In the transfer portal era, the season is won between Dec. and July

I’ll take a QB and anyone who can rush the passer at this point

When I was a kid I used to hate hearing at the barber shop those old guys who used to say “back in my day” this and that used to happen.

Now as one of those old guys I’m beginning to get it.

A year ago at this time we wrote in this very spot almost on the same day that Temple did not do enough in the “recruiting” months to have a winning season.

Unfortunately, we were proven right for 2023.

Odd timing for a puff piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Stan Drayton but if he doesn’t get a QB and a big-time pass rusher in here in 30 days, he’s going to have to change those roller skates to ice skates because that’s how thin his ice is going to be in Philadelphia.

We still think that for 2024.

The difference there is Temple did nothing to improve from the end of May to the beginning of August and paid for that indecision BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY AGAIN.

Temple football has one month to make up for the inaction of Dec.-May and it doesn’t look good simply because the Owls couldn’t afford to wait until June to get moving.

In my mind, Temple needs a proven QB (duh) and a couple of proven sackmeisters at the defensive end positions.

Football is not rocket science.

The teams who win are the ones who keep their quarterback upright while putting the other guy’s quarterback on his ass.

In my mind, Temple has done enough to keep any quarterback it has upright. The problem is doesn’t have a quarterback who can do damage while upright. It used to but that guy bolted for Rice.

The biggest question of this offseason is that 15-20 quarterbacks were BETTER than that guy and Temple sat on this situation and the coaching staff did absolutely nothing to get one after Clifton McDowell left for oblivion. One by one those great quarterbacks left for other schools and Temple is now down to about five who are better than Evan Simon.

What the hell are they waiting for?

Oddly timed puff piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer this week on Stan Drayton. If I’m the reporter, I’m not asking what he does to relieve stress I’m asking him how the hell he intends to turn 3-9 into 9-3. I’m asking him what makes him think Evan Simon and Forest Brock can be better than E.J. Warner.

I’m letting him know he’s rolling the dice of his career on a guy who got beat 55-0 by SMU while the guy who beat SMU 24-22 the year before is still in the portal.

I’m telling him I don’t give an F what goes on behind the scenes but I really care about what goes on during those three hours every Saturday afternoon and why Temple hasn’t won more than three games since 2019.

That’s what I’m telling him.

Defensively, Temple has NOT done enough to strike fear into the bad guys’ quarterbacks and that’s one of two reasons why another 3-9 is way more likely than 9-3.

Like it or not, this isn’t the “back in my day” time when, after a successful recruiting class three years prior and a redshirt year and a promising sophomore year, a fan could say, “hey, Temple is looking really good this year.”

This is 2024 and the indicators are all in what Temple has done in the transfer portal.

One month to get a couple of FCS proven pass rushers and a quarterback who has done something–anything–above the JUCO level on a consistent basis.

So far, the coaching staff is proving the race to pick up the Temple paychecks every Friday is winning over the race to get players who can make a difference.

Not a good sign at all for any current day barber shop talk.

9 thoughts on “In the transfer portal era, the season is won between Dec. and July

  1. Really ? Does this HC care ? He has more money than he ever had before and its GUARANTEED. Any more arse-kissing in line for that brilliant U of Texas jackass AD ? Jeez and I mean Jeez…..

    • Agreed. There is an element out there is that he “works hard and people don’t know what goes on behind the scenes and cares.” That’s all well and good but the bottom line reads 3-9 and, quite frankly, I’d rather have a guy who shows up for work a couple of hours, doesn’t care what goes on behind the scenes and finishes 9-3. Winning is what puts fannies in the seats, raises the TV ratings and keeps Temple football off the BOT chopping block.

    • He ain’t leaving till his guaranteed money is in his bank account and Temple won’t be firing him either – buying out the last coach was highly unusual for Temple and i seriously doubt it will happen again – 3 more dismal years ahead and then what? Another lousy hire? But maybe his QB room has some positives, especially if they hand off 90% of the plays? lol…..

      • I think he’s looking for an assistant coaching job somewhere, ala Chip Kelly. Temple won’t have to fire him. It’s pretty evident that if he thinks he can’t win at Temple (and the lack of player acquistion screams that is true), he’ll be fired in a couple of years anyway and he wants to head that off at the pass. My biggest fear is that the new President and BOT will balk at all this paying of players and drop the sport and that will be his legacy. It doesn’t have to be that way if he gets his ass in gear and scours the portal. There are still 1,634 players in there unsigned and desperate. You can’t convince me that 22 of 1,634 aren’t better than the 105 at the EO now.

  2. The existence and timing of this article spoke volumes to me about just how hot that seat is right now for Stan.

    • A couple of weeks ago I published a video of a bunch of guys talking about Temple (page down a couple of posts) and the first line of the video was, “Stan Drayton, he’s probably going to get fired at the end of the year.” If I was head coach and heard that associated with my name, I’d immediately open up the portal and grab “best available” at QB and DE to try to change that narrative. Has he given up? He says no but the inaction in the portal screams yes.

  3. Drayton cares, it shows and players feel it. That is not the problem.

    Drayton can’t coach, that is what the record shows. That is the real problem.

    Some guys just don’t have what it takes to be a successful HC. Multiply the difficulty X 10 for G5 HCs in the NIL era.

    TU has hired so many guys who just could not coach. Add Drayton to the list.

    It is hard to win at TU. But the proven winning mold is still on the shelf:

    1. Be big and dominant on the line of scrimmage
    2. Run the football, and throw vertical downfield
    3. Body blows on defense, put the QB on his butt, and never get outhit

    But, what do we know after 49 yrs of bearing witness..,

    • You are describing the Temple Tuff of the last decade. The need for a quarterback is primary, and the play selection, along with time management have to improve drastically.

      • When the history of the 2024 season is written, the bottom line will be why Temple didn’t move on a quarterback the day Clifton McDowell left. McDowell was the “type” Temple needed, a running quarterback who was a winner at a level higher than Temple and, sadly, Montana could have kicked the living crap out of Temple in 2023 so Montana (despite being in the FCS) was a level higher than Temple. Back channels with the Albany QB could have gotten him in here as a starter over being a backup to Cam Ward.

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