Key to season: Taking care of business now

No pain, no gain at the E-O this winter.

Judging from social media, it looks like the Temple football team has lifted more weights in the last three or four weeks than in the prior full year under the coach who shall remain nameless.

There is a temptation that all these videos coming out of Temple football of the players lifting weights is pure public relations but put it this way: If the Owls were lifting weights like this and as many drills, wouldn’t the staff of the nameless guy want to put it out there?

Yes, just to give the appearance of showing fans he was earning his $2-million-per-year paycheck.

So he either didn’t care to promote what they were doing or they weren’t doing enough.

From the results on the field, the evidence is the latter.

Getting in some speed work.

The real eye-opener for me was the 34-14 loss at USF. The Owls were not only dominated on the scoreboard, they got pushed seemingly 5-7 yards down the field by a very bad team before they could even make contact. It’s almost like they had lifted no weights last winter.

Maybe they didn’t.

They lacked both strength and speed.

They had a cornerback pick up a loose ball and seemingly headed for the end zone only for that cornerback to be chased down from behind by a tight end.

A corner should never be caught by a tight end, especially when spotted 10 yards.

That game more than any demonstrated that big-time college football is a 365-day business and the Owls were not only out of business on game day but did not do enough work on the 300 days preceding the season to be competitive both strength and speed wise.

Now, under new coach Stan Drayton, they seem to be putting in the necessary work.

Now they have to show it. Winning the opener is nowhere near a given–the last time the Owls played Duke they lost, 56-27–but they need to show they can do what a mid-level Conference USA team (Charlotte) did and win there.

Then physically overwhelm UMass and Lafayette and not get embarrassed against Rutgers.

Then, to have a successful season, they had to win three of the last eight.

Tough?

Yes, but doable.

UCF, Cincy, revenge-minded Memphis (with quarterback Sean Henigan), Houston, Cincy and ECU seemed to have lapped them in the last couple of years. Maybe they can steal one of those games, but I doubt it.

They can beat Navy, Tulsa and USF if they put in the work now.

The fact that they seem to be doing it so far gives them a puncher’s chance. They will get a chance to throw a few punches (figuratively, of course) soon enough.

Friday: Spring practice keys

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6 thoughts on “Key to season: Taking care of business now

  1. One of the things that soured me on Rod early on was his aversion to social media. I didn’t expect him to use it like Geoff Collins, but your program has to have a social presence to effectively recruit and promote the program. Temple FB had become more invisible each season Rod was here.

    Speaking of recruiting, a few interesting happenings in the past week. Fran Brown departing Rutgers on top of all of the staff turnover there gives us a chance in New Jersey that we haven’t had in a while. Preston Brown must have been thrilled to hear Fran was heading south. Gabe Infante heading to Penn State is an interesting move. Definitely helps them and works against us at the same time.

    • Fran Brown should take that opportunity to Mature and Grow. And, he has to punch the DC ticket somewhere after Ga. Maybe TU?

      The potential to be the next TU HC is there. An unpolished diamond.

  2. Thank you for not using the unmentionable name in this article. I could read it without having a PTSD panic attack! It’s gonna be a great year!

  3. I’m fine with use of social media. I get it helps get recruits and my son is right, I’m old school. However, do you know what REALLY brings in recruits? WINNING. Start posting some ten win seasons, some conference championships…that will bring in the talent. I’m so tired of seeing IG posts of working out, kids screaming for no apparent reason, different uniforms etc only to lose. Another post that could help the program – IG posts of construction on a new stadium. Once wins and new stadium pics are posted on IG, then we can see the uniforms, players dancing and yelling because without wins, all that looks silly and embarrassing. Especially when you quit in the fourth quarter in your cool new uniform. WIN. WIN. WIN.

    • Anything other than gruesome embarrassing blowouts helps.
      A kid with talent looks at a close game and thinks “I could be that difference-maker”
      That same young fella looks at a 30 pt loss and thinks “Well dang I’m not good for 5 TDs, those guys can’t be helped”

      • I agree Joshua, apparently “what’s his name” thought those blowout losses were perfectly acceptable. As I posted earlier, a couple more wins and no blowout losses (well, maybe just one) would be an improvement and indicative of forward progress. But of course 6 wins and a bowl would be very nice.

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