Russell Conwell’s clear-cut choice: Gabe Infante

Two-time national high school championship head coach Gabe Infante’s SJP teams practiced at 12th and Cecil B. Moore. That’s the definition of a diamond in your own backyard.

Wasn’t able to get the seance I requested with Temple University founder Russell Conwell over the weekend, so instead did the next-best thing.

Read everything he wrote.

In between those lines was the answer to the question I’ve been looking for: Who should be Temple’s next head football coach?

Conwell gave a clear and loud answer to that.

Gabe Infante.

That’s because, long before Conwell founded Temple University, he became famous for his “Acres of Diamonds” story that later became his best-selling book.

The Cliff Notes version is that the story is about an African Farmer who sold his farm to search for diamonds elsewhere when, ironically, his own farmland (which he sold to finance his search), literally contained Acres of Diamonds.

Since Temple posted consecutive 10-win seasons, and Matt Rhule left for Baylor, the Owls have traveled far outside their perimeter to search for the guy who would keep their diamond supply coming but have largely come up short.

Former Temple and current Buffalo Bills’ RB Ray Davis talks about the Rod Carey staff in this text message.

Eight blocks away was a guy mining diamonds at 17th and Thompson all along and his name was Gabe Infante.

Going 91-22 as a head coach (they need head coach experience) at St. Joseph’s Prep and winning four-straight large school Pennsylvania state football titles.

Even Gabe realized that wasn’t enough to realize his dream of becoming a college football head coach and left that comfortable job to search for his own diamonds as a Temple assistant coach. In three years at Temple, just about every player called him the best coach on the staff by far.

Rod Carey, a Midwesterner who didn’t understand Philadelphia and Temple, cut Infante loose but he landed on his feet as an assistant at Penn State and, now, assistant head coach at Duke, which is one of the best college football stories in the country this year.

Much like Rhule needed to leave Temple and gain a year of experience with the New York Giants under Tom Coughlin, Infante has left Temple with a treasure trove of knowledge and experience to build a big-time program that can only help Temple now.

It is his time and his place and, if Temple AD Arthur Johnson realizes that, Temple the University will realize its own Acres of Diamonds.

Gabe Infante is a legendary high school football coach in Philadelphia.

I have seen plenty of his games when he was head coach at the Prep and his teams never jumped offsides, never had false starts and always made dynamic plays on special teams. Their offensive line sprinted to the line of scrimmage for every play. (No lie. Check the film.) They were more well-drilled than most college and NFL teams.

At the beginning of this search, I thought it might be a cool thing for Johnson to hire former Temple head coach Geoff Collins and the neatest sound bite from the hiring press conference would be for him to say: “Ladies and Gentlemen, I reintroduce to you the only head coach in the 130-year history of Temple football to never have a losing season.”

No doubt that Collins wants to come back and there would be applause all around but Collins had his time here and left.

It is now Gabe Infante’s time.

If you could ask Russell Conwell, you would know his answer.

Friday: North Texas Preview

20 thoughts on “Russell Conwell’s clear-cut choice: Gabe Infante

  1. Fran wouldn’t leave Rutgers for the same job at Temple and he’s not ready to be a head coach. Preston Brown could be the recruiting coordinator.

  2. At this point in the season, even with the 2 blowout losses, Carey has a chance to win 3 (or 4?) more games and go bowling. It’s up to him to make it happen. And if he blows the season up he should be fired. But that Temple legacy of never buying out a coaches contract needs to come to an end and that’s up to the new pres. and AD to raise the funds to get it done. If Carey manages a decent season? then let him hang around a bit longer and reduce his buyout numbers. But if Temple really wants to continue D-1 football and be somewhat decent/competitive, they need to make some changes.

    • I’ve seen enough of Carey. It’s not getting any better. Do we as a program aspire to be a six-win team or win championships? I vote for the latter. Plus, winning six with this team as constituted is a real stretch IMHO. Tulsa showed the win over Memphihs was Fool’s Gold.

  3. Unfortunately, Temple will not make any changes before end of season.I understand the reasoning but vehemently disagree with the decision.

    • Unfortunately, the one BOT guy who would have convinced leadership to make a change and bankroll it himself died in a plane crash. Great guy who had Temple’s best interests at heart.

      • How effectively the new University President and AD handle this HC matter is probably as critical a decision as any that’s ever been made regarding the future of the football program. Even with an unlikely 6 win season, I hope they find a way of replacing Carey. But I’m afraid that even if they do buyout Carey, the AD will draw on his P5 experience and look for a replacement from the P5 ranks with no connection to Philadelphia.

        Mike, do you know any of the people that will be interviewed outside of the university insiders, i.e. independent thinking boosters, former players and fans? Somebody has to get into the air of the new AD for him to hear much of what you’ve outlined in your above article. I just know from my corporate experience, that too often managers surround themselves with “bobbleheads” that insulate themselves from getting input from people with contrarian views to their’s. Hope this AD does a lot of listening.

      • Everything you wrote is true. I hope he talks to regular people at the next tailgate and not just big donors.

  4. Note to our new prez and new AD: send Rod Carey packing and move Gabe Infante up to HC! Gabe is a highly regarded local coaching gem! He’s a keeper, don’t let him go!

  5. Here’s an interesting name to keep an eye on if the HC position opens up: Joe Moorhead. He has relationships in the area from his time at Penn State and Fordham and he checks the box on P5 experience as HC and OC.

    • My only problem with Joe is that, given all of the considerable SEC resources he had (10x more money than Temple), he could not attract enough big-time recruits to win there. At Temple, the secret sauce is simply this: A charismatic guy the players gravitate to and a guy who understands the Philadelphia area and is locked into the 5-county area surrounding the school. Carey is the opposite of both things. Joe is more locked into the NYC recruiting than Philly and he failed at MSU. I don’t want to give him a chance to fail at Temple.

  6. Johninohio, no disrespect, but your comment to let Carey “hang around a bit longer is exactly what you should not do”. He needs to go. Does anyone think an interim could do a lot worse? At least the players might play to the whistle under Gabe and not mail it in. You overpaid a stooge as coach. It happens. Move on. Fire him now. Do not pass go. Start building bigger expectations, Carey has proven he can’t win here. Why not see what you can do w/ Infante? Maybe he instills discipline and at least gets some excitement back in the program. This program is today the Walking Dead. Nobody wants to play for Carey. You can’t recruit w/ him, you can’t get transfers with him and anyone with half a sense who can leave has or will leave. The “let him hang around comment” is indicative of a program that maybe should just drop football altogether because if you are looking for this mediocrity, just wrap it up and be done. This guy will go down in the coaching ranks as lower than Dickerson and Wallace. Pat kraft screwed TU w/ this deal and he rolls. Disgraceful. BC actually has a good coach in Hafley, OSU, Pro experience, an actual real coach as opposed to the Division 3 coach roaming the link on Saturdays.

    • When I saw those Cincy backs running free through the secondary and Temple half-heartedly chasing them, I’m convinced the players don’t care because they know (or at least sense) Carey doesn’t care. Lining up three defensive linemen against that kind of attack is the definition of insanity. Navy is going to kill us if we play three down lineman and watch — that’s just what we’re going to do. It’s time to cut the losses and get a caring coach who has a brain on his shoulders. Gabe is that guy.

    • Oh, don’t get me wrong C E, I agree, as I’ve said repeatedly, that they gave Carey a ridiculous contract at the start and that he now needs to go. My “let him hang around a bit longer” but ONLY if he gives us a half decent season statement was centered on Temple’s history of never buying out contracts (and why should we expect it to happen now?) and that if unexpectedly Carey happens to win 6 and we go bowling (and with him another bowl loss, lol), give him another year and reduce his buyout numbers – again with Temple’s history it would make sense, even if not actually acceptable assuming respectability is the goal. Another thing I’ve said in the past is that there’s really no reason Temple can’t do better except for the lousy decisions that have been made by the administration, Carey and his contract being a prime example.

  7. Arthur Johnson called Monday while I was in the ocean.., I need to return his call. My mind is angry, so I will wait. Where should I begin?

  8. Thx, yep Carey goes, first and foremost.

    May I ask why did you take this job? What assumptions did you make, and why do you believe those assumptions are valid?

    Much respect for the scope of his ‘listen and learn tour’.

    • Kinda a relief to hear he called you because yesterday the news was he was returning to Texas and not starting the Temple job until November. That call indicates to me that he was given some homework.

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