

The New York Giants and Patriots assistant Joe Judge are working on a deal for him to become the team’s head coach, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press

The person spoke to the on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the deal is not done.

Judge has won three Super Bowls with New England in eight years as an assistant on Bill Belichick’s staff. He was the fifth candidate the Giants have interviewed since firing Pat Shurmur last week. Among those who have interviewed, Mike McCarthy agreed to become the Dallas Cowboys’ new coach. And Rhule, who was supposed to interview with New York, is headed to Carolina.