06.19.25
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Temple returns to recruiting footprint

Another year around the sun came and went on June 19th for this reporter and it was my annual reminder that the expiration date invisibly stamped on my forehead is rapidly approaching.

In a sense, Temple Football Forever, too. We don’t know the date and probably don’t want to at this point.

Yet while this website won’t last forever, what new head K.C. Keeler did this week was a sign that Temple football as a program will last, if not forever, a long time.

If Keeler keeps this kind of recruiting up, chances are he will be talking about Temple going from one year with a lot of losses to one year with a lot of wins like he did here at SHS last year.

That’s because he stepped away from the nasty habits of the last three head coaches and returned to the Owls’ recruiting footprint.

Bruce Arians once said it was simply metro Philadelphia, South Jersey, the Lehigh Valley and the D.C./Virginia corridor that included Norfolk and Richmond.

Al Golden reaffirmed that when he arrived on the scene, correctly pointing out that Temple is smack dab in the middle of 46 percent of the nation’s population.

“If you drew a 250-mile circle around Temple, that’s well within a five-hour drive for any family who wants to send their kids here,” Golden said. “That’s 46 percent of the nation’s population and you should be able to find 25 great players from that many kids.”

Arians went 6-5 twice against a Top 10 schedule with that philosophy.

Golden ended 20 years of Temple misery adopting it.

What do Arians (York), Golden (Colts Neck, N.J.), Matt Rhule (State College) and Keeler (Emmaus) all have in common? They played their high school football within 250 miles of Temple.

What do Geoff Collins, Rod Carey, and Stan Drayton have in common?

They did not.

Daron Harris makes returning kickoff and punts for touchdowns look easy, like this one against Imhotep.

Now with a slew of local recruits signed recently, Keeler apparently has decided that blueprint makes sense for him, too.

Among those guys are a 6-4, 315-pound offensive tackle from Strath Haven named Billy Brown, an All-Philadelphia Catholic League tight end named J. P. Oates and defensive backs Daron Harris of Chester and Dylan Abram of Monsignor Bonner.

Temple might not be back this year, but rest assured Keeler’s plan is to return the Owls to those kinds of days.

That’s not all.

Defensive tackle Jude Okeleke (pronounced OAK-LEAK-EEE) turned down a solid offer from Fran Brown and Syracuse to commit to Temple this week, saying “I’m home.” While not a Philly-area recruit, it’s nice to know that Okeleke considers Philadelphia home. Technically, he is within that 250-mile footprint, having played at the Taft School in Watertown, Conn. Better yet, he is considered one of the top 75 DT prospects in the country. Being from Nigeria and not able to earn NIL money, Temple gets the added benefit of probably keeping him for four years.

Brown was a first-team Philadelphia Inquirer OT playing in 2023 before moving onto Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. last fall.

Oates was a first-team All-PCL tight end for a 10-0 regular season LaSalle High team last year, catching 47 passes for 576 yards and five touchdowns.

Harris was called “one of the top athletes in the state” by Chester head coach Dennis Shaw, scoring 28 touchdowns for the Clippers in a variety of ways (5 rushing, 7 kick returns and 2 interception returns).

Abram was all-PCL and had five interceptions for Bonner after returning to his original school from Philly Public League power Imhotep.

None of this proves Temple football is back to the winning days of Arians, Golden and Matt Rhule but usually a good blueprint leads to a solid foundation.

History always repeats itself and, while we’re all getting older, all evidence points to Temple football getting better.

Monday: The Foreign Component

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