06.01.26
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Temple football: The Boys Are Back in Town

R.J. Blount’s work as a track star and his getting to Temple early gives him an, err, leg up on the competition.

Every once in a while, Temple head football coach K.C. Keeler might say something that would give one pause.

K.C. Keeler tells the team there is a lot of hard work ahead but the reward will be more than worth it.

For me, the “biggest something” was that Keeler noted that preseason practice would “basically start on June 1” after giving a summation of Cherry and White Day way back on April 11.

June 1 is today.

(Made a note to check when the “official” NCAA practice was allowed and it was 42 days before the opening game. This is way more than 42 days.)

Ameir Morrow is a from a Brooklyn high school of greatness, having produced basketball’s Billy Cunningham and pop star Neil Diamond. He, like Blount, participated in spring ball.

Now that depends upon the interpretation of preseason practice is. What Temple is allowed to do from now until August is eight hours per week of preseason instruction, which includes four hours of coaching and weightlifting, etc.

When things really ramp up in August it’s 42 hours per week. Maybe the Owls can get away with a little over eight hours of “official” work because there’s really little oversight in college football anymore but we’ll see.

Eight hours a week until August seems a little light.

That’s a lot of cramming for some important tests, particularly with so many new faces on the team.

Since Keeler considers June 1 the target date, we can assume he’s going to make the best use of those eight hours and treat it as a preseason camp of sorts.

That has to be good news for every Temple football fan because it involves film study and learning from the mistakes in 2025 that turned a 7-5 season into a 5-7 one.

After some well-deserved time off, looks like a strong brotherhood has formed upon the Owls return to campus on Sunday.

Maybe that 5-7 goes to 7-5 or better.

To me, the key is establishing a running game and Temple has the pieces in place. Hunter Smith was every bit as talented as No. 1 back Jay Ducker was and way more explosive. He has the inside track to the No. 1 RB spot.

Sam Brown has been oft-injured and had some impressive Big 10 production along with being the star of spring practice. (Maybe that’s because Smith had been held back due to some Joel Embiid-type “load management.”)

The real surprise, though, in the young depth behind Smith and Brown, including Keveun Mason (who showed flashes last year as a true freshman), DeCarlos Young, R.J. Blount and Ameir Morrow. I don’t remember the last time Temple has had that kind of quality depth at the RB position. Maybe the last time was when Paul Palmer played here with Shelley Poole, Sheldon Morris, Ventres Stevenson and the McNair brothers (Todd and Scott) but that was the mid-1980s.

The question worth asking is can someone out of those bottom three show enough flashes to actually make a difference on the field?

Unlike last year, when it was Mr. Inside (Ducker) and Mr. Outside (Smith), we think yes.

In fact, if someone does, Temple benefits because they all have different skill sets and, in the American Conference, speed kills and the younger RB group appear to be slightly faster than their older teammates.

They got a head start by being a big part of spring practice and we’ll find out if that speed moves them up the depth chart starting today.

Friday: No. 1 priority

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