CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jeff Nixon was a star running back at State College (Pa.) High School in 1991 when an undersized center named Matt Rhule moved there from New York City before his junior season.
They’ve been almost inseparable since. They were best friends in high school, college roommates at Penn State after Nixon made a brief detour to West Virginia, assistant coaches on the 2006 Temple football team and in 2017 reunited at Baylor, where Rhule made Nixon one of the few black offensive coordinators at an FBS school to call plays.
One of Rhule’s first moves after becoming the head coach of the Carolina Panthers on Jan. 7 was asking his good friend to join him as his senior offensive assistant/running backs coach.
They would have been in each other’s weddings years ago had they not independently planned their ceremonies the same week, making it impossible for them to be in two places at once.
“Once we set the dates, neither one of us had the guts to go back to our wives and say, ‘Hey, let’s change it,’” Rhule said with a laugh.
Rhule is white. Nixon is black. Against the backdrop of protests around the country over racism sparked by the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer, Rhule and Nixon are an example of how football can bring people of different backgrounds together.
“That’s exactly what type of America we’d like to see,” Nixon said. “That’s one thing about sports which makes it so great. Pretty much every team has guys of different nationalities, different races and different religions all coming together for one common goal.”
Rhule admits he doesn’t have all the answers, and he frequently calls on friends such as Nixon to help him understand.
“I first met Jeff in the locker room,” he said. “When you get past all the labels people give each other, the way people see each other, you get to know who people are. Jeff and I became the best of friends because of who we were.”
The message
Last Monday during virtual offseason training sessions, Rhule and Nixon listened to players’ concerns after a chaotic weekend of protests and violence.
They made it clear it was OK to peacefully protest, as linebacker Shaq Thompson, safety Tre Boston and others did last Monday in Charlotte.
Rhule reiterated Wednesday, during a 45-minute news conference, that he wants a “team full of men who know their purpose in life is not just to play football.”
“The world right now doesn’t need a lot of people with a ton of opinions telling everyone else what they should think and feel,” Rhule said. “For me as a white man, let’s not pretend I understand what it’s like to be an African-American man.
“Instead, I listen to my friends and have them tell me what it’s like so we can move forward and do something better.”
Nixon has helped Rhule understand social inequities since he was 17.
“The reality is Jeff and I can be so similar and have all the same interests, but when we walk out into the world, we’re seen in two different ways,” Rhule said. “When you understand that, it really hits you.”
Nixon believes Rhule’s willingness to listen and understand is one reason Rhule earned the reputation as a great rebuilder at Temple and Baylor, and why he will succeed in the NFL.
“I knew early on in Coach Rhule’s career he was going to be a successful head coach,” Nixon said.
No dividing the friendship
Rhule grew up a huge fan of the New York Knicks. Nixon was a huge Chicago Bulls fan.
The team’s epic battles in the NBA’s Eastern Conference in the 1990s created a few memorable moments.
“We had so many battles in our living room watching those games,” Rhule recalled.
Not even that could divide their friendship.
“My senior year, I think I was at his home every day,” Nixon said.
Both knew in college they wanted to be football coaches, but their paths diverged. Nixon spent a decade as an NFL assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles (2007-10), Miami Dolphins (2011-15) and San Francisco 49ers (2016).
Rhule stayed at the college level with the exception of 2012, when he was an offensive assistant with the New York Giants.
When Rhule was hired at Baylor in 2017, facing a tough rebuilding job at a program coming off a sexual assault scandal, he knew Nixon was the right person to run his offense and help restore the integrity of the program.
They went from 1-11 to 11-3 in three seasons.
“I don’t hire guys because of friendship, because unfortunately sometimes you have to let them go, and it’s hard to let a friend go,” Rhule said. “I knew how intelligent he is, how progressive he is as far as always trying to get better as a coach.”
Nixon has more NFL experience than almost every member of Rhule’s staff, which allows him to help with things such as daily schedules that are different from college.
“He’s a guy [who] will be a head coach at some point if given the opportunity,” Rhule said of Nixon. “To me, he was the best player on our [high school] team and also the best teammate. That’s always a great, great combination.”
Father and coach
William Nixon, one of Jeff’s four children, departed for the University of Nebraska earlier this week to begin preparing for summer school and the college football season as a freshman wide receiver/running back.
It wasn’t easy for the elder Nixon to say goodbye.
“I hate to have him start school this way with the virus and everything out there,” Nixon said.
His advice? Be smart.
“Obviously, the country is going through a tough time, not only with the coronavirus but everything that is going on in Minneapolis and all over the country,” Nixon said. “It’s definitely a concern.”
Rhule’s three children are younger, but he’s paying attention to how Nixon handles this situation. Learning from each other off the field has been as much a basis for their relationship as what happens on the field.
“He’s such a great father,” Rhule said. “Being with him the last three years and watching the way he takes care and loves his four kids is really, really special.”
Nixon also is good at what he does on the field. According to report by The Associated Press earlier this year, only seven black coaches at the 130 FBS schools in 2019 were in charge of running the offense and calling plays. Another four served as co-offensive coordinators.
While Nixon’s title at Baylor was co-offensive coordinator/running backs coach, he was responsible for calling plays.
And while Rhule hired former LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady as his offensive coordinator, he left Nixon in charge of arguably the team’s most valuable asset: running back Christian McCaffrey.
“Christian is a special talent,” Nixon said of the back who last year became the third player in NFL history to have 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. “When coach took the job and I knew I was going with him, I was so excited.”
Strong man, strong bond
Rhule says physically Nixon was one of the “strongest men I’ve ever seen and still is.”
The same goes for Nixon’s mental fortitude and preparation, as others saw earlier this week when Nixon gave a virtual presentation.
“He’s so thorough,” Rhule said.
That was part of the attraction in 1991, when the mutual respect each had for the other in the locker room began developing into mutual respect as people.
“In a time like this in our society the most important thing for people is to get to know each other, to listen to each other, break down the thoughts, prejudices and all the different things,” Rhule said. “That’s what happened to me and Jeff in 1991, and it’s carried to this day.”