Second Signing Day: Geraldo’s Vault

A lot of old guys in this photo.

Google “famous duds” and you get only a lot of “famous duos.”

Not quite what I was looking for.

I can think of only a handful of duds, but Geraldo Rivera hosting a two-hour prime-time special in 1986 to open an Al Capone vault was probably the best example.

It was empty.

Geraldo had to do a lot of filler.

Same for Temple head football coach Stan Drayton hosting some Owl Club members at a Wednesday Temple signing day ceremony.

The Temple football Twitter web site posted a photo.

A lot of old guys, presumably moneyed supporters, looking at a screen.

One reaction made me laugh out loud.

“They look old, Rob,” Joe Morgan said.

(Loved Joe when he played for the Phillies but don’t think it’s that Joe Morgan.)

Nothing would please me more than to report here that Drayton went out and got the big-time running back Temple needs, but anyone who has read this site over the last 19 years knows it is not a “rah-rah Temple” one but one who calls balls and strikes as we see them.

There is good news and bad news here. The good news was the December Signing Day when Drayton and company not only brought in a lot of talent but fixed all but one area of need.

The more important December signing day was a triple that caromed off the left-center field scoreboard.

This more traditional February one?

Kind of like a called strike three down the middle of the plate.

A Home Run in recruiting was to get a 1,000-yard proven FBS level back and Temple did not do this.

In December, Temple strengthened the offensive and defensive lines and added some elite speed to the secondary in addition to depth at wide receiver.

In my mind, the Feb. signing day was a time to sign a big-time running back.

The saving grace is that Drayton told Owls Daily.com that he is not done. If he signs just one guy between now and Cherry and White Day, it’s got to be the projected starter at running back.

Or else hire Geraldo to host the next signing day. They will need another guy who has experience with filler.

Monday: An Ad Money Can’t Buy

Friday: Temple Super Bowl Connections

Monday (2/13): A Needed Football Fix

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5 thoughts on “Second Signing Day: Geraldo’s Vault

  1. I’m a little disappointed, Mike. I’d like to know how many of those “old white guys” either had jersey numbers or helped build the Edberg-Olson.
    We’re all on the same side. I know times are tough but I like this coach. I have a hell of a lot more faith in Coach Drayton than I did in Carey. If nothing else, he knows RB’s and knows we need a Sunday guy running the ball. He also knows we don’t need a “star” who’ll leave for PSU after a season. We need a man who wants diamonds on his jersey and wants to be on North Broad.
    I’m not saying give him years, I’m saying give him weeks. College football is the wild west right now but I think we have a sheriff with some sense.
    It’s his job to give convenient sound bytes to the press but he said the one thing that puts the pressure on him- that he’s not done.
    I respect the hell out of that and I want to see what the man can do.

  2. Hey Gibby, I don’t see no ‘stinkin’ Running backs come aboard recently? We deal with what we got then ?

    • Not good enough. You know your running game is just about the worst in the country from a yards per play average and you are going to go into the season with the same stable of running backs that produced those figures? I’m not buying the FIU transfer as an upgrade. Plenty of hope for Joquez Smith but to expect another true freshman to put up Bernard Pierce true freshman numbers is a real reach at this point. If there weren’t big-time producers at both the FBS and FCS levels in the portal, that would be an excuse. But there are still guys who have hard numbers to back up their worth left.

  3. Maybe the added beef coming in can open up bigger holes or bigger enough to improve from 1-2 yards on first and second downs to 3-4 yards per? Or is it the blocking schemes need to change? I just remember that our RBs were always running into brick walls and not as much that they didn’t have enough speed or moves as much as there wasn’t anywhere to go to get started. And maybe the guys we have could at least get those 3-4 yards more consistently with some changes. I certainly could be wrong but that’s what I noticed. And it’s not to say that we couldn’t use an upgrade which Stan might come up with, especially if there’s still several good ones out there. Let’s have some patience and trust that maybe coach has a plan and knows what he’s doing?

    • Christian McCaffrey’s offensive line didn’t open a hole against the Eagles on Sunday but he broke two tackles and scored on a 23-yard touchdown run. I’m looking for a guy capable of doing that for Temple and there’s not one on the roster but there are six or seven still looking for a home in the portal capable of doing it. You can have all the plans you want but if the other guy’s plan is to sign all of those players in the next two weeks or so you don’t really have a plan. Time’s a wasting. Get moving.

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