Drayton makes the call to Temple fans

As if he didn’t have enough work to do, new Temple coach Stan Drayton was given another task by the Temple administration last week.

Making phone calls.

Like the calls to recruits and portal transfers and other coaches, the latest calls were just as important.

Maybe more important.

TFF would like to thank a player from the Al Golden Era, Matt P., whose generous donation enabled us to purchase a printer for this site. Copying down info on recruits by hand was really time-consuming and now going forward this speeds up the process of gathering stats and other information for the site. All donations to TFF go back into the website, paying for things like copyrighted photos and site hosting and, now, a TFF printer. Thanks, Matt.

Drayton called a hefty number of fans who had been season-ticket-holders but for some reason or another decided to put the money away the last two years.

The diplomatic reason is COVID but I suspect the real reason Temple season tickets dropped particularly last year was the abysmal performance of the prior coaching staff.

Notice we didn’t say “team” because the kids who left for other teams depleted the talent level on the roster so much so that the kids who were left behind couldn’t compete.

I got a little taste of what was to come at the 2019 tailgates when several parents mentioned to me at post-game tailgates, “Mike, nobody likes the guy (Rod Carey) and everyone wants out.”

If that was in the late stages of an 8-5 season, you can imagine the patience completely ran out after 1-6 and 3-9 seasons.

It’s apparent Drayton has stopped the bleeding of players out the door, welcomed a lot of good players into the program and is liked by the team, all the while instilling discipline necessary to compete at a high G5 level.

You need players and coaches committed and Temple has that.

The last piece of the puzzle is fans and Temple must show the rest of the college football world that the buzz around the program extends beyond the practice facility and into the stands.

With those phone calls, it’s apparent Drayton understands what’s needed and a personal appeal to the Prodigal Son fans is an excellent way to start.

Getting the Doubting Thomases, though, back into their seats requires a win at Duke and, if Drayton understands the first three pieces of the puzzle (as he’s demonstrated), he surely understands what he has to do next.

Friday: Decrafting the schedule

Monday: Honeymoon Period

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8 thoughts on “Drayton makes the call to Temple fans

  1. Pleased to note that I was contacted by a Temple Football Coach. This was a welcome sign of dedication to the program they represent, and I now want to connect with then once again. The best part was to hear the words, “TEMPLE TUFF” again!

  2. This is a great sign of the Coach, and administration. Al knew how to push the buttons, and his personality came through. Coach Drayton’s approach and personality is showing his has redirected our ship. Sure this needs to translate into victories, but the Temple Tuff, remake is one fans {former players} do not get tired of. One good outreach which endeared me to Al, was Monday evening radio broadcasts at the South Philly Tap Room. Perhaps this can also be revived. Maybe at PJ’s in Blue Bell, where the place was packed last month with Temple Owls for the Coach’s Tour. Easy access, parking and room on their patio or inside. Coach Drayton can be a Philly Sports celebrity on the rebuild of this program and generate the relevance of college football in Philly, as Jay Wright mastered with Nova BBall.

  3. BLM on the helmet is the elephant in the room, so I don’t expect to see too many heinies in the seats.

    • Wow, really? Perhaps some heinies should stay away and pout.

    • June 2022, Akron police murdered Jaylen Walker, an unarmed African-American male. They shot him 60 times, THEY SHOT HIM 60 TIMES. Then they took him to the hospital in handcuffs. White police would never murder you like that Dave.

      I’ve seen war crimes, seldom this horrific.

      • Unarmed man shot 60 times. Ten-year-old girls being forced to give birth to a rapist’s child. A former General in the U.S. Army taking the fifth when he is asked a simple question: “Do you believe in the peaceful transition of power?” Doesn’t seem like a happy Fourth of July. Winning country in the Revolutionary War leads the world in mass shootings and the losing country has hardly any.

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