Sometimes it’s the thought that counts.

Judging by the thinking in the coaches’ room at the Edberg-Olson Football Complex, there is a plan going forward and that’s a good thing.

At least from a Temple fan perspective.

From this seat in the stands and on the sidelines the last year or so (including the spring game a couple of weeks ago), what we’ve seen so far of D’wan Mathis is promising but not enough.

We speculated in this space 18 days ago about the availability of Florida transfer Emory Jones and said he was “open to going anywhere” and Temple is one of those places now.

He is just off a visit to Arizona State so the Owls getting him is not assured but they have shown interest and are also interested in Pitt transfer portal QB Davis Beville.

If they can get one, they will be better off. If they can get both, it’s hitting the jackpot.

To me, Mathis is a guy who needs a fire lit under him to excel and either/or of the above two qualify as kindling.

If Mathis excels with the competition, Temple’s offensive productivity is better off. If either Jones or Beville beats out Mathis, then Temple is better off. Being the Temple quarterback is a job worth earning, not one that should be given.

Remember, Mathis came in here with more interceptions than touchdowns thrown at Georgia and his six touchdowns vs. four interceptions in his inaugural year with the Owls didn’t represent the kind of productivity we were looking for.

Former head coach Rod What’s His Name staked his future on Mathis, replacing a guy who had thrown 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in his last full regular season with a guy who went 6/4.

Not good.

Before the uneven Cherry and White performance of Mathis, head coach Stan Drayton said he was “bringing in guys” to compete and now it appears, as with most things Drayton, he is hell-bent on keeping his promise.

Jones and Beville are two interesting guys but, if they don’t come here, there are still several FCS starters in the portal looking to move up. Scholarships are running out and Temple appears to be making room for quarterbacks as deep sub Matt Duncan announced his intention to enter the portal.

Jones threw 19 touchdown passes at Florida and that was 17 more than Mathis did at Georgia and Beville was 14-for-18 in a 2020 game for Pitt.

Bring one of those guys to Temple and things really get interesting here.

The best-case scenario would be for Mathis to accept the challenge and win a starting job that was given to him a year ago. The worst case would be to keep things as they are now and have no viable AAC-level backups.

The new guy seems to understand that a whole lot better than the old guy and that means the Temple brain trust is using their heads for more than a hat rack, a welcome change from the most recent past.

Monday: The Next Big Thing