Last donation: Heriberto S., McDonough, GA, 4/24/23 (thanks, Heriberto!!) Two on 4/14/23 (thanks to Joe F. and Ross M. ); Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla. 2/18/23 (thanks, Tom!!!)Ed P., Yardley, Pa. (1/9/23; thanks, Ed,) Lawrence S., West Chester, Pa., 12/28/22, our first contribution in over a month (thanks Larry, this will help in having to replace the printer we purchased in the summer that went on the fritz); Bob C., Chadds Ford, Pa., 11/27/22 (thanks Bob, our first contribution since September) Ed P., Perkasie, Pa. who donated 9/24/22 at the UMass game and Ed and I both remember and love Pennridge coach Wayne Helman; Joe S. (Delaware County), 9/3/22 (thanks Joe, hope to see you at Lafayette or RU); James G. (thanks James and for all the great posts you make on this site),, 7/29/22: Matt P. (former Al Golden player, thank you Matt for the generous donation it will be put to good use as we will explain in Monday’s post), 6/9/22; Matt F., Horsham, Pa. (thanks, Matt!!), June 6, 2022; David, B., Milton, DE (thanks, Dave), April 11, 2022: Andy B., Philadelphia, Pa. (our first donation of 2022, thanks Andy), March 3, 2022; Ed P., Yardley, Pa. 12/25/21 (thanks, Ed for the Christmas donation); Matt F., no hometown found (“a celebratory donation for Carey’s firing”), 11/30/21 thanks, Matt; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio, 11/29/21 (thanks, Jon for the donation and the great comments on this site); James G., Royersford, Pa. 11/28/21 (thanks, Jim, for the donations and your comments on the website); Anonymous (no home town given but donation really appreciated), 11/20/2021; Roger D., Rehoboth Beach,, Del., 10/24/21; Joe S., Drexel Hill, Pa. 10/3/21 (thanks, Joe) At the BC game (9/18), John from Landenburg (thanks, John for being a great friend of this site for so many years); Three Aug. 21 donations: Eric A (former player), Atlanta, Ga; Anonymous (by request), Cincinnati, Oh; Tim R., Buffalo, N.Y. (sincere thanks to all); David N., Silver Springs, Md (thanks Dave) 7/10/21; former Temple player Matt P., who lives in Columbus, GA now (thanks Matt) 7/9/21; Joe F., Philadelphia (4/7/11, thanks Joe) Matt F., Horsham, Pa., 3/27/21 (thanks, Matt); Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio (1/31/21, thanks Jon) Ed P.,, Yardley, Pa. (thanks, Ed, much appredicated), 1/16/21; Mitchell S. , 12/21/20, our first contribution since (10/8) earlier, Former Owl Bruce G., Flourtown, Pa, who generously donated $100 in “honor” of the Ambler guy 10/8/20; (if they hate you in Ambler, we love you in Flortown,” BG says). Thanks, BG, we appreciate it; Earlier: James G., Philadelphia (7/21/20, thanks James) Robert B., Philadelphia (7/13/20, thanks, Bob, hope to see you at the tailgates again this fall); Previous: Jon E. from Cincinnati 6/15/20, our first donation this calendar year (thanks, Jon); Earlier, John from Landenberg; Kurt B., Wyomissing Hills, PA (former Temple player, 10-15-19) Earlier: David B. , Springfield, PA (9/26/19 … thanks, Dave!) also John from Landenberg (9/21/19); Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla. (8/22/19, thanks Tom!! Also, 10 days earlier, Bob. C and Joe S. and, on June 26, first bowl MVP Mark B.
Earlier: Matt F., Philadelphia; Matt P. (former Temple player) John from Landenberg and Jon E. from Cincinnati
Jay M. no hometown found ; Earlier: William B. Chicago; John from Landenberg, ; Mark B, South Jersey, Joe S, Springfield, PA…,
Also:
Ed P., Perkasie, Pa; and Richard W. (no hometown given); Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Tim C., no hometown available; Bob C., David B., Springfield (Montco); Mark B., from South Jersey; John from Landenberg, Pa.; Joe S., Primos, PA; Thomas W., Palm Coast Fla; Jon E., Cincinnati; Mike S.,no hometown; Ed P., Yardley; William B., Chicago; Matt M., Philadelphia; Matt T.., Oreland; Kevin H., Philadelphia; John from Landenberg, Pa.; Carl M, Silver Spring, Md.;; Brett K., Swedesboro, N.J.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, NY; David K., Malvern; Jon E., Cincinnati ; Jon, SE Ohio; Cordalia and Jim S., Eastampton, NJ.; Herb G., Newport News, Va.; Richard W., Royersford; Matt T., Philadelphia, Pa.; MWB, Mechanicsville, Va.; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; K.J., Alexandria, Va.; Jeff D., Philadelphia,; Michael R., Philadelphia,Matt T, Philadelphia, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.(8 in a row for 8 in a row, thanks EM); Jake and Diane Gicker, Dunmore, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.; Adrian R. Sr., Harrisburg, Pa.; Frank M., Marlton, N.J.; Ernie, Millville, N.J.; ; Jay M., Salem, Ore.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Phil E., Lorton, Va; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Matt M., (five donations in a row); Kevin F., Philadelphia, Pa.;Matt M. (three donations in a row, thanks, Matt); Matt M.; Matt M.; Brian C., Philadelphia, Pa.; Matt M., Hometown ;Unknown; David N., Silver Spring, Md.; Matt M., hometown unknown; Frank K., Horseheads, N.Y.; Mike F., Montauk, N.Y.; John, Landenberg, Pa.; Michael B, D.C.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; James G., Philadelphia, Pa.; Michael R., Philadelphia, Pa.; David N., Silver Spring (Md.);
Mark H., Gilbertsville, Pa.; Lisa M., Hummelstown, Pa.; Johnny Who, West Chester, Pa.; John T., Medford, N.J. (formerly North Catholic, Philly); Jon, SE Ohio; Jay M., Salem, Ore.; Dan M., Moscow, Pa.; Cyrus, Oklahoma City; Jon E., Cincinnati; Chris K., Harrisburg, Pa.; Chip M., Silver Spring, Md.; Dave B., Springfield, Pa.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, N.Y.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Ed F., Philadelphia, Pa.; Frank P., Jamison, Pa.; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Matt G., Haddonfield, N.J.; Tom L., Charlottesville, Va.; Thomas S., Landisville, Pa.; Jack D., Haddonfield, N.J.; Heriberto S., McDonough, Ga; Dr. Jim S., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Dick White, Milton, Del.; Matt T., Philadelphia; Jerome S., North Caldwell, N.J.; Mike D., Fairview, N.C.; Tim W., Myerstown, Pa.; Edward P., Yardley, Pa.; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Kurt B., Wyomissing, Pa.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Tom S., East Norriton, Pa.; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio; Matt T., Yardley, Pa.; Steve C., West Chester, Pa.; Floyd, Blackwood, N.J.; Jim J., Chalfont, Pa.; John, Landenberg, Pa; Jon E., Cincinnati; Ron A., Camp Hill, Pa.; Jay S., Jenkintown, Mr. John H.; Jonathan N., Atlanta, Ga.; Michael E., Levittown, Pa.; Ted D., Media, Pa. Nick and Sharon, Upper Bucks County; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Todd H., New York City; Alex H., Westport, CT; Joe S., Primos, PA; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, N.Y.; Stanley G., Mountain Top, Pa.; David N., Silver Spring, Md.; Micah F., Philadelphia, Pa.; James S., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Johnny B. at the Hill Studio, Paulsboro, N.J.; Nick C., Philadelphia; Tom C., Birmingham, Ala.; Phil. E. (Fast Phil), Lorton, Va; Jerome S., North Caldwell, N.J.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; George P., Downingtown, Pa.; Edward F., Philadelphia; Bryan S., North East, Pa.; Josh P., West Chester, Pa.; Brent Z., Atlanta, Ga.; David B., Springfield (D), Pa; Lisa M., Hummelstown, Pa.; David H., Pottstown, Pa.; Brian O., Ambler, Pa; Frank P., Jamison, Pa.; Brian C., Philadelphia; Mark B., Manlius, N.Y.; Ted D., Media; Scott J., Columbus, Ohio; Thomas H., Mullica Hill, N.J.; George T., Rehoboth Beach, Del.; Rob G., Fleetwood, Pa; Steve C., West Chester, Pa.; Fred A., St. Augustine, Fla.; Michael S., Westfield, N.J.; John, Landenberg, Pa.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Frank P., Jamison, Pa; Matt G., Basking Ridge, N.J.; Joe S., Primos, PA; Nick and Sharon, Upper Bucks County; John T., Medford, N.J.; Cap P., Finksburg, Md; Coolowl, New York City; Michael B., Washington, D.C.; Oakee, Salem, VA; Rob from Fleetwood; John from New Kensington; Kathyrn, Bloomingville, Ohio; Rockland Owl; Matt, Haddonfield, N.J.; Anthony, New York City; Jason F., Berlin (N.J.); Ed, New Hope; Mark B., Manlius, N.Y.; Mike, Lindenwold, N.J.; Tom C., Birmingham, Ala. Jim, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Kurt, Wyomissing Hills, PA;
Dave, Ocean City, N.J.; James, Chalfont; Ross, Garden City (N.Y.); Schmitty, Ocean City, N.J.; Sarge (via Schmitty);
Broad Street Leon; Martin, Encino (Calif.); John, Boston; Mike, Susannanoa, N.C.; Francis, Lansdale; Tom L., Charlottesville, Va.; Mark, Gilbertsville, Pa.; Frank, Sebastian, Fla.; George, Toms River, N.J.; Tom, Branchburg, N.J.; Chris, Philly (our first Philly donation!); John, Landenberg, Pa.; Tom S. East Norriton, Pa.;
Temple Football Forever 
Can’t win without good players regardless of the amount of heart they have. Collins dropped the ball on recruiting but redeemed himself with a very well run and seemingly productive spring campaign. I like t that he did not pick his starting QB because all of them will work to be the number one over the next several months. 120 days til the first game.
I thought (and so did Wayne Hardin) that the spring was very up-tempo. As for the Cherry and White game, I’d like to see that closer to a real game with the real situations you’d face in a game. Don’t understand why we did not practice kickoffs, punting and kick returns in front of the biggest crowd we’ll face until 9/3. Got to get the kids used to that kind of situation or you might face a Khalif Herbin/UConn type return at ND.
Rhule did bring some good kids in while at Temple, but he sure did the program a disservice with this last recruiting year. He brought a couple kids with him to Baylor but overall, 127th? Yeah, Collins didn’t do any recruiting and just concentrated on keeping the kids Rhule had recruited if I’m not mistaken. Why he didn’t go after some of his own is a mystery. But my point is that Rhule’s last recruiting class here sucked according to it’s ranking, for whatever reason. I’m hoping he saw some good things with Rhule’s recruits and felt it was satisfactory. Let’s hope it works out.
it is the curse of successful G-5 programs – you LOSE TWO recruiting classes every four or five years. One of the front end when the new coach arrives (2013 for Rhule), and one on the back end when he leaves (2017 for Collins)..,
Good point, but I thought Golden’s first class bucked the trend. Twenty-nine players were signed, none of which were Wallace targets, and a handful of those went on to play multiple years in the NFL. If he could do it, and hire a staff in the same month time frame, a little extra hustle by Daz, Rhule and Collins should have earned the same result. Flying around in a helicopter and not coming back with a four-star is just flying around in a helicopter.
Rhule went after two of our kids (Hand and the TE from Paulsboro). I’d expect that out of Art Briles, not Matt. Daz could have had P.J. but he promised not to poach Temple kids on the way out and he kept that promise. I think that is the least we could have expected from Matt. I guess I was wrong. Collins had SEC connections. I’m mildly surprised he wasn’t able to convince a higher-rated kid to give Temple a try. We did, however, get one of the Florida equipment kids to leave the Gators to come to Temple. (True story.) Sadly, the Florida equipment kid did not raise our recruiting ranking from 127 to 126.
I disagree a bit with the ‘Rhule stole Harrison Hand’ stuff because it’s not like Hand is a bar of gold that was taken in a heist or had no say in the matter. For the most part for non-blueblood programs, kids commit to the staff/HC. Hand loved Rhule, not Temple. I think it’s this way for most programs not named Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, etc.
Joe P.
I’m no big fan of Daz. (I don’t believe you use a uni for 1-2 years and leave.) BUT (and this is a big but) he promised Temple he would not poach the Temple kids on the way out and he kept his promise. Daz spent two years trying to recruit P.J. and liked him very much and probably would have wished to take him to BC, but Daz made a promise to Temple and kept it. I only wish Rhule would have made a similar promise to Temple and followed through, that’s all. If Sulin and Hand wanted to follow Rhule to Baylor, Rhule should have said he made Temple a promise and will stand by it. Rhule said Collins was a “home run” hire for Temple and probably should have told those kids they would be just as happy with Geoff as they would him.
Where they r kids or Rhule kids?
No wonder his coaching record was meh. They look like a peewee team. I know D-3 kids are smaller but they look like their 12 years old.
I don’t get the fact that we are hiring a lot of guys who have never done big-time recruiting and putting them in positions of DPP. We’ve gone from guys like Terry Smith and Francis Brown, who really relate to recruits like Adonis Jennings and Greg Webb (and Randall with Smith) to guys who have dealt only with D2 kids. Collins must know what he’s doing but the optics right now are not good.
Tommy Paycheck must have great contacts in the Garden State’s fertile football farmland. Could he pull in a midwestern USDA Prime OL? When was the last time a Nebraskan played at TU?
The closest was when Walter Washington turned down Nebraska to play at Temple.
Coach Collins is probably out of here in 5 years or less especially if he pulls off the “triple” being the AAC championship, bowl win and Top 25 ranking. And that would be a pretty good outcome to the Collins era. Should that happen, I would hope we get a coach that had their P5 HC experience, made enough money at the P5 level school and had their full of all the other issues and pressures associated with such a program. And with all of that behind them, that guy would be happy to get back to coaching at a very high level (top 25 at that point and a history of conference championships), ideally would know the TU recruiting territory and limits, be happy making a pretty good buck for a G5 program, and is from the Pennsylvania/New Jersey area. And at that stage of his life is looking for the job he can have until retirement assuming he continues TUFB at a conference contender level. In short, I would hope either Golden or Rhule would be brought back if available. And they probably would be.
Five years? I think it’s very possible that it’s closer to one than five. So far, Collins has made no promises to Temple and has had one crappy recruiting class (not a reflection on the kids, but a comparison to the 126 teams rated above Temple). If he’s around in five years, that crappy recruiting class will come back to haunt him. So, unless he knocks my socks off (his socks are already off) with this class, I think his priority is living off the harvest Rhule gave him and not looking to plant crops for future famines.
Ed, I do very much like your profile for the next Temple coach. … a P5 head coach who has nothing else to prove and has already made his money. Give me Nick Saban. 🙂 No Tommy Tubervilles, though. 😦 Seriously, I like what UConn did with Edsall and I don’t think Edsall will have the wandering eye he had the first time. I think we can do the same with Golden, who will be motivated to do better than his buddy Rhule did here and knows the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. Of course, we are putting the cart way before the horse here and let’s hope Collins can win three national championships at Temple before leaving. 🙂
I can see your point a bit Mike with Harrison Hand situation though I also think PJ was perhaps more loyal to Temple because you were giving him a legit shot at QB (IMO Flood royally goofed on that one trying to offer as an athlete; it’s not like we had a blue-chipper QB in hand that we didn’t want to piss off at the time). I remember reading that Franklin was originally telling a number of his Vandy commits to stay with the Commodores when he took the PSU job but he did end up taking a few. I do think though that he knew ’16 was likely his last season at TU (I originally had you pegged at 8-4/ 9-4 w/ a bowl win; after you bounced back during the UCF game he was pretty much gone because I think he realized had that game gone south his window of opportunity was about to shrink by 80%) and he wasn’t hitting recruiting the way he had been. Odd to go from classes in the 60’s/70’s to 120’s overnight.
…still, he and Golden are pretty much your version of Schiano IMO in that even with their faults/ flaws they left their programs in immensely better shape than they found it, so it’s tough to be ‘mad’ at them. I actually heard a cuse fan say years back that recruiting tends to be a lagging indicator and as you said, if Collins can’t recruit well you won’t feel it too much until about 2019-2020 or so. Rutgers learned the hard way with Flood (see ’15-’16 seasons, especially when Carroo, a Schiano recruit, wasn’t playing). A number of us were saying in 2014 even after the bowl/Lambert win that we were concerned about our last few classes and sadly we saw it manifest itself on the field (Flood had 23 players from the 13-15 classes alone not make it past their 2nd year).
Joe P.
You are a good fan, Joe, with some interesting perspectives. Hope we can get together to shake hands before the next RU-TU game. To me, Temple should play RU every year and BC should play UConn and Pitt should still be playing WVA (hell, I’d like to see Navy-Maryland every year, too). Those rivalries are a victim of the P5/G5 split.
Mike: I certainly hope it’s more than one year here for CC(Coach Collins). But it’s even more interesting to think about CC still being here after 5 years as HC. On one extreme he will have had tremendous success. Three National Championships might be a little bit of a “stretch” (call me a pessimist if you must). But a few “triples” including one year with a top 15 finish would be a great run. And he’s content with that and stays at TU. But realistically he’s out of here in 5 years if he is that good of a recruiter and coach. On the other extreme, he is still here because he hasn’t had much success. To a large extent that would probably be due to not knowing how to recruit a TU player (i.e. tough, athletic, undersized, overlooked, needing repositioning, great attitude, good work ethic and a chip on his shoulder to prove he can do it at a high D1 level). Ultimately the program under him will be somewhere in between those extremes. My guess is CC reads this blog routinely. It has a lot of great stuff about TUFB and its history both good and bad. But as I read the articles and replies, I draw the conclusion that success at TU is sort of 2 parts great recruiter/player developer (meaning recruiting the type of kid defined above as opposed to chasing 4 and 5 star kids) for 1 part great X and O coaching. But bottom line is, CC’s recruiting classes have to be ranked in the 50’s starting next year. In its not, he should start thinking about moving on for his own career sake. So I don’t think it’s putting the cart before the horse if he doesn’t have the right focus on recruiting for TU (as opposed to a P5 or D3). This one down recruiting year might really hurt in 4 or 5 years. Maybe we overcome it. But I hate to think about how 2 very poor recruiting years would set this program back.
X’s and O’s vs Jimmy’s and Joe’s.., a timeless great football debate..,
A successful HC at Temple must: 1. be a sideline master on game day; 2. be a master of player development; 3. and, must assemble a coaching staff capable of finding and recruiting uncut diamonds.
HC don’t find the players, the assistant coaches do all leg work.., the HC comes in after the talent has been identified.
Francis Brown found Ryquell Artstead, Todd Centeio…., etc.., etc.., Who on this current staff can do what Brown did for Temple the last 3 years? We’ll soon find out..,
MR showed great year over year improvement in all 3 above, especially in number 1.
CC appears to understand the importance of number 2.
The light bulb went off for MR at the end of year two, when he said going to a spread offense was something that was against all his basic instincts as a football coach. Hardin was a sideline master without peer; no Temple coach (including Golden and Rhule) could recruit like Bruce. Golden and Rhule were better CEO types than game coaches, but recruited well enough. Geez, if Collins has Hardin’s game-day acumen, Bruce’s ability to sell ice cream to the Eskimos and the CEO ability of Rhule and Golden, the Owls might go 15-0.
Err, make that 14-1 because Foley will be coaching in the national championship game and Collins, Patenaude and Taver Johnson will be out recruiting for Auburn.
I think our 3 parts are essentially the same. But the HC sets the direction for recruiting meaning the type of kid and where to look. From that direction the assistants go about looking for recruits. I just hope CC takes a long look at how AG and MR went about recruiting and player development and learns from it.