Everett Withers strikes again

Any good vibes after Utah State were destroyed by a terrible defensive game plan.

When Stan Drayton gets fired by new Temple president John Fry at the end of this season, one major CEO decision will be the only reason why he was sent packing.

Undeserved loyalty.

After his second unacceptable 3-9 season in 2023, Drayton promised to review the entire operation “including the coaches” and, instead of getting rid of the guy who was responsible for the worst Temple defense in history, DC Everett Withers, decided to jettison a couple of lower-level assistant coaches.

After a 42-14 loss to Army on Thursday night, a third-straight embarrassment on ESPN in front of the entire nation (coming off 55-0 to SMU and 51-3 to what turning out is a not-as-good-as-expected Oklahoma team), it’s clear that being a buddy of Drayton is good for Withers and terrible for Temple.

Hiring your buddy is the No. 1 thing that has ailed Temple football since Matt Rhule left in 2016 and nobody is a bigger buddy than Withers. Athletic director Pat Kraft, who played football at Indiana, hired his buddy Rod Carey, who also played football at Indiana at roughly the same time.

New Temple AD Arthur Johnson, the Texas football director of operations, hired buddy Stan Drayton, who was the Texas RB coach when he was there. Drayton hired longtime buddy Withers to be his DC despite Withers giving up 40 ppg as a DC at FIU in 2021.

Ugh.

The beat goes on and those black eyes belong to Temple fans who deserve better.

We can now compare Withers to another former Temple DC in Phil Snow.

In the opening game against Army in 2016, Snow stubbornly kept his base 4-3 defense and the Owls fell, 29-16.

Before the AAC title game against a better triple-option team, Navy, Snow studied the Army film and came to the conclusion that the reason the Owls lost that opener was because he left the “A gap” uncovered.

Before the Owls faced Navy in the title game, he also noticed that SMU left the same middle uncovered and Navy won in Dallas, 75-31, a couple of weeks before the title game against Temple. Snow decided the secret sauce for Temple to win was to alternate Averee Robinson and Freddy Booth-Lloyd at nose tackle, take away the fullback dive, and force the triple option from sideline to sideline.

Mostly, Robinson, a three-time Pennsylvania state heavyweight wrestling champion who not only destroyed the Navy center but stopped the Navy fullback every time for no gain. That left superior athletes like Haasan Reddick and Sean Chandler chasing the pitchman and forcing him out of bounds or, better yet, punching the ball free for Temple turnovers.

That’s what I’m talking about Willis.

That worked for a 34-10 championship win.

Withers?

Played the same base defense against Army on Thursday night that he played a couple of weeks ago in a 38-11 loss to Navy.

My only bet on this game was that the over would be accomplished because Withers likes to clock in a 9 a.m. and clock out at 5 p.m. and won’t do anything to change his base defense to scheme against the strength of the opponent.

This guy doesn’t give a shit about Temple, only the paycheck he gets from it.

Drayton, on the other hand loves Temple, but is also blinded by his love for mentor Withers.

It will be his downfall.

I was right once again. I wish to hell I was wrong.

What’s the definition of insanity?

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

What Drayton should have done at the end of last season is sever his relationship with Withers and gone out and replaced him with the best FCS defensive coordinator in the country.

Drayton might be more comfortable shooting the shit with Withers on Friday morning over the office copier than some stranger who might have shut down Army but Temple fans are the ones squirming now.

Unless Drayton does something drastic like replace Withers with linebacker coach Chris Woods next week, the new Temple president will notice and decide to do something about it. Woods was a successful DC in the USFL. Withers hasn’t been a successful DC since one game in the 1980s.

Unfortunately, Drayton is too nice a guy and we all know what Leo Durocher said about nice guys.

They finish last.

Monday: Avoiding the inevitable

16 thoughts on “Everett Withers strikes again

  1. That was a phantom hold on the first touchdown, also the ball was down on the recovered fumbled punt with a Temple recovery (can’t wrestle it back after the ball is dead) and the Army QB’s arm was going backward, not forward. That said, it’s a 28-14 loss instead of a 42-14 one probably. I understand love of country and the military but fairness should surpass both. Officiating was complete bullshit.

  2. Don’t know where he is coaching today but I don’t understand why Drayton didn’t reach out to Eliot when he was let go by the Eagles. Guess as you say Mike, Drayton is too nice a guy to replace his buddy Withers. So who do we a have at the helm of TUFB, a nice guy who seems to have a better rapport with the players than Carey but who is as bad a “CEO”. His gameday coaching is mediocre at best and nothing to write home about as a recruiter, especially for offensive lineman. It’s one thing for the JUCO o-lineman to get pushed around by Oklahoma but to be so thoroughly dominated by Army is ridiculous. At least hit the portal for more players like Mains from P4 schools or top FCS players.

    If Drayton is let go at the end of the season I hope the administration does a real search for a new HC, someone familiar with this region. Not saying only recruit in the northeast but we need a HC that has connections here.

  3. TUFB engulfed in a wretched environment. The program looks just like that wretched, stinky homeless person sprawled out in the gutters of North Philly.

    What a shame. It didn’t have to be this way, institutional failure. Lost opportunity and resources wasted. Wretched.

    • Any optimistic feeling I had after Utah State (and even that was tempered by the fact that we gave up 29 points to them) was ruined by being embarrassed on national TV. The offense really scored 21 points because that was a bogus hold call on the first touchdown. The defense has to stop giving up 42-55 points every time we get on national TV. No better way to destroy a once-proud brand than that. Stan Drayton replacing Withers has to happen now, not at the end of the season.

  4. Once again, an embarrassing loss before an ESPN national audience. Frankly, I am sick of this: 3-9 over the past three seasons and now 1-4 with little to look forward to. Major changes needed, starting at the top! I can’t stop longing for what we once were in 2015/16. We have sunk to the bottom of the pit. I mean how was this allowed to happen? I would think donor interest in support of university athletics might be hurting. That would be sad. The BOT and the new prez need to step up to the plate or nothing is likely to change.

    • Not optimistic about the new prez either. Famous for one thing: A piece in the Wall Street Journal about how proud he was that Drexel doesn’t have football anymore. Temple once had a President like that (who ended football at Wayne State) and he forced a similar vote at Temple. Fortunately, it lost, 9-8. Now, with NIL and the transfer portal, I’m not sure the BOT has stomach for football anymore. Meanwhile, the basketball coach is the Howie Roseman of the transfer portal and is going to put Temple on the map again. He’s not wallowing in self-pity. He’s improvising and adjusting.

  5. The problems with TUFB are deeper than just hiring a new HC, which at this point still needs to happen, and I just don’t know if the new prez will think it is worthwhile to continue TUFB. In addition to the on field performance something needs to be done regarding a “home” field. At this point any and all alternatives need to be explored with regard to a home field that is more “right sized” for this program now and the foreseeable future. We’re averaging just under 13K fans so far for home games this year, and for the Coastal Carolina game, looked to be about 1/4 of that number was sporting teal in the visitor seats. Let’s be honest, if we could build a stadium right now the size of Charlottes, JMU or ODU, 15 to 21K that could support future expansion would be so much better for the program. Ideally, would love this to be on campus but if that can’t get done, explore Ambler, other pieces of property, etc. At this point even though it’s 14 miles further from campus, explore Subaru Park where the Union plays. I just don’t know but even though I like going to the Linc, this program really needs either a lower cost option or one TU owns, along with getting better optics on national broadcasts that 15K or less fans rattling around a 67K stadium

    • Getting that stadium on-campus done after the 2016 championship game was Temple’s best hope. Should have told the community and the city this is our property and we have a right to build whatever we want on it and I think the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would have sided with Temple. They should have built the library at 12th and Norris and put the stadium where the library is now, well within the university’s boundaries without having to close any streets.

  6. JD, as an old olineman I tend to focus there, could only stomach watching small pieces of the game….Army is not known for killer D-linemen and has never been. It was sickening to watch them manhandle TU’s oline. I’m glad someone else noticed….absolutely horrible.

  7. Seemed like the Army backs must have Crisco’ed their jerseys as they broke a lot of tackles.

  8. Withers can’t run from his history. What is his track record as a DC, or HC for that matter? Worse than bad, wretched. Don’t believe me, look it up. 2024 will be the last season Withers will coach football, thank God.

    It is ironic And damning that Drayton, a career RB coach has the worst running team in the conference. And, one of the worst in all of college football, three years and counting. Wretched.

    These guys are bad, and the people who hired them are worse, wretched.

  9. Meanwhile, Sacramento State announces they’ve applied to PAC-12 and MWC for moving up to FBS. As part of application, they announce they will build new stadium, initially seating 25,000.

    • That’s what Temple should do at the EO, on campus, out of the way, existing field. Why not? Start small, add on as attendance increases. I travel thru Montgomery AL on our way to Tallahassee to see family. Along the way in Montgomery is a nice stadium at Alabama State Univ. very steep, packed in what seems like a small space a at small FCS, PBCU school, but even they have a stadium. No excuses for Temple.

  10. Withers has been classless and crappy as a human being and coach interacting with the public for many, many years, going back to his days at North Carolina. He was going to get let go at Ohio State when JMU took him and he was successful on the field there, but horrible in all internal and media dealings. See how he dealt with media at JMU and Texas State to see what kind of person you have – it is blatantly obvious he just has an attitude and belief he is above everyone.

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