The most consistent 3-9 team in college football history

In the midst of a long season, then Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid seemed frustrated by the questions of the media after a particularly ugly win and ended the press conference with these words:

“Enjoy the win.”

As Temple fans, we have no choice not to after an 18-15 overtime win over visiting Florida Atlantic that raised numerous red, or in this case, Cherry and White flags. It was the ugliest of ugly wins.

One, Temple struggled against an FAU team that got hammered by UConn, 48-14.

Temple should have won at UConn and was an ill-advised tush push away from doing so.

What happened in between?

You don’t need 12-0 seasons to bring this back to Temple. Just a new coach and a lot of 8-4 ones.

My view simply is this: Temple has been going through the motions since that spirited effort at UConn, knowing that it really wasn’t playing for anything but another 3-9 season.

After Saturday, that’s exactly what happened.

One thing we do know about Temple football: In the post-pandemic, post-NIL and post-transfer portal era, it is the most consistent 3-9 football program in FBS history. No school has ever finished 3-9 in even three-straight seasons without firing a coach and Temple will finish with four-straight 3-9s and the emphasis is on finish.

This is one of about 10 guys who can bring Temple football back to respect on a national scale.

One 3-9 Rod Carey season was followed by three 3-9 Stan Drayton seasons and that’s exactly how this thing is going to finish. Don’t give me any bunk about Temple having a chance against either North Texas or UTSA because it doesn’t.

North Texas and UTSA are only light years ahead of FAU and, by association, Temple.

Those two programs may be comparable to UConn but a Temple team playing out the string now and playing for something like it did in the UConn game are two different things.

Temple president John Fry is on the fly list (in this case, not a “no-Fry” list) to UTSA and he will be in the house for the Owls’ final game against North Texas. What he is likely to see is about a 35-14 loss in San Antonio and a 47-17 loss back in Philadelphia.

After that, the question he will present to the BOT is does Temple want to invest in an arms’ race in college football by paying players exorbitant money or does it want to fold up the tent entirely?

Winning would certainly help restore Temple’s image and bring fans back but it would take not only that investment but another significant one in a head coach who knows what he’s doing. That’s the case I would make to Fry if I had a chance to talk to him because a good football team can energize the entire Temple community (see above video).

I can also understand his point of view as a bean-counter.

That’s a lot of scratch and a school invested in doing other things like campus security and a hospital system that hemorrhages money might say the dollar is stretched too far.

If so, Temple’s football most recent legacy will be a maddening consistent 3-9 Final Four seasons.

Enjoy the win.

It might be the last one.

Monday: Debunking an NIL theory

25 thoughts on “The most consistent 3-9 team in college football history

  1. I will always cherish that 2015 season: College Game Day, win over Penn State, nearly beat Notre Dame, both games sellouts with huge and enthusiastic student sections. Conference championship in 2016. All before COVID, player transfer portal and the NIL. It will be a tough row to hoe. But I still hold out hope.

    • The hope comes with G5 programs with similar or less resourses than Temple (Bowling Green, Sam Houston, Jacksonville State, Louisiana, Marshall, South Alabama, etc., etc.) doing significantly better than the Owls with better head coaches. Does the Temple administration grasp that nuance? Doubt it.

      • One wonders. New president who reportedly is not exactly enthusiastic about the program and all the other negative items mentioned above. There remains a hardcore fan base for Temple football, but that wil likely shrink if things don’t improve.

  2. Was Fry at the game today? If not, why? And what will he see at the N. Texas game in Philly?

    Heʻll sit there and wonder if it all makes any sense/cents. The students donʻt support it, the team is terrible, the HC and AD are bad, it costs a fortune to play at the Linc, and the program wants double the financial commitment with zero promise of success…,

    Heʻll see a disaster in San Antonio. UTSA will be playing for bowl eligibility, and Drayton has never won a road game.

    What conference would the BBall team play if Temple drops football? Itʻs complicated. Self-inflicted drama. Meanwhile Drayton will continue to get paid.

    IMHO Fry wonʻt make any recommendations concerning athletics. Itʻs not on his to do list. Heʻs not under any pressure to do anything from anyone.

    Institutional head in the sand abstains.

    • Football’s future was always way above the Presidential level, even in the days of a strong President like Liacouras. Adamany did his best to kill it but he was voted down by the BOT. There’s a former football player on the BOT now and another head of a Temple football fan group on the BOT now Those people weren’t on the board in the Adamany days. Still think if Frye thought could make an argument against football he would at least do that. Lewis Katz would be turning over in his grave about the last three Temple football hires.

  3. To answer your question, yes, Fry (no e) was there and introduced to what I could loosely call a crowd. Spotty applause. No boos.

  4. Well, looks like Stan’s out…

  5. omg. Withers is interim coach

    • I could see that coming a mile away. That’s exactly why I wrote two posts (11/11 and 11/9) floating Chris Wiesehan’s name as interim head coach. Withers taking over for Stan Drayton is like Lee Harvey Oswald taking over for JFK. Man, Withers is the PRIMARY reason why Stan’s head coaching career is dead.

  6. Option 2 prevailed,

    “Drayton gets fired but Johnson stays. Johnson names Withers as HC. OMG it could happen.”

    • “And, if you are an aspiring HC where would you want to go? Rice, ECU, or Temple?

      What upcoming coach in their right mind would want to work for Johnson?”

    • Well, the bad decisions continue, with Withers now in charge. He was instrumental in our porous D, Stan kept him and now the atrocious D-man is in charge? Geez…… Johnson does ANOTHER buddy move. Withers sure is a manipulator!

  7. There is a lot of possibilities between “an NIL arms race” and dropping the program entirely – such as consistent 6-8 win seasons and going bowling. And as disappointing as 3 win seasons are, I remember worse seasons (Bobby Wallace) that were tolerated by the BOT. But it’s still a mystery as to why they don’t care to do better when it is certainly possible to do so – the one thing that IS consistent is bad decision making.

    • Scot Loeffler at Bowling Green is showing that you don’t need NIL to win at Georgia Tech one year and play Penn State within a touchdown the next and make great bowl games every year. That’s the ceiling for Temple. Go get a guy who will deliver the ceiling, not the floor.

      • Yeah Johnson, bring Loeffler back to the nest, for 2-2.5 mil he’d be here in a New York minute! But he won’t because buddy stuff is more important…..

  8. Maybe Withers will appoint an interim DC who can game plan?

    • Withers is a complete joke and not a funny one.

      • Withers, I believe being the elder statesman of the staff, may have been the only one willing to take over for the last two games.

        Gotta figure they are going to get spanked each game and he knows it. Might be doing a favor for the others on staff.

      • His daughter works/whispers directly for Johnson.

        TUFB needs a successful lower level/status HC. The dude would bring a proven solution, system, staff, and players. Starting from scratch doesnʻt work anymore. Heʻll also have experience in doing more with less.

        But, itʻll be hard to attract a sitting HC w/Johnson still in the seat. A sitting HC will have experience working w/an AD, and heʻll see right through Johnson in seconds.

        Pernetti wins. Conference schools are buying what he is selling.

        Somewhere EJ Warner is shaking his head and praying.

      • If I’m E.J. and had three concussions in my first three years, I’m seriously considering a career in coaching and getting out of playing. The kid knows his stuff.

  9. Would you consider Dino Babers, was not great at Syracuse but did have winning records as HC at Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green

    • No Philadelphia ties puts him in the Rod Carey category.

      • How about Liberty Flames head coach Jamey Chadwell. He is a proven winner. He may be holding out for a Power 5 slot though.

      • The loss to Kennesaw State scares me, plus I think you are right about him holding out for a P5 job. Also, no Philly connections holds him back here. Rod Carey was as good in the MAC as Chadwell has been with Liberty but he proved to hate it here and had no Philly recruiting connections.

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