04.04.24
by

McDowell proves Thomas Wolfe wrong

John Rienstra, unlike Clifton McDowell, made a name for himself at Temple and did more than OK.

The Clifton McDowell Era ended at Temple and, when the book of the Transfer Portal is ever written, McDowell may have provided the most unusual chapter.

Proving Thomas Wolfe wrong.

Wolfe, in his novel, “You Can’t Go Home Again” talked about the story of George Webber, who writes a book about his hometown that became a national success but the residents of said town are unhappy with what they perceived was a distorted depiction of them. They send him death threats and tell him he’s not welcome.

Fortunately for McDowell, he didn’t badmouth Missoula, Montana on the way out the door so his reported return to them yesterday will come with welcome arms. He wants his old job back.

Like Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone TV series, though, every good story has an ironic twist at the end.

My predicted twist–and I believe this will come true no later than September–is that while McDowell went home with the intention of reclaiming his starting job, a guy named Logan Fife will turn out to be the eventual starter. Fife was the very capable backup last year at Fresno State and Montana only felt the need to recruit him because McDowell left for Temple.

The Owls, on the other hand, don’t have a quarterback on the current roster with the resume of Fife, let alone McDowell. Fife was a much better backup at Fresno than Evan Simon was at Rutgers but that’s what Temple is stuck with at this current stage of the game. That, or a JUCO who looked like total crap subbing for E.J. Warner last year.

Maybe walking down the street in Missoula, Montana without looking over your shoulder means that much to McDowell, who didn’t turn out to be Temple TUFF.

What Temple needs now is a Fife-level transfer because, while the loyalty of the current quarterback room HOPEFULS (and we use that word loosely) is laudable, the undeniable fact is that the current leader, Forrest Brock, looked only about 1/10th as good as E.J. Warner in his lone Temple action last year. That’s even being generous to Brock. Stan, this is your one chance to get someone better than Warner. Settling for worse would be at your own peril.

I don’t know about you but I’d rather get a guy 10x better than Warner than one 10x worse.

The good news for Temple is that the transfer portal is getting ready to explode on April 15 and at least one very good P5 quarterback will shake loose from a No. 2 on his team’s depth chart to become available to Temple. If that guy is smart, he will turn down a $250,000 NIL deal to be a backup elsewhere and gamble that on himself and a very good chance to start at Temple to make a million down the road.

If McDowell’s leaving leads to Temple being smart enough to land one of those guys who can be better than Warner, and McDowell ends up as a backup in the middle of nowheresville bored out of his mind, that’s the kind of ironic twist that would meet with the approval of Serling.

Not to mention Temple fans who wouldn’t mind watching or reading a good ending for a change.

11 thoughts on “McDowell proves Thomas Wolfe wrong”

  1. Hey Mike, great writing as always. I think that Evan Simon would be a disaster, and the fact that there is no quarterback at this point scares me. I know we have a few months, but the fact that Stan has not stated his desire for a portal pick seems worrying to me.

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    • Bingo. Stan keeping Withers and not caring about upgrading the quarterback position leads me to believe that he’s playing out the string at Temple, collecting the paycheck, taking the beatings, and going back to his old comfort zone, a RB coach. If, on the other hand, he fired Withers in the offseason and plucked the best FCS DC out there to replace him and is working to get FBS and FCS starters to UPGRADE over E.J., that’s the kind of fire in the belly I want my Temple head coach to have.

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      • I am a current Temple student and there is definitely a lack of support for the team among the students. I think Stan doing some big moves would increase the support for the team among the student body (besides the obvious implications of improving the record). I think another 3-4 win season with teams limping out the last few eeks would further destroy the team’s already dwindling support.

      • What does Drayton have left on his contract, 2 years? I’m guessing there is no way TU has the $$ to buy out his contract. Even if they did, do you have any faith in this AD to make a new hire who could turn things around.

  2. Sadly, the current Temple students haven’t had anywhere near this kind of experience for a long time. A coach with fire in his belly to win (like Owl Golden had) would bring this kind of student experience back:

    Week 1- Mayor’s Cup (youtube.com)

    Reply

  3. why do I always feel that the coming season will surprise us and our critics. I’m ordinarily clear headed about the facts in front of me, but when it comes to temple football I convince myself this will be the year we kick the losing habit

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  4. This is Drayton’s third and perhaps final year. It is the middle of Spring practice and he doesn’t have a starting QB. First game is at Oklahoma. Stunning.

    In a few years Drayton is going to look back and wonder. How did I allow this to happen, what could I have done differently?

    First lesson learned will be the need for increased “HC football IQ”. When your QB gets knocked out of the game have the surgeon check him out on the sideline, immediately. Don’t trust the player or coaches.

    Second lesson could be to identify your team identity before your first practice. Fans (and players?) still don’t know what Temple Tuff means to Drayton. His single digits choices were horrific.

    Third lesson, so on, and so on.

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    • If Drayton has to realize “in a few years,” Temple’s goose is cooked. If the AD hasn’t realized it by now, he’s in over his head or so beholden to his pal that… (won’t write it here). 

      Maybe once a coaching change is decided upon, the school president will require the new HC NOT be a friend or coaching pal from the AD’s past and the new HC actually have HC experience, even at a lower level (where resources are even more spartan).

      Reply

      • Temple is the only school that hires pals of ADs (Dunphy to Bradshaw was a baseball doubleplay combo at LaSalle; Kraft and Carey were not football teammates at Indiana but played the same position, center, only two years apart) and, lo and behold, the first major hire of Texas Football Director of Operations Arthur Johnson at Temple was a Texas football employee. Amazing coincidences? Err, no. Very good BOT oversight of those hires? Also know. Hell, when I enter a contest at Giant I’m asked if any friend or family member is a Giant employee. Temple ADs should be held to that same minimal standard as firewalls for own hires.

  5. on the BB side.., I’m in first place in three ESPN Men’s NCAA Philly based challenges:

    1. Fans of Temple
    2. Temple Challeng3
    3. Philly Fans

    Next year will be the year of the TU BB Owl

    Reply

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