The reason this helmet is the greatest ever is that it leaves no doubt who we are. Plenty of schools have a T on their helmets. Few spell out the name.

My first conversation with Matt Rhule after he became Temple head football coach came as something of a surprise.
I sent him a short email congratulating him on being a head coach the day he was hired.
His emailed reply was short: “Thanks, Mike. Give me a call.”

And he left his cell number.

This is the plain Matte helmet. Rhule could use this because it reminds him of Penn State, but I think it’s more likely they slap a T on one of these helmets before Saturday’s game.

So I did. I tracked him down in a hotel room and we talked as if we had known each other for years when, in fact, the only conversation I ever had with him came one spring afternoon when he jogged one way and I jogged another at Mondauk Commons in Upper Dublin Township. He was an assistant to Al Golden then, but I knew who he was. We were both wearing “Temple football” T-shirts and that was a chance meeting, with few words, mostly about the April NFL draft that weekend.
This conversation was longer.
“Mike, I just want to tell you, that one of the ways I kept up on Temple football the year I was away was reading Temple Football Forever,” he said.
(He really knew how to get on my good side. I can now see why he’s the best recruiter Temple has had since Bruce Arians.)
Then he asked me for some ideas. We spoke for the next 34 minutes (I could tell by looking at my phone afterward).
For at least 29 minutes, we talked about the Temple helmet. (The other five minutes were asking his thoughts on a 3-4 defense and I gave him Bruce Arians’ cell phone number and a ringing endorsement of Nick Rapone as a potential defensive coordinator.)

In short, I asked him to go back to the TEMPLE helmet from the ‘][‘ and he said “I don’t know if it’s my call.”

I’ll never forgive baldy here for a long list of things, but among those is putting his grimy hands on my helmet.

I told him it certainly was his call, because it was Wayne Hardin’s call to go from one cartoon Owl to the TEMPLE helmet in the first place and Jerry Berndt’s call to go to the ‘][‘ and Bobby Wallace’s call to go to a Gosh-awful Owl cartoon again and then Al Golden’s call to go back to the TEMPLE helmet. He said he was never in favor of changing the TEMPLE helmet to the ‘][‘ and advised Steve Addazio against it, but that Daz didn’t listen to him.
I suggested that if he didn’t want to make the complete conversion back to Golden’s TEMPLE helmet to “split the baby” (ala King Solomon) and put TEMPLE on one side and ‘][‘ on the other. I told him that would be the most distinctive helmet in the country and maybe the best.

Another reason to think the T will make some sort of return: This ad with a T helmet on top of Billy Penn. I wish I could say they dropped it by helicopter, but it was probably photoshopped.

Since that call, I have neither seen the TEMPLE helmet nor the ‘][‘ around the E-O, so I’m convinced we are in for some kind of “helmet surprise” on Saturday.
Here’s what we have seen: A foam cover over a Matte plain Cherry helmet (to guard against concussions). We have not seen the ‘][‘ nor have we seen the TEMPLE helmet.
Maybe they are working right now behind the scenes to put one on one side and one on the other. To me, that would be the perfect surprise.
Or they could leave it the way it is and that would be no surprise at all.
Something is up with the helmets and, since Matt said he never wanted to get rid of TEMPLE in the first place, I hope there is at least a spot on one side of the helmet for that tradition to be re-established.
I think it’s going to be a surprise of some sort.
Like that first call to Matt, I hope this surprise is going to be a pleasant one, too.

Temple Helmet Records

Tomorrow: Notre Dame Preview

Saturday night (late): Complete Game Analysis

This is a sample of what could come at Notre Dame’s Tommy Rees this Saturday.

Come December, maybe January, Kamal Johnson could become the answer to probably the best Temple football trivia question ever:

Who was the ONLY Temple player to play in three bowl games?

Answer: Kamal Johnson.

Johnson, who wore No. 93 as a starter in the 2009 Eagle Bank Bowl, the same number he wore as a starter in the 2011 New Mexico Bowl, has regained his starting position on the depth chart for this season at defensive tackle.

That comes as EXPECTED news, which pretty much describes most of the depth chart, released on Monday.

You really have to tip your hat, hopefully TEMPLE football helmet, to Marc Tyson and Shahbaz Ahmed, though.

Every year, there are one or two kids who come out of nowhere to make an impact for the Temple University football team.
I know there are a few awards for given out for most spirited and most improved in the spring, but I’m not aware of any for the summer players who made the most impact.
There should be.

Marc Tyson is justifiably proud to be a Temple starter.

This year, though, two stand out from looking at the depth chart released on Monday: Tyson on offense and  Ahmed on defense.
Those two guys must have put in the work because they got the award of being named to the first team.
Tyson is a junior transfer from Appalachian State and will be the starting fullback. Ahmed will be one of the starting defensive ends.
Tyson is one of the few members of “Local 215” to earn a starting spot. Local 215 was Al Golden’s term for walk-on and current head coach Matt Rhule is adopting most of the Golden Protocols. Tyson won’t be the most famous walk-on to make the team. Someone named Matt Brown earned a starting spot as a walk-on and later earned a scholarship. When the coaching staff finally figured he wasn’t a slot receiver, Brown went on to become Temple’s third-leading all-time rusher.
Ahmed, a redshirt freshman, is not a walk-on and actually has a pretty impressive recruiting film (above). If he can make plays like the ones in that film, the Owls should be in good shape.
Not many other surprises, though. The Owls have three starting wide receivers, including two “possession-type” receivers in John Christopher and Ryan Alderman. Jalen Fitzpatrick is not only the starting slot receiver, but he is listed as first-team punt and kickoff returner.

If Kamal Johnson (celebrating a sack in the New Mexico Bowl) becomes the answer to a trivia question, this will be a very successful season for the Owls.

Got to love the size of the Owls’ offensive line, as it goes 6-5, 285 (Cody Booth), 6-2, 305 (Jeff Whittingham), 6-2, 305 (Kyle Friend), 6-4, 330 (Pete White) and 6-2, 300 (Zach Hooks).
I think the Owls’ defensive line could be the strength of this team.  Johnson (6-4, 310), who didn’t play last year due to a discipline issue, has come in with a new attitude and earned the starting job at one defensive tackle position.  Sean Daniels, who in my mind is every bit as talented as Philadelphia Eagle (and former Owl) Adrian Robinson, earned a single digit number as a “tough guy.” All that separated Daniels from Robinson was Robinson’s motor, so maybe Daniels figured out a way to get that in the offseason. If so, expect Daniels to be putting down a few quarterbacks this season on a regular basis. Averee Robinson, Adrian’s brother, is Johnson’s backup at DT. Levi Brown (6-2, 300), a former All-Big East preseason pick, is the starting nose guard.
The right corner is all Norristown, as Anthony Robey is backed up by former Norristown Eagle teammate Brandon Shippen. The left corner will be Tavon Young, who picked up an interception in the Rutgers’ game.
The linebackers are well-established and deep and it looks like freshman Jared Alwan might have a chance to break into the starting lineup over Nate D. Smith, who had a fine redshirt freshman year last season.

All in all, this is a much deeper and more talented team than last year’s was and hopefully that will be reflected in the record.

If Kamal Johnson becomes the answer to a trivia question, it will be.

Tomorrow: The New Radio Team

Thursday:  The Helmet Surprise

Remarkably, the weather should be hotter on Saturday than all but one of the Temple practices so far. Owls better bring the pickle juice.

As has been the custom here over the years, on Monday our post revolves around Game Week.
Note the capital G and the capital W.
This, though, is the first time we’ve been able to post Notre Dame Game Week and that’s a humbling thing.

Click on photo for five upset specials.

When you think that Temple and Notre Dame have been playing intercollegiate football since the turn of the century (two turns ago), it’s pretty amazing that the two teams haven’t crossed paths until now. Heck, Temple beat Miami (Fla.), 34-0, in 1934 so it’s not like the Owls have ever left the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

I kind of feel sorry for the 1979 team, which probably could have handled Dan Devine’s 7-4 Irish squad. Temple finished 10-2 in 1979 and lost by only a point to Pitt (10-9), which was ranked No. 1 at the time and led Penn State at halftime in the other loss. Lou Holtz’s 1986 Notre Dame team lost by the same 10-9 score to Pitt, the same year Bruce Arians’ Temple team won at Pitt, 19-13. So I think those Owls would have acquitted themselves quite well.

In between, not so much until Al Golden arrived and righted a sinking ship.

Now it’s the 2013 Owls’ turn and I think they will make the university and the players who came before them proud.

Will they win?

That’s to be determined, but the odds makers already have made Notre Dame a 30-point favorite. That could be partially due to Notre Dame’s reputation and partially due to Temple’s reputation, but I think that line is skewed because people are aware of Notre Dame and not all that aware of Temple.
Love the Irish or hate them you are always aware of them. As the son of an O’Connor on one side of the family, I grew up very aware of them.
It’s funny. I was reading one of the many good Notre Dame blogs and one of the guys there wrote: “You either love Notre Dame or hate Notre Dame, there is little in between.”
I must be the little in-between.
I neither love nor hate Notre Dame.
I’m pretty ambivalent.
Geez, I wish Temple football had many of the advantages of ND: A major television deal, a large national fan base, a few best-selling books and top-rated movies about it but it doesn’t.

Does all that mean Notre Dame should win on Saturday?
It shouldn’t.
After all, the game is played on a 100-yard field with 11 guys on each side. The ball isn’t round and it can take some funny bounces.
As South Florida, Navy and UConn have proven since 2009, anything can happen once the ball is kicked off under the watchful eyes of Touchdown Jesus.

If the Bulls, Middies and Huskies proved anything during their three-hour stays in South Bend, it is that college football isn’t the WWF and it’s not fixed. After all, JC is watching and we don’t mean John Chaney (although he’ll probably be watching, too).

Tomorrow: Reaction to the Depth Chart Released Late Today

Wednesday:  The new Temple radio team

Thursday: Saturday’s helmet surprise

Friday:  Game preview and where to watch with fellow Owls …

Saturday night: Game analysis