Sean Desai: From Temple to NFL coaching star?

Instead of conducting a coaching search the traditional way, Temple’s recent most important football hires were done without a national search.

There were some good, and some bad.

Stan Drayton’s birthday was yesterday and so far it looks like his best days are ahead of him.

By best days, we mean a lot of wins and at least one championship.

There were only two Temple coaches who mentioned championships either before or right after they were hired.

One was Matt Rhule.

The other was Drayton.

Everybody else, including Steve Addazio and Al Golden, spoke in more vague terms.

Daz said he wanted to win “great bowl games” and Golden said he wanted to “build a house of brick, not straw.”

Rhule set his goal in stone, telling a basketball crowd at halftime a few days after he was hired that “we will win championships here.”

Drayton told the team at the end of last year “you will be champions.”

Rhule delivered in the singular, not plural sense. If Drayton does the same, Temple fans will take that.

When Temple hired Drayton, Sean Desai was named by The Temple News as one of the top four candidates.

Still, after hearing people gush about Sean Desai–who was up for the job before Drayton got it–you have to wonder where Temple would be if they hired him.

Former Miami Hurricane and Tampa Bay Buc Dan Sileo called the Philadelphia Eagles hiring Desai a “home run” and said that Desai “will be a superstar head coach in the NFL.”

Former Temple Owl and Carolina Panther Colin Thompson echoed that sentiment.

In a way, both Daz and Golden delivered on their promises if you consider the New Mexico Bowl a “great bowl game.” Golden turned a 20-year loser into back-to-back eight- and nine-win seasons and his brick house was a solid enough foundation for Rhule’s success.

Championships, though, are where Temple coaches should set the bar and Rhule and Drayton were the only coaches who grabbed at it.

Rhule delivered. If Drayton does the same, nobody will ever wonder what Desai would have done if he was hired instead.

Even if he becomes the next Bill Belichick or Vince Lombardi.

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10 thoughts on “Sean Desai: From Temple to NFL coaching star?

  1. I fear that if Desai had been offered and taken the TU HC position, the Eagles would have come calling anyway and he would have left. What a mess that would be (which we all remember got us that dud from the midwest).

  2. Will TUFB install a new defensive scheme during Spring Practice? It would be better than installing during Fall Practice, and taking two steps back, smh.., only at TU

    Rutgers is installing a new offense this year.., we have the talent on defense to compete and beat their offense. All is lost if we start from scratch w/new scheme and terminology.

    Earlier post by someone nailed it, Drayton must create his own breaks. Start by committing to making the RB room the best in conference and building a brick OL w/bigger and tougher tackles.

  3. Time out for a RoundBall Comment at Temple ??? Sorry to see McKee go, at the personnel level, but how is it TU BB sunk so low ?
    So then: Who, what , how, where and when for the next man up ?

    • Big name is a must. Can’t settle for some assistant from a P5. Must be a proven winner at the head coaching level with AAU connections for recruiting purposes. Pitino would be perfect but I don’t think he would come here over St. John’s. Don’t care how old the guy (or gal) is. I want a guy (or gal) who is good. If not Pitino, then get the Charleston, Kent State, FAU or Oral Roberts head coach. Mike Jensen says Dawn Staley ain’t walking through that door but if she has an agent with a vision she will. Her ceiling for money has been hit. No Power 5 men’s team would break that glass ceiling for her but Temple would. It would be like a Matt Rhule thing. Stay in women’s hoops and make no more than $3 million a year. Go to Temple for $1.9 million, succeed, and then the P5 offers roll in for $7-10 million. One step back (Temple) for five steps forward (Ohio State or Georgia men).

  4. Everett Withers, the new DC. Impact hire for BB coming after March Madness.

  5. Withers went 24-2 in two seasons as co-DC under Urban Meyer at OSU. He went 19-7 in two seasons as HC at JMU and made the playoffs both years. He will do well as DC here.

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