by Mike Gibson

Wandering Eyes

Tennessee quarterback Sheriron Jones (13) works out prior to the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. (Photo by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Geoff Collins, meet Kevin Newsome.

Or Jabo Lee.

Newsome, from Virginia, was one of the top recruits in the country before deciding on Penn State.

Lee, a running back from South Carolina, originally was offered by Tennessee, then made his way to Temple.

Both were highly recruited players who went elsewhere before transferring to Temple. Both made minimal contributions with the Owls’ football program. Actually, the only thing Newsome played at Temple was the piano, even though he was once listed as No. 2 on the Penn State quarterback depth chart.

Pick this Kevin Newsome classic up at the 1:15 time stamp.

The lesson learned there is just because the big-time programs recruit you and you can’t make it there, that doesn’t mean you can automatically assume you are going to make it at Temple.

A refresher course on these lessons is order because it appears that this new staff has had wandering eyes on at least two occasions, both involve bringing in a quarterback.

One, back in January, was a JUCO quarterback from Lackawanna CC, David Pindell, who eventually committed to UConn.

The newest quarterback to surface on the internet as having interest in Temple is another Tennessee transfer, Sheriron Jones.

I didn’t have a real good feeling about Pindell and I certainly don’t about Jones. First off, Jones left Tennessee twice, once heading out to Colorado before coming back to Tennessee. That usually means a measure of entitlement and that doesn’t quite jive with the Temple TUFF mentality that is already in place here. Also, the other schools on Jones’ list are Cal Poly, Tennessee State and North Alabama. It’s not like Temple is in competition for his services with Memphis and Houston. Highly paid coaching staffs have taken a look at his film and said no thanks.

Temple should probably do the same.

Got to wonder, though, if the Owls’ coaching staff isn’t completely sold on the quarterbacks they already have based on those two examples. I think such concerns are unfounded.

Having seen Anthony Russo through his entire high school career, I believe he will eventually win the job and eventually break all of P.J. Walker’s records. That is based upon having seen both Walker and Russo against high school competition and Russo is much farther advanced that P.J. was against that level.

P.J. was more than adequate from the jump, even though he played on a two-win team his first year, and, if Russo is out there, Temple should be more than OK at the position in 2017. Hell, if Logan Marchi beats him out fair and square, Temple should still be OK. Todd Centeio is waiting in the wings and he might have even more down-the-line upside than those two. That should be determined on the practice field at the E-O and not promised to a four-star transfer.

The only big-time transfer who ever worked out at Temple was Montel Harris, but Harris was a proven college football superstar at Boston College before arriving at 10^th and Diamond. His 351-yard, 5-touchdown, game in a 63-32 win at Army (2012) may never be duplicated here again.

These other guys are looking at Temple as a place they think they can play. If they can’t make it there, they probably can’t make it here.

Unless, of course, Jones can play the piano.

Wednesday: An Oasis In The Desert

Friday: The Quotemeister General

9 thoughts on “Wandering Eyes”

kj
May 15, 2017
5:17 am

throw the ball out, blow the whistle and the best players will shine…, competition is healthy. Jones should play if he is better than what we have, no harm done if he proves less worthy. We love all of our student athletes.., the real issue is who provides the team with the best chance to win..,

several reasons why MR didn’t play the back-up QBs more last season.., CC discovered a few of those reasons during Spring Practice

Reply
Mike Gibson
May 15, 2017
8:04 am

The fact that the staff is looking for quarterbacks to me is troubling from the standpoint that they want a quick exit out of here and they are not willing to take the time to develop a quarterback like Rhule did with P.J. Combine that with a 126th-ranked recruiting class (putting the 2020 season in jeopardy), not even addressing the issue of a long-term commitment to the uni, and hiring a lot of guys without ties to Philadelphia recruiting and that’s a recipe for some lean years ahead. The next sign will be burning redshirts. If we don’t have a healthy group of redshirts (say, 10), then it will be an indication that they are putting the straw down and not the bricks needed to sustain this thing long-term. Straw is very flammable.

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- George Griffy
  May 16, 2017
  4:39 pm
  
  Mike you seem fixated on the idea that Coach Collins wants out of the Temple because he won’t sign a long term contract to the university. According to Marc Narducci , he signed a 5 year deal for $2M a year. What more do you want from a rookie coach, to prove his commitment to the program? Yes he had a horrible recruiting class. Partially because some recruits followed Rhule to Baylor. Yes both he and the athletic department can reach out to the legends to get them more involved with the football program. But show me concrete proof he’s planning on making a quick exit.. A 5 year contract seems to me that he wants to be a bricklayer.
  
  Reply
  - Mike Gibson
    May 16, 2017
    10:23 pm
    
    Show me concrete proof he’s not planning a quick exit. Signing a 5-year contract means absolutely nothing. Rhule signed two five-year contracts and wanted to sign a 15-year one and, if I had to chose between Rhule, Collins, Daz and Golden being the most sincere of the four BEFORE signing at Temple, I would have picked Rhule hands down. This is what I want from Collins. A simple quote: “I thought about this a lot and have gotten so close to these kids I want to be the kind of coach who breaks the mold of the past three coaches and make a promise to them that I will fulfill at least my five-year contract. I don’t want to be a guy who costs them a bowl game win by breaking my contract and leaving them short a coaching staff.” He hasn’t said that, probably because he has one eye on the door.
  - Mike Gibson
    May 16, 2017
    10:28 pm
    
    Plus, people are going to recruit against Temple by saying Collins won’t be here more than one or two years and he has done absolutely nothing to disabuse people of that notion. In fact, he’s fueled it by answering Zach Gelb’s question about promising recruits he will be here when they graduate with this answer: “All I can talk about is the here and now.” Honest answer, but honesty gets him no points here.
Oh_well
May 15, 2017
9:52 am

AS per a great TV philosopher of my youth — Snaggle_Puss ; ‘ Exit, stage Right ‘. That’s what I think about this new crop of coaches. But I don’t blame them, it is the condition ‘most everywhere.

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- Mike Gibson
  May 15, 2017
  10:22 pm
  
  Yes, sadly, this is the world we live in now in college football. It’s the P5’s ball and they are taking it home if they can’t play in all the national championship games. Spoiled rich kids.
  
  Reply
Dave
May 16, 2017
9:29 pm

Temple needs to be selective. Steve Joachim, yes. Juice Granger, not so much.

Reply
- Mike Gibson
  May 16, 2017
  10:29 pm
  
  Yes. Hardin knew his quarterbacks. Daz swung and missed on Juice.
  
  Reply