Krafting An Entrance Strategy

Penn State v Temple

Pat Kraft (far right) going crazy for Temple after Jahad Thomas helped beat PSU.

Today’s post was supposed to be about the new transfer rule.

Then Pat Kraft happened.

Kraft has applied for and, depending upon who you listen to, will or will not get the University of Maryland athletic director job.

There is a pattern here.

Kraft happened like Al Golden happened, like Daz happened and like Matt Rhule happened and, inevitably, like Geoff Collins will probably happen.

Let’s face it: Until Temple gets into the P5, this will happen with every high-profile Temple athletics employee. That’s why, as I’ve been saying for years, everything Temple does in sports has to position itself to join the big boys in sports. In every way, Temple is a top-notch national school. It is the sixth-largest educator of professionals in the United States and it has top 10 national schools in business (Fox), Dentistry, Journalism (Klein) and arts (Tyler).

This is where the frustration comes into play for many long-time Temple fans. Once, with great people like Ernie Casale, Wayne Hardin, John Chaney and Skip Wilson, Temple was a destination and not a place to pass through. Maybe one day Temple will be able to attract those kind of athletic employees again and catch up to the students who already have this figured out.

It is located in the only city in America which has qualified for the prestigious designation of a World Class city by the World Heritage Foundation. Students over the last decade have indicated by a wide margin they’d prefer to go to college in a city than rural environment.

Temple’s football team currently–currently–plays in the nicest stadium in its conference and one of the nicest stadiums in college football.

The Owls have a lot of things going for them.

One, unfortunately, is not being in one of the top five conferences. It is something that the uni must fix and soon.

Kraft’s exit strategy must turn into an entrance strategy to make this a destination and not a stop along the way. Maybe the next guy can figure that out because it’s obvious this guy, like so many before him, is looking for a way out.

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11 thoughts on “Krafting An Entrance Strategy

  1. Don’t know why everyone is freaking out about Kraft. There is no guarantee he is getting the Maryland AD.

    The Post also reported the following.
    ‘Multiple people believe that Evans has had the support of University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh since the beginning of the hiring process. ‘

    • Mike is simply showing a lack of loyalty. It’s not so much that Kraft will or will not get the Maryland job but rather that he and the rest of the coaching staff and administration always have one foot out of the door. If it’s not Maryland this month, it’s some other school next month and another the month after that. As Mike pointed out, the school has a lot going for it and it’s time the administration starts acting accordingly with the city and state. They botched the stadium from the start. Instead of pointing out the benefits of building it from day one, they thought they could sneak it through. As I’ve pointed out many times, the number one reason the school’s athletic programs are in a precarious position is because of bad decisions over the last forty years.

      • There is no such thing as loyalty in today’s job market . So I can’t blame anyone for persuing a better job opportunity. Whether you’re cleaning toilets or running athletic department.

  2. I agree with John. I did not read this post as fretting about Kraft per se but about the predicament a great institution like Temple finds itself in visa-ve big-time college sports. Temple needs to be seen in sports as it is in real life–a great university on par with regional peers like Rutgers, Maryland, Penn State, Syracuse, Boston College and Pitt. Kraft is only a symptom of the problem, along with Golden, Daz, Rhule, etc.

  3. Kraft did a great job with the football program, and he’d be a great addition to UMD where football’s been a problem. Temple needs a future AD who can get the stadium deal done and move up to the ACC.

    • How is Kraft doing with the men’s basketball program ???

      • Bradshaw, not Kraft, extended Dunphy through 2021. When you extend a Temple contract (no fan support=no money), ensuing ADs and BOTs’ hands are tied. There was nothing Kraft could do to improve the program. BOT, led by Villanova grad Patrick J. O’Connor, did not want to take the PR hit that a Dunphy firing would entail so Kraft pretty much did the only thing he could do: Concoct a comprise solution: Dunphy leaves after this year and McKie eased into the picture.

  4. The list of long time great Temple people should include Gavin White Sr. – Temple football player and coach, track&field coach, AD, Never left the University.

  5. Sports loyalty left when big time money invaded the college sports world.

    • Hire Todd Bowles (when he gets fired by the Jets) as the next Temple coach, Todd McNair as the OC, Adam DiMichele as the QB coach, Paul Palmer as the RB coach, Paul Darragh (head coach at Bloomsburg) as the linebackers’ coach, Mike Hinnant as the TE coach, Rich Drayton (head coach at Central High) as the WR coach, and Nick Rapone (daughter goes to Temple now) as the DC and you will see a significant improvement not only in loyalty but the credentials and capability by the staff as a whole.

      • ^^^^^these guys have Cherry and White blood cells in their veins^^^^ might as well keep Ed Foley as the ST guy and recruiting coordinator, jobs he held under AG.

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