Author Archives: Mike Gibson

12.10.12
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Latina: The Harold Stassen of TU candidates

Breaking News: ESPN reporting Mike MacIntyre to be named Colorado coach … Temple would be wise to scoop up Pete Lembo, Dave Clawson or Mario Cristobal now …
John Latina (left) has the persistence of Harold Stassen. 

Clawson has the Midas Touch wherever he goes and Temple fans would give thumbs up to that choice

You can say a lot of things about the current coaching candidates at Temple University but John Latina holds the patent on the word perserverance.
Latina is the Harold Stassen of Temple head coaching candidates. Stassen, a former Mayor of Philadelphia, ran for President of the United States in 1944, 48, 52, 64, 68, 76, 84, 88 and 92.
For reasons known only to him, like Stassen, Latina keeps throwing his hat into the ring and Temple keeps humoring him (and maybe themselves) by interviewing the guy.
Latina applied for the Temple head coaching job when Arians left, when Jerry Berndt left, when Ron Dickerson left, when Bobby Wallace left and when Al Golden left.
 Latina must know by now he has no shot but keeps applying anyway, even enlisting Bruce Arians’ support this time.

Clawson’s plusses:
1. Head coach and has been CEO of a program and terrific on game day
2. Won everywhere he’s been
3. Coached in the Philly area before
4. Beat Addazio with half of Daz’s talent

Sorry, John, I’d rather have Bruce as Temple’s next head coach but I know that has the same chance of happening as you getting the job.
In Mystery Science Theater, there was once a great line about Harold Stassen: “You’ll never win. You’ll always lose. You’re Harold Stassen.”
To me, guys like Latina and Ohio State running backs’ coach Stan “Definitely Not The Man” Drayton throwing their hats into the ring only serve to muddle up the process.
They have to know they are not getting the job, but wasting Temple’s time interviewing them does not do the Owls any favors. Temple needs to move and move now.
My favorite guy for the job is current Bowling Green head coach Dave Clawson.
I wrote on Saturday that either Mike MacIntrye or Clawson were 1 and 1A but I wasn’t sure which was the 1 and which was the A.

SI’s Pete Thamel is on top of the search.

After careful analysis of their coaching histories, now I am.
Clawson has the Midas Touch wherever he goes. As an offensive coordinator at Villanova, Clawson was 12-1. As Fordham head coach, that school had its best season since Vince Lombardi. As Richmond head coach, he stockpiled enough talent for Mike London that the Spiders won the FCS National Championship. MacIntrye really did it at only one place. MacIntrye also has a “George O’Leary” issue, listing being a two-time defensive coordinator at Temple University (1997 and 1998) on his resume (from the official San Jose State website). MacIntyre was never the defensive coordinator at Temple. He was the defensive backs coach. Ron McCrone was the defensive coordinator in 1997 and Raymond Monica was the defensive coordinator in 1998.

USA Today chimes in on the Temple job.

Clawson has no such credibility issues. Now, at Bowling Green, he has the Falcons in what was once the Eagle Bank Bowl playing MacIntyre and San Jose State. I hope now neither guy shows up for the game.
With MacIntrye at Colorado, and Temple leaning toward hiring a guy with head-coaching experience, Clawson is clearly No. 1 and Mario Cristobal is No. 2.
There’s a big dropoff to No. 3 and you should need a parachute to get to guys like Drayton, Latina and former Owl defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio.

Inquirer’s Mike Jensen on Dave Clawson

Tomorrow: Waiting for a puff of smoke outside Mitten Hall

12.09.12
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The $17 million roll of the dice

Doesn’t look like Parx is getting any of Temple’s business this time.

If your boss gave you $17 million to invest in some solid stock futures, would you instead hop in the car and drive up Route 1 to Parx Casino and throw it all on a crap table?
I didn’t think so, but that’s essentially what Temple’s Board of Trustees gave Temple athletic direction Bill Bradshaw the day after Steve Addazio quit.
Edberg-Olson Hall is worth $17 million ($7 million in 2001, an additional $10 million this year) and, if Temple gave the head coaching job to an assistant coach who never held the clipboard as a head coach in battle before, that’s a pretty expensive roll of the dice.
That assistant could become a Temple head coach and stay five years and go 3-9 each year or worse or go 9-3 or better.
You don’t know. I don’t know. Nobody knows.
If it is the lower number, the E-O might as well be padlocked after five years because nobody will come to watch the Owls play and $17 million will be essentially wasted.

These are just the candidates mentioned in the media.

A current head coach, though, with a head-coaching record of excellence, is like a solid stock future. There’s no better predictor of future success than past success.
Loyal TFF reader Steve Sipe sent me five spreadsheets of data analyzing the possible candidates and I’ve published his experience chart here. To me, that’s the most important qualification for Temple right now.
Fortunately, there’s no indication Bradshaw is considering getting in the car and heading up to Parx any time soon.
In fact, the quotes by Bradshaw in this morning’s Inquirer are downright encouraging. Without saying he’s ruling out hiring a current assistant, it certainly looks like he’s leaning that way.
On whether or not he’s leaning toward hiring an assistant, like Addazio and Al Golden were:
“Some people will say you are going to get another Al Golden, another Steve,” Bradshaw said. “I will say this is a different need, a different time in place.”
 And ….
 “I have not restricted [the job] to that,” Bradshaw said of hiring someone with prior head-coaching experience. “But somebody as a head coach, who’s been successful as a head coach and recruiting has an advantage. No question.”
Whew.
Players have walked off the Who Wants to Be A Millionaire TV show with a lot less money at stake than $17 million.
When it comes to the question of hiring an assistant coach, I think I’ll walk, Meredith.
Looks like Temple will, too.

Based on Steve Sipe’s analysis, Mike MacIntyre should be next TU coach. (Couldn’t fit the recruiting areas part in there, but it is weighted on the left.)

Tomorrow: The Harold Stassen of Temple head coaching candidates

12.08.12
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Coaching Carousel stops at Temple

Heck, Clawson would be a great sell for a Temple fan base irate with Steve Addazio leaving because Clawson beat Addazio last year with half of Addazio’s talent

When Bill Bradshaw finally sits down and hammers out a short list for Temple head coaching candidates, the good news is that the Coaching Carousel seems to have stopped at 10th and Diamond and a couple of good men fell off.
Just as of a couple of days ago, it looked like Dave Clawson, the Bowling Green head coach, might be headed for Cincinnati, robbing Temple of a prime choice of coaching beef. That job went to Texas Tech’s Tommy Tuberville instead.
Good for Temple because Clawson is a much better fit for the Owls than Cincy. Heck, Clawson would be a great sell for a Temple fan base irate with Steve Addazio leaving because Clawson beat Addazio last year with half of Addazio’s talent. Clawson has Philadelphia-area ties, having been a longtime coordinator for Andy Talley at Villanova.
Clawson then built a FCS champion at Richmond, giving Mike London all the players he needed (Al Golden-style) before heading to Bowling Green. Now, at Bowling Green, he has the 8-4 Falcons in a bowl game.
It also looked as though San Jose State head coach Mike MacIntrye could be headed to either Cal or USF but Louisiana Tech’s Sonny Dykes got the Cal job instead and Willie Taggart got the USF job.
Again, good for Temple because MacIntyre kicked Dykes’ backside with San Jose State talent last week.
MacIntyre could still be in line for the Colorado job, but that is looking more of a longshot now that former Super Bowl coach Jim Fassel threw his hat into that ring.
Taggart’s getting the USF job is doubly good for Temple because another head coach with solid credentials, Mario Cristobal, was rumored to be in line to take over that job.
The Wisconsin job is still available but there are strong indications that Notre Dame co-defensive coordinator Bob Diaco is the solid choice to replace Bret Bielema, who went to Arkansas.
If Temple should hire a “head” coach, and I really think that’s the only way to go at this juncture of the program, possibly the best three candidates fell off that carousel and right into Bradshaw’s lap. When Bradshaw hired Golden, he needed a program-builder. When he hired Addazio, he needed a recruiter. With the talent already in place, now needs a proven head coach who can get the most out of the talent and establish Temple as a national brand.
I can’t believe three of the best men on a crowded coaching carousel at the beginning of this week are still around at the end, but I’m glad they are.
According to any objective empirical analysis, these three guys have all proven to be better head coaches than Steve Addazio:

MacIntyre might bring to Philly something TU fans haven’t
seen in two years: A forward pass.

MIKE MACINTYRE _ Is familiar with Temple, but probably would be blown away with the facilities now, which are 100x better than they were when he was a defensive assistant in 1997 and 1998. He had San Jose State, a program with a history worse than Temple’s (the Spartans almost dropped football three years ago), 10-2 and ranked No. 24 in the country. He’s just what Temple needs, a guy who can outcoach the guy across the sidelines from him. Temple did not have that with Addazio. It would with MacIntyre. Now would MacIntrye, whose son is a hotshot California quarterback, want to come here? Why not? He interviewed at USF. We can confirm that, but can’t confirm reports that he was in Thursday to interview for the Temple job. I hope he did and I hope he’s interested. Maybe he’ll bring his son along to play for my other alma mater, Archbishop Ryan (Raiders need a quarterback, too).
DAVE CLAWSON _  MacIntrye is either No. 1 or 1A.  I’m not sure which because of Clawson, who could be the 1 to MacIntyre’s 1A. Clawson is familiar with the Owls, having coached against them in the MAC. He’s familiar with Philadelphia, having coached at Villanova.

This is our guy

He’s had the Midas Touch with every team he’s coached, from leading a powerhouse Villanova offense to stockpiling the talent for FCS champion Richmond to leading Bowling Green into a prestigious bowl game. Remember, he beat Addazio’s best team with half of Daz’s talent. He would be an easy sell to the Temple fan base. He would have the Midas Touch at Temple, too.

Was going to put a photo
of Mario here, but decided
on his wife Jessica instead.

MARIO CRISTOBAL _ One year ago, he was one of the hottest young coaching prospects in the country, after taking obscure Florida International University to two bowl games. A rash of injuries this year cooled his stock a bit and he was, in my mind, hastily fired after a 3-9 season. Still, I think Cristobal, with the Owls’ current talent (not even counting the recruiting class) could have Temple at least 7-4 in 2013. Last year, Cristobal finished second in the running for the Rutgers’ job to Kyle Flood and would probably like nothing better than to send the Scarlet Knights off to the Big 10 with a BE loss in Piscataway next year. Married to the beautiful Jessica Cristobal. Could have also explained the 3-9. As much as I love Temple, if I was Temple head coach and married to her, that would explain me going 3-9 because I  might be late for a lot of practices.
All three would do a better job than any current assistant coach on Temple’s radar screen, even the legendary assistant offensive line coach of the New York Giants.

Tomorrow: The $17 million gamble

12.07.12
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Dec. 7: A day that would have lived in TU infamy

In retrospect, Temple would have said Aloha to $500K if Hawaii hadn’t backed out of a verbal agreement.

Steve Addazio leaving for BC is the best thing
that ever happened for P.J. Walker.

Seventy-one years ago today, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called Dec. 7 a day that would live in infamy.
He wasn’t talking Temple football because that day came a couple of months earlier for the Owls: Their last win over Penn State.
Yet, just from what happened this week, it might have applied to the current-day Owls, too.
Tonight, around midnight Philadelphia time, Temple was scheduled to play Hawaii in what would have been the Owls’ 12th game of the season. Hawaii backed out of a verbal agreement. In retrospect, that decision saved the Owls about a half-million dollars.
Knowing what you now know about Steve Addazio, how many assistants would have been around to coach this Temple team against Hawaii?
One? Two? Zero?
Remember, this is the same Addazio who said “don’t be passing through” and to “make Temple a destination school” and that Temple was his “dream job.”
He said all those things about Boston College this week. What a phony.
Five years (or less) from now, he’ll be saying the same thing about UConn if he doesn’t get fired first. My money is on the firing.
Already, Ryan Day is in Boston recruiting for Addazio.
So is Justin Frye.
Some Temple holdovers, like Chuck Heater, are holding down the fort at the E-O in this most important recruiting weekend of the year. I’ve met Chuck and talked to him. I think he’s professional enough to expouse the benefits of staying at Temple to these recruits. The same goes for recruiting coordinator Tyree Foreman, who was instrumental in getting quarterback P.J. Walker to commit to Temple.
To me, Addazio leaving for Boston College is the best thing to even happen to P.J. Walker. Addazio is probably the only dinosaur left among college football head coaches who run a 1901 offense (run, run, sack, punt) in 2012.

Great to see this tweet yesterday from one of TU’s  top-rated  recruits.

Chances are, the next Temple football head coach, whether he’s Mike MacIntrye, Dave Clawson, Matt Rhule or Mario Cristobal or someone else believe in chucking the football downfield and P.J. Walker will thrive in that system.
P.J. Walker and Temple are perfect together. The Owls lose all four quarterbacks on their depth chart after next year and P.J. would immediately slot into the starting job in 2014. In fact, he might see a lot of playing time in 2013.
So he’s better off staying and helping the new coach bring Temple a Big East championship soon.
So are the rest of the recruits.
Yesterday, a great pass-rusher, Tyler Haddock-Jones, tweeted that “of course” he was going to TU. Lord knows, Tyler and incoming NT Averee Robinson can make an impact along the defensive line and the Owls need immediate help there.
The same things Addazio said that made these guys commit to Temple are true today.
Just because Temple is no longer his dream home doesn’t mean that applies to the recruits who committed to a great school, not a flawed man.

Tomorrow: How the coaching dominoes affect the Temple field

12.06.12
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Red Flags and Temple hirings

This is the only (somewhat) Red Flag I care about.
If Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw listens to the players, chances are better than even he’ll be sitting with the one or two who might come back and watch the Owls in an empty stadium a couple of years from now

If they made a movie about the current Temple football head coaching search underway, they’d probably call it “Eight Days in December.”
Good title, a take-off from the 1962 novel thriller “Seven Days in May” by Charles W. Bailey.
Eight days because that’s how long the last coaching search took and I don’t think this one should take any longer than that.
 Seven Days in May had a red flag theme, about a President (played in the movie by the late, great Henry Fonda) whose nuclear disarmament policy caused a revolt among the generals who feared a war with a red flag country (the then Soviet Union).
 This one has a red flag theme, too, the “non-CEOs”, meaning players, trying to tell the CEO how to do his job.

‘If Temple can get San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre, a former Owls assistant who built something quickly in San Jose, I wouldn’t worry about how long he stays. That’s exactly the kind of hire Temple needs to make.’
_Mike Jensen, Philadelphia Inquirer

What’s that Dick Vermeil said when the fans booed Ron Jaworski?
“If you listen to the fans, it won’t be long before you’re sitting with them.”
Good line, Mr. Vermeil.
That also applies to the players.
Players play and athletic directors pick coaches.
If Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw listens to the players, chances are better than even he’ll be sitting with the one or two who might come back and watch the Owls in an empty stadium a couple of years from now.
 I hope Bill Bradshaw, like Henry Fonda, sticks to his guns and hires the best proven head coach out there, with the best proven head-coaching record and heeds this red flag.
I also hope Matt Rhule gets a head-coaching job at a lower level (the Kent State and Ball State jobs will be available) and then proves his worth to Temple by building a proven head coaching record, like Darrell Hazell and Pete Lembo did.
If he does, I will personally climb to the top of the Bell Tower and wave the Matt Rhule Flag after Mike MacIntrye, Pete Lembo, Dave Clawson, Mario Cristobal, Ken Niumaltalolo, Bill Cubit or Tom O’Brien lead the Owls to a couple of BE titles and bolt for Tennessee. (I think there are a couple of high-character guys in that group who will stay, though.)
And it will be a Cherry Flag, not a red one.
Other red flags ignored in past Temple hirings:

The Red Flag File

JERRY BERNDT _ For some reason, Temple President Peter J. Liacouras was enamored with Berndt, who never had a real record as a winning head coach before. RED FLAG: He was 0-11 with the Owls (Rice Owls) the year before he was hired by the Temple Owls. He also got to go 1-10 with the Temple Owls, making him the only head coach in history to go a combined 1-21 for two teams named the Owls. Berndt could not recruit his way out of a paper bag.

RON DICKERSON _ Joe Paterno, no big lover of Temple football (thank God in retrospect), urged Dickerson not to take the Temple job. When Dickerson was adamant about taking it, Joe supported Dickerson, saying that “Ron is the best defensive coordinator in the country.” RED FLAG: The “best defensive coordinator in the country” allowed 55 points in his last regular-season game, a bowl loss to Clemson. Dickerson was in over his head as a CEO. He could recruit, but he couldn’t coach his way out of the same paper bag Berndt recruited from.

 BOBBY WALLACE _ The man won three Division II titles, but those were Division II titles, taking the scraps of players not wanted by the big Southern schools like Auburn and Alabama. Because he was hooked into the Southern recruiting system, he found some good players for that level. Those kind of players would never work for Temple and Wallace found out that the hard way. RED FLAG: He didn’t have the level of drive or commitment needed to succeed at football’s highest level, no desire to live in the Northeast and Temple wasted eight years of their fans’ lives as a result.
In these eight most important days in Temple hiring history, going over the red flag mistakes of the past might be the best way of avoiding a big one now.

12.05.12
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KYW mentions MacIntrye as possible Owl coach

Temple had a shot at Bruce Arians in 2006 and 2011, but virtually no shot now.




WANTED: HEAD COACH, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY _ Large, urban, school in nation’s fourth-largest market, seeks HEAD coach for up-and-coming BCS program. School is committed to winning at the highest level of football and a new president is coming on board in January whose stated top two priorities are success at fund raising and winning in the Big East. Successful candidates will have had WINNING seasons as a HEAD coach at an FBS school. Philadelphia-area connections a plus, but not necessary. No current assistant coaches need apply.

When you hire an assistant coach, you are just as likely to get a Ron Dickerson as you are an Al Golden or a Steve Addazio

There’s a reason why they call the position HEAD coach.
That’s how I see the specific criteria for the next Temple University football coach.
Temple football owes a debt of gratitude to Al Golden, a driven young assistant coach, who built the program.
It owes somewhat less to Steve Addazio, another career assistant, who recruited a fine class last year.
In a way, both were crap shoots because, when you hire an assistant coach, you are just as likely to get a Ron Dickerson as you are an Al Golden or a Steve Addazio.
Now, though, this is the most important hire in the history of Temple University and the school needs a proven winner as a head coach. Remove the guesswork by hiring a guy who has won as a head coach before at the FBS level. Period, end of story.
Current Indianapolis Colts’ head coach Bruce Arians would fit the criteria, and was a leading candidate for the Temple job in both 2006 and 2011, but his career has advanced far past Temple’s pay grade and I’m afraid he’s out.
So it leaves those current hot college head coaches. An assistant would be a big mistake now.
I think it’s important Temple work quickly because these guys are being rumored for other jobs.
That narrows the field thusly:

YES TO (in order):

Former Temple assistant Mike MacIntyre

MIKE MACINTYRE, current head coach San Jose State _ MacIntyre, against an impossible recruiting, funding and facilities disadvantage, went 10-2 and has the Spartans  in a bowl game. One of his two losses was to PAC-12 champion Stanford by a 20-17 score. One of the wins was over BYU. Another was a 52-24 pounding of a 9-3 Louisiana Tech team.
MacIntrye has Temple connections and knows all about the program, having been the Owls’ defensive coordinator in 1997 and 1998. He had San Jose State, with about as much talent as Temple had this year, playing at a much higher level than Temple. MacIntrye, a finalist for the Temple job in 2011, was the only possible name mentioned as a successor on a 5:45 p.m. KYW report by Temple play-by-play man Harry Donahue. I agree with Harry, who is a very good friend of Temple AD Bill Bradshaw. Great choice. At $450K, makes about half of what Daz made at Temple this year, according to the website coacheshotseat.com.

Kent State’s Darrell Hazell

DARRELL HAZELL, current head coach,  Kent State _ Hazell took a team that Temple beat, 36-14, last year (he wasn’t head coach then) and beat the living daylights out of a Rutgers’ team that blew out Temple this year, 35-10. Hazell had Kent State (remember, Kent State we’re talking about here), 11-1 before losing the MAC title game in overtime to NIU. Hazell has Philadelphia-area connections. He’s from Cinnaminson, N.J. Currently grossly underpaid at $350K per year. Purdue is rumored to be interested.

PETE LEMBO, current head coach, Ball State _ Had Ball State, a team Temple beat, 42-0, last year, go 9-3 and earn a trip to the Beef O’Brady Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla. Like Temple, Ball State beat South Florida. Unlike Temple, Ball State also owned a win over a Big 10 team. Knows all about the area having been head coach at Lehigh University. Not a sexy pick (just look at the photo), but the guy is a damn good head football coach and not likely to get outcoached like Daz was in the Maryland game. Since Temple has plenty of talent already in place, Lembo is just the type of guy most likely to get the most out of it. Makes $400K per year.

NO TO:

MATT RHULE, current assistant offensive line coach, New York Giants _ Rhule is an outstanding young man but has no (zero) wins as a FBS head coach. He’s a fine recruiter, but would be a crap shoot as a game day coach. Addazio did not think enough of him to make him sole offensive coordinator, instead bringing in Ryan Day from Boston College to be co-coordinator with Rhule. Shortly after that, Rhule left for the Giant job. Temple is too big to be the first head coaching opportunity, especially at the BCS level. I’d encourage Rhule to get a head coaching job at a place like Kutztown or Delaware and work his way up the head-coaching ladder that way. It’s obvious he’s well-liked at Temple, but the question you have to ask yourself is, “Does he pass the non-Temple smell test?” Would even Kent State or Western Michigan hire him for their head coaching openings? The answer is no. His first head coaching job should not be in the Big East.

TOM BRADLEY, former Penn State defensive coordinator _ Yeah, I know that photo is of Jerry Sandusky but if you hire Bradley he brings all of that Sandusky Penn State baggage with him and that’s a headache Temple can’t afford. Plus, Bradley is a dead fish personality and not likely to inspire a fan base like Addazio was. While Bradley has recruiting ties to Western Pennsylvania, he has no recruiting ties to Eastern Pennsylvania or South Jersey and that’s where Temple needs to win the recruiting wars.

12.02.12
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The bright side: Coach Daz not leaving

Boston College AD tries to sell Daz to President
by: papreps
Boston College AD tries to sell Daz to school president.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think Daz would concoct a harebrained, one-dimensional, offensive scheme that would lead to so many three-and-outs and put Temple’s defense in an impossible position. The question then becomes, “Do you see him as a reasonable person open to change or a stubborn former offensive lineman who wants to run the ball all the time?”

EDITOR’S NOTE: I wrote this story on Sunday, not believing any university was stupid enough to hire a 4-7 coach. I will leave it here as a testament to the stupidity of some college administrators. Hopefully, Bill Bradshaw is on the phone with San Jose State’s Mike MacIntyre right now. More on that to come. MacIntrye is available, loves Temple, a former Temple assistant, and probably did the best job of any head coach in FBS football last year. Good riddance, Daz.  Don’t let the door hit you in the ass.

On the way up the steps, maybe for the final time ever, from season seats that I have held for nearly 10 years at Lincoln Financial Field, someone said:
“Don’t look so down, Mike. Look at the bright side.”
He didn’t tell me what the bright side of a 4-7 season was, so I had to figure that out for myself.
I walked 22 rows up, made the left into the men’s room, washed my hands before leaving, made a left, walked down 34 steps and across Lot K to my car, all the while thinking what could possibly be the bright side to a season I thought would be no worse than 6-5.
Then it hit me just as I was about to stick the key in the door of my car (the remote doesn’t work).
This will be the first year as a Temple fan in the last five we won’t have to hear the endless speculation about an Owl coach leaving for a possible higher-paying job.
“That has to be the bright side he was talking about,” I thought.
Since that kind of off-season speculation has bugged me to no end, I guess not having to worry about that is a bright side.
I’m not so sure it’s bright at all. Let’s face it. Al Golden recruited five straight No. 1 MAC classes, as ranked by both Scout.com and Rivals.com YET, with the same inherited talent, Daz under-performed half the current MAC coaches. That leads to only two possible conclusions: Daz’s 1901 offense doesn’t fly in 2012 or both Scout.com and Rivals.com talent analysis was way off.
My eyeball and smell test leads me to think the former, not the latter.

Yes, Addazio’s name will come up in some stories by writers who like to throw names against the wall and hope it sticks. Let’s face it, though. Coach is going nowhere. Nor should he.
The latest “rumor” has him going to Boston College. I’ve addressed that in a feature film short at the top of this post. I’m not sure if I should submit the script to Hollywood as Science Fiction, Comedy or Tragic Comedy.
Steve Addazio was a good coach in 2011. I don’t think he was a good coach in 2012, largely because  my projections for 2012 were 6-6 (8-3 if everything broke right). Never in my wildest dreams did I think Daz would concoct a harebrained, one-dimensional, offensive scheme that would lead to so many three-and-outs and put Temple’s defense in an impossible position. The question then becomes, “Do you see him as a reasonable person open to change or a stubborn former offensive lineman who wants to run the ball all the time?”

The answer to that question holds the key to open the door of a possible 9-3 season next year or keep it bolted shut.

Then I got something in the email box this morning that brightened my day from loyal TFF reader Steve Sipe (due to a coding problem, you can’t read that he has the Owls beating Fordham 54-0 and Idaho 45-0 and losing to ND, 34-21). It follows:

Mike, I always love reading your blog. I tried to set up my own dedicated to the Big East and expansion. I did not realize how tough it is to develop a web site. Compliments to you on TFF. One of your articles focused those areas the Owls need to improve to be successful in 2013. I have been trained to use analysis to compare and evaluate data points to estimate future results. 
If your suggestions are followed, I believe the following results will be achieved:   

         OUT OF CONFERENCE (KNOWN)          
08/31      at Notre Dame             L      34 – 21
09/14      Fordham                       W     54 – 0
09/28       at Idaho 45 – 0
10/19       Army                             W     34 – 13
                IN CONFERENCE, IN DIVISION (KNOWN)
Boise State                    L       17 – 14

Houston                         W       34 – 17
Memphis                        W       42 – 10
San Diego State           W       21 – 17
SMU                                W       28 – 13
IN CONFERENCE (ESTIMATE)
Connecticut                    W      24 – 17
Rutgers                            L       17 -16
USF                                  W      35 – 10
I would count a 9 – 3 season and a bowl bid Phenomenal! Most of the western schools do not emphasize defense in the MWC. With varied play calling, the Owls could exploit this weakness. 
On the other side, our defense needed 2 fixes: a better pass rush, and mature secondaries knowing which man to cover. Since a lot of this work was finished by the end of the 2012 season, defense looks strong. 
Quarterback is an issue. I will try to reach out to PJ Walker and welcome him to Temple. I do not believe PJ should be out of the picture. Let Juice Grainger lead our team with PJ as his backup. Convert Neiss into a reverse back that can pass if he can not make to corner to drive downtown. With mature wide receivers, Chris could have been a success. However, losing both wide receivers and tight ends last year made Chris look weak when the Owls went from MAC to Big East. Nevertheless Chris is our 2nd best rusher. Why not give the Owls a Penn State type Zwinack running back. Chris can blow holes and hide fakes as a running back. When you are 3RD and 4, do you want Juice running a draw or handing off to Chris to trample a linebacker. The thought of Chris lowering his 240, 6’3″ body into our opponents smells like a 1ST down every time. 
Steve Sipe

I hope you are right, Steve. If so, I will hop and skip out of the stadium after the last game next year and the bright side this year will be a bright spot next one.

11.30.12
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P.J. Walker leads unbeaten Elizabeth tonight

I don’t think this music is on Steve Addazio’s IPOD, but the passes are impressive.
The recruits so far, according to Owlscoop.com

When one of the nation’s top 15 recruits last year was asked why he chose a lesser profile school over another, he responded:
“That other school wanted me, but this team NEEDS me,” he said.
So it is with P.J. Walker of Elizabeth (N.J.).
Other schools may WANT P.J. Walker, but Temple NEEDS P.J. Walker and that is why I think he will be arguably the top recruit of the 2013 Temple class. I write “arguably” because you could make a good case for kicker Jim Cooper, Jr., too.
With Temple’s top three quarterbacks (Chris Coyer, Juice Granger, Kevin Newsome) gone after next season, the Owls need someone for the 2014 season who can be brought up to speed in the 2013 season to be The Man in the 2014 season.
To me, that person is P.J. Walker, who leads his team tonight (7 p.m., Williams Field, Elizabeth) against Franklin. Walker’s Minutemen are 9-0 and probably 10-0 after tonight (they already beat Franklin, 42-13, in the regular season) and are the top-ranked Public School in the state.

Williams Field is just off Route 1 in Elizabeth.

Head coach Steve Addazio says he wants to run a true spread offense, but he said that in the summer and that didn’t happen. He says that will happen next year. I want to see play-action passes on first down to make the running game more effective on second down. I want to see defenses have to defend the whole field and next just inside the tackle box. I think all Owl fans do. That’s a true spread offense.
We’ll see.
In my mind, the true spread has got to happen because Temple needs a “Doug Flutie-type” impact player to make the move from bad to good to phenomenal to super phenomenal.
This year, let’s be honest, the Owls were just plain bad.
They have to make the move to good next year and, I don’t care what Daz says, the record is going to have to reflect it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the construction guys didn’t take a year off, either.
Boston College wasn’t significantly better than Temple until Flutie pushed the school into national prominence. The same argument can be made for Louisville and Teddy Bridgewater.
Walker could be that player for Temple.
Once Walker takes the controls, they can think of being phenomenal in his sophomore year and “super phenomenal” by his junior year.
At least that’s the direction Daz promises the team is headed.
To do that, the Owls have to corral Walker and a few more impact players.
If you are in the neighborhood of Northern New Jersey, a trip to Williams Field might be a better option tonight than watching the MAC championship game on ESPN.
It’ll be like going to a Temple football game two years from now.

11.27.12
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Temple football: The road to Super Phenomenal

One last Temple look at Matt Brown. Something tells me we will see him again playing on a different day of the week.

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Right about now, Temple head football coach Steve Addazio is setting the GPS for the road to Super Phenomenal.
If the Owls get there, it will depend a lot on Daz inputing the right coordinates.
At the very least, you’ve got to figure that Temple is going to be a better football team this year than next.
The Owls played as many as 16 freshmen starters at times this year and a couple of solid teams leave the schedule in Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

Addazio says the team is moving in a “super phenomenal direction” and you’ve got to hope that Daz’s definition of “super phenomenal” is not just five wins next year.
What is my definition of “‘super phenomenal” .. hmm, AT LEAST flipping the 4-7 into 7-5 next year. I’ve never seen a “regular” phenomenal 6-6 team. If “super phenomenal” is, say, 9-3 or better in a couple of years, you’ve got to at least go 7-5 along the way.
Still, though, there are some serious concerns to be addressed before the Owls chose the road that leads them to Super Phenomenal.
Since you’ve got to go with the current roster personnel, I would tweak things just a big to improve the 2013 Owls. I don’t think anybody currently playing in high school is going to make the Owls super phenomenal next year.
My easy fixes:

Looks like the Army Billy Goat followed the Owls from
West Point in this great image captured by Frank Stephens.
The shadow behind John Christopher was not photo shopped.

DEFENSIVE SECONARDY _ Can this be fixed in one year? I don’t know but I would give a serious look to former Rutgers’ recruit Abdul Smith as a cornerback. Unlike the current starter, who was recruited by FCS Hofstra (now without a program), Smith brings solid BCS recruit potential in there and I thought he played very well in his most extended duty, the UConn game. With lock-down cornerback Anthony Robey on the other end, that’s an upgrade. I would give Kevin Newsome the entire spring to become the star playmaking free safety I think he can be and he was proven to be in high school. If the first two QBs get injured, Newsome’s 2012 of being third-team quarterback won’t be wasted and he could fill in as emergency QB. He’s too good an athlete to keep off the field, though.
DEFENSIVE LINE _ Since the Owls appear to be thin there and have plenty of talented linebackers, why not go 3-4 instead of 4-3. With a 3-4 you need to have a good nose guard and I think both Levi Brown and Hershey Walton fit that bill. I would recruit a big, mean, pass-rushing JUCO DE or at least two. Playng a 3-4 allows you to blitz a couple of  speedy linebackers on passing downs, while leaving two back to cover a screen or draw.
OFFENSIVE SCHEME _ I would ditch this run-first approach and rehire Scot Loeffler as offensive coordinator. The Owls’ offense was much more smooth under Loeffler and he was even able to make Chester Stewart effective in the Maryland game by a lot of short rollout passes to the tight end and running backs on first down. That made Bernard Pierce a much more effective back. Daz needs more than a yes man as OC and Loeffler would fit that bill nicely. Without Matt Brown and Montel Harriss, the Owls can’t be one-dimensional. I think Jamie Gilmore and Montrell Dobbs would thrive under a more balanced approach and the Owls have to show future quarterback recruits they are more than ready and willing to throw the football.
That’s how my GPS tells me to get to Super Phenomenal. I hope Daz has the same GPS system.

11.24.12
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Four and seven nothing to get excited about

At least Steve Addazio is excited about the future of the Temple University football team.
If he is, I guess I should be.
I’ll have to reserve judgment on that one because, no matter how you package it, four and seven is nothing to get excited about.
I must be a hard marker.
After Friday’s 38-20 loss to Syracuse, which looked a lot like the other four Big East losses before that, there were a few things that were painfully apparent this year:
TEMPLE’S SECONDARY CAN’T COVER ANYONE _ If Daz can’t see that, I don’t know what he’s looking at. Other than Anthony Robey, the Owls got picked on big-time on third and long this year and could not get off the field. That’s not being negative. It is what it is. Without criticizing individual kids, there were some guys who were on the field who did not belong on the back line of the defense. Does anybody ever step in front of a ball and pick it off anymore? Not at Temple, sadly. Unless young versions of Todd Bowles, Kevin Ross, Bob Mizia, Pervis Herder or Anthony Young show up on campus in the next few months, I don’t see how this gets any better.
TEMPLE’S PASS RUSH WAS NONEXISTENT _ I knew the Owls would miss Adrian “Rush” Robinson and they did. There was just no guy on the defensive line with his spin move, speed, toughness and his relentlessness. There was some talk about injuries along the defensive line, but those are just excuses. Other teams had injuries and they got to the quarterback. Temple needs a Robinson to arrive on campus soon. Maybe he will. Maybe that will energize the other returning linemen. We can only hope. The pocket needs to collapse and the Owls need D-linemen with the speed to get to the QB and put him down. Getting close won’t cut it anymore. This isn’t T-ball where everybody gets a certificate for trying. This is big-time college football and a results-oriented business.
TEMPLE’S OFFENSIVE LINE DID NOT DO A GOOD JOB PROTECTING THE PASSER _ Chris Coyer got beat up during his time as a QB and Friday was Juice Granger’s turn. Daz said the team had problems picking up protections, but isn’t that was Monday through Thursday practice is for? Just sayin’.
I’ve always said that my two keys to winning in football were to protect your QB and put the  other guy’s QB on his ass.
Temple did a very poor job of both against Syracuse and in the four BE games prior to that one.
Other than the secondary, pass rush and pass protection, I agree with Daz.
The future is bright.
Just don’t know if there’s enough other areas to make much of a difference.
Picks:
Season: 17-9 overall, 15-12 ATS. 
Last week: 0-1 with three ties (or pushes, as Vegas calls it):
BUFFALO giving 10 at Umass; TULSA favored by 2 to over visiting UCF and LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE giving 4 to visiting Western Kentucky. Amazingly, this is how good Vegas is: Buffalo won, 29-19; Tulsa won, 23-21 and LL won, 31-27. Lost on  SOUTH FLORIDA getting 7 at Miami. Al Golden won, 40-9.
This week: Going back to high-value underdogs. RUTGERS getting 2 at Pitt; WYOMING getting 7 1/2 over visiting San Diego State; AUBURN and OC Scot Loeffler getting a backdoor cover of 33 at Alabama; GEORGIA TECH getting 14 at Georgia.