Any NFL team that introduces a head coach is likely to talk and think highly of its new hire, but the Carolina Panthers are on another level with Matt Rhule, who this week left his post at Baylor to succeed Ron Rivera in Charlotte.

First, reports indicated that Carolina offered the 44-year-old Rhule a seven-year, $62 million contract to secure his services -- an unprecedented commitment that the New York Giants reportedly declined to match despite speculation of strong interest in him for their own vacancy.

Now, Panthers owner David Tepper has declared Rhule not only a viable replacement for Rivera, but capable of setting Carolina up for success for generations to come.

"I think Matt Rhule can come in here and build an organization for the next 30 or 40 years," Tepper told the Panthers' website hours after the former Baylor head coach agreed to his contract. "He can build it."

Tepper then referenced the Pittsburgh Steelers, his hometown team and the organization from which he came, as a model for Rhule's foundation, suggesting his new coach could be the Panthers' version of Chuck Noll, who won four Super Bowls and coached the Steelers for 23 seasons, from 1969 to 1991.

"He built a program that has lasted through three coaches," Tepper said of Noll. "That's what I hope Matt Rhule can do for us here. He's a program builder."

Approaching his official introduction as the Panthers head coach, Rhule is fresh off successful turnarounds of both the Baylor and Temple football programs, which he helped transform into divisional and conference powers. He has one season of NFL coaching experience on his resume, spending 2012 as an assistant with the New York Giants.