11.09.21
by

In lieu of no press conference, we have this …

Temple employee caught both watching the clock and punching out early.

In lieu of no press conference coverage, a couple of housekeeping things will be covered in today’s post.

We really thought there was a 50/50 shot of Temple firing Rod Carey in a Monday noon press conference so not having one to write about is both disappointing and discouraging. Temple is moving at a snail’s pace on this important issue and, while disheartening, not surprising given Temple’s history.

This school doesn’t know how to fire a coach it seems.

So a couple of other topics to discuss.

One of the drawbacks of putting yourself out in a public space like this one is that people can accuse you of everything under the sun and have zero evidence to prove it.

Let’s just take a couple of things we were accused of last week.

One, that I called for Temple to drop down to the Patriot League in my last post.

(No, that was Fizzy.)

Two, I championed Rod Carey as head coach BEFORE he got the Temple job.

(No, I wanted Chris Creighton, Neal Brown and Lance Leipold.)

Of course, none of these people ever doing the accusing have the receipts.

We do.

This was the first paragraph that appeared last week:

  “EDITOR’S NOTE:     The following is Dave “Fizzy” Weinraub’s take on the current Temple football situation. (Aside: I could not disagree more with almost all of this but will hold off on my reasoning until after other posters react.) Since Fizzy is a loyal Owl and former player, I will defend his right to say this. ” _ Temple Football Forever, Nov. 1, 2021

“I could not disagree more with almost all of this … “

In what world is that an endorsement from me for Temple to drop to the Patriot League?

First, Temple should not go to the Patriot League nor should it play games at Franklin Field. That’s returning to the bad old days. When you’ve had fans who have seen Heaven, they won’t pick Hell as an alternative. Temple in the Patriot League or playing at Franklin Field wouldn’t draw flies nor could Temple attract good coaches or players for that slop.

“He tweeted out Doug Pederson would be a home run hire” was a criticism of this. Err, outside-the-box doesn’t mean home run. For the record, Al Golden=HR; Gabe Infante=Stand up triple; Gary Patterson=double high off the wall; Pederson=line drive single to right; Rod Carey=strikeout.

The problem with Temple is not the players. When Temple has a great coach (Wayne Hardin, Al Golden, Matt Rhule), it does extremely well with some very good teams. One of those teams will be honored at Saturday’s Houston game (noon, ESPN+), the 2009 Eagle Bank Bowl squad. Rhule had consecutive 10-win seasons. Even with mediocre coaches like Steve Addazio and Geoff Collins, Temple was able to win bowl games. Low key, Bruce Arians may have done the most remarkable job of all of them–two six-win seasons against two Top 10 schedules. To put that in perspective, Temple has not played a schedule any tougher than No. 74 since Golden arrived on campus 16 years ago. The 2016 Matt Rhule championship team played against the No. 87-toughest schedule in the country. Arians had no facilities compared to the teams he had to face.

So instead of getting a new league, it would seem to me the solution would be getting a great coach and returning to the Temple TUFF mentality of Golden and Rhule. There’s no way you can convince me that Al Golden would want the UCONN job over the Temple job, so not moving fast to get rid of Carey is really costing Temple the opportunity of plugging Golden back in here–if that’s what they want to do. Why not give yourself that option?

Second, this is the only thing I said about Carey BEFORE he got the Temple job (and here is the complete link to that story):

“Another named mentioned on Sunday, Northern Illinois’ Rod Carey, would be nowhere near as attractive as Leipold. Kraft played offensive line at Indiana. Carey played center at the same school. No doubt in my mind they know each other and that might have something to do with it. Geez, wish Pat played with Leipold because Carey is 0-6 in bowl games.” _ Temple Football Forever, Jan. 7, 2019

Of course, none of these people will ever correct the record so we have to do that here.

AFTER he got the job, I supported him only because I wanted him to win. The first time I realized it wouldn’t work out was the 55-13 loss to North Carolina in the Military Bowl and we wrote this that day. That came in the same year Temple lost to UCF, 63-21, and SMU, 45-21. That was stunning because in the decade previous Temple did not have a single year with three blowouts like that.

It has spiraled out of control since then, and while all the signals we are receiving say the administration has heard and gets it, the proof is doing something about it and yesterday may have been too late.

Waiting even one more day is postponing a needed housekeeping job on a messy front porch. Not only are the neighbors noticing, but so is the entire college football world.

Friday: Houston Temple Right and Wrong

Sunday: Game Analysis

Tuesday: Talking to Himself

(A firing press conference would change this schedule, of course)

23 thoughts on “In lieu of no press conference, we have this …”

  1. Spot on as usual Mike.

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  2. Mike, hit the nail on the head with this one. My question is does firing Carey now with 3 games left (hypothetically of course this is Temple) offer any real benefit? Won’t be able to hire a new coach until after season, I’m hoping Johnson has and is determining a list of candidates. How much flexibility does the university have in reaching out to potential candidates through back channels right now?

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  3. Texas Tech hired a new head coach already, there is absolutely a benefit to firing him yesterday. Obviously Wingard is a highly qualified candidate and you can only assume the delay is financial issues. That being said, you have to as the new President be creative enough to find a way to get that financial piece squared away to move on from this guy. It’s not fair for TU student athletes to have to finish the season with a coach everyone knows is a lame duck. Everyone will say kids should play hard every game, but with a coach nobody likes and is not long for this program, a losing season a definite, does anyone think athletes will bring the same level of emotion that they would against Penn State or ND back in the day.
    I’m beating a dead horse, this guy gotta go now. It’s getting to the point that nobody cares.
    C E SPEED

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    • Texas Tecn and TCU won after firing coaches. Doing nothing is no solution. Get rid of the head coach and the two coordinators, promote Gabe to HC, keep the position coaches and see what happens. How could it get worse than losing to an ECU team 45-3 that barely beat Charleston Southern? It can’t. They won’t lose 45-3 or worse under an interim staff.

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  4. Also, since it’s increasingly apparent Carey will be here on Saturday, TV better not be taking any shots of the stands. It’s going to be empty and I have a feeling THAT might … might … become a topic on ESPN Sports Center.

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    • Something else that erks me is how the broadcasters are always saying good things about how Carey wants to see this and and how the team needs to do that, never once even implying that Carey is the guy who should be making it happen. And they say this bs every week during the game. Some honesty would be a breath of fresh air since sports prognosticators list coaches on the hot seat!

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  5. If you haven’t been a part of something like this it is tough to understand….CE makes a great point. You want to play hard for your self, your teammates, your school etc. However, when in situations like this it is even difficult just to show up at the facility…it was the same situation when Berndt replaced Arians…just a whole different mentality….I can only speak for myself but under Arians you couldn’t get me out of the facility….film, training room, weight room, etc. Under Berndt, I didn’t even want to be around HQ…..the only positive was seeing Nadia and that was it.

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  6. Mike Jensen, who is not a Temple favorite, did write a great article on Tuesday. Accountability, accountability, accountability. The Trustees who approved the Carey hire should all write personal checks to buyout his contract.

    In my previous life, commanders who made ungodly bad decisions were fired immediately. Where does the buck stop?

    How can Trustees not be held accountable for TUFB? Beyond belief. I’ll keep harping until someone listens. The BOT should resign or atone for their misdeeds.

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  7. Did I just see that Jaden Blue left the program?

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    • Yes. My favorite player on the team. Fire Carey now.

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    • Good grief….when you are in a hole….stop digging Temple….now this just looks like sabotage/program suicide. They are sitting on their hands as the program falls apart around them in real time!

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      • three years in a row, the very best players on the team left the team.

        What’s the old saying, “you don’t quit your job, you quit your boss”

        TUFB losing NFL caliber talent has become habit, SMH

    • Sooo, UConn not only took their time to get as good as was available but”are willing to pay only upwards of 2 mil annually.” And what did Temple’s brain trust do? Rushed the hire, gave the bank away (guaranteed 2 mil) and did a lousy job evaluating who was out there for such a sweet deal. Yes, the BOT and TU’s administration sure mucked this up and I agree they should pay for the buyout, not the school or donors. But like so much in this world, the powers to be rarely pay the bill for their mess ups.

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  9. UConn just announced that they are hiring Jim Mora Jr.

    Can Wingart and Johnson get Al Golden on the phone today?

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