After deciding to stay at Baylor after job talks with the New York Jets, head coach Matt Rhule shared a message.

If Baylor keeps winning, expect the job speculation to continue in the future, Rhule told his players even before the NFL talk went public.

"I told them this should be something that happens every year," Rhule said during an appearance Thursday afternoon on KRZI-AM 1660 Waco. "If our players continue to do the job they're doing, of getting better, of improving the program, of taking steps, of getting to the next level, of representing Baylor the right way. If our coaches continue to do the job they do. Then teams should come and call year after year.

"It's nothing about me, it's a credit to them and it's a credit to the job they do. I hope our players almost expect it after a while."

It was Rhule's first public comments since deciding Wednesday to stay at Baylor for a third season.

Rhule said he tried to be transparent with his players, recruits, their parents and the Baylor administration, including athletic director Mack Rhoades and President Linda Livingstone. He said he wasn't actively seeking jobs but reacting to contact from interested teams. Rhule interviewed with the Indianapolis Colts a year ago.

"I don't play with games with people," Rhule said. "I want to do things the right way. I try to include my players. I try to include my staff."

Rhule acknowledged again growing up with Jets' posters on his wall in New York, but said he liked his life in Waco and said it was difficult from a family standpoint to move every two years.

After going 1-11 in 2017, Baylor rebounded to 7-6 including a Texas Bowl win over Vanderbilt. Rhule said he didn't use the Jets to leverage a better deal from Baylor, indicating his contract remains the same.

Reports out of New York indicated that one major sticking point between Rhule and the Jets was that upper management wanted strong input into staff selection.

Asked if he would take an NFL job without full control over his staff, Rhule said that "at the end of the day, I'm never going to be in an arranged marriage. I'm never going to subcontract jobs to the offense and defense. I always want to hire people that believe in what I believe, that are going to do things our way, that are going to believe in process, that are going to be part of a program. I truly believe that programs win."

Twitter: @ChuckCarltonDMN