Drayton: Eight seems to be enough

Dwan Mathis did a nice job with this pass

Something is happening here and what it is seems very clear.

First-year Temple football head coach Stan Drayton has seen enough to come to this conclusion after only the eighth full practice of the spring.

Drayton: “I’ve got quarterbacks coming in to compete for that position. So I’m going to give them an opportunity to win that spot.”

Stan Drayton holds up a “Tight as a Fist” T-Shirt with 1989 Temple grad and 3-year starting corner for Bruce Arians (Joe Greenwood) having his back.

That’s the quote Drayton gave to OwlsDaily.com (and probably anyone else who stuck a tape recorder in his face) after the eighth spring practice.

Hmm.

This seems to be the key phase of that first sentence: “I’ve got quarterbacks coming in …”

Quarterbacks coming in means that they are not already here. It also means that Drayton is showing signs that he gets it when it comes to that position and if it gets it evaluating that most important position, that probably means the process at the other positions is pretty much on point, too.

At this time a year ago, the former guy was so impressed with grabbing a Georgia starting quarterback he named him the opening-day starter even though there were five months between then and opening day.

Dwan Mathis may have been the opening-day starter at Georgia in 2020 but, in that game, he tossed twice as many interceptions as he did touchdowns (2-1). Six touchdown passes and four interceptions for Temple in 2020 is nothing to write home about so, unless Mathis survives a real competition in the late summer and gives Drayton a reason to award him the job, Temple faces major questions at that spot.

It’s better to have an exclamation point than a question mark so the fact that Drayton is bringing competition in is only a good thing. The ego of individual players be damned, the betterment of the organization should be the No. 1 priority.

The fact that Drayton understands he needs to bring in guys is another sign the organization is in good hands.

Now the only question is who might be out there and what that person’s qualifications are. That’s a story for another day.

Friday: Wingard Speaks

Monday: Who is The Man

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5 thoughts on “Drayton: Eight seems to be enough

  1. Are we seeing the desire to be a winner, here ? I feel bad for the QB’s on the roster but the team is more important than the person and the HC must be nearly impersonal as big chief rather than ‘devoted’ to a person based on what ever . Bill Belicheck at New England let favorite players go all the time. Heartless, maybe, but better for the team and his own career

    Good news I see here.

    • Me, too. Drayton is going to have to make some tough calls regarding personnel. He’s going to give Mathis a fair chance to win a job in the fall. Last year, there was no competition at that position and it hurt the group as a whole.

  2. A welcome surprise, Drayton is brutally honest and transparent. Drayton quickly figured out the re-birth of Temple Tuff must start behind center. PJ Walker played the entire 2015 season with a separated shoulder..,

    #18 has too much work to do in the leadership department.., educated guess says he’ll get beat out and transfer, succumbing to his nature and history.

    • That’s my gut as well KJ, will take his ball and go….hasn’t shown anything else to this point, unfortunately. I hope not, I hope some competitive fire gets lit in him but we shall see.

      • A couple of Mathis “moments” were eye-opening. Third and 17 at the Owls 17 down only 10 and a receiver was open. Mathis took one look at him and, rather than throw it and take a hit, he tossed it into the ground to save himself. Another was the awful interception at USF after the Owls had an early long interception return to the 5. He also seems a little frail and easy to go on the injured list. Then I turn on Western Kentucky and they have a QB from Houston Baptist who throws 60 TDs. There’s gotta be an FCS guy with that skill set Drayton can bring in.

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