Eric Hoffses’ tweet on Sunday night.

Maybe an old fire battalion chief said it first, but it rings true today:
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
There’s a whole lot of smoke around today about maybe the best running back in the storied history of the ACC, Montel Harris, attending Temple.
Eric Hoffses of EagleAction.com tweeted as much last night.
Hoffses is a respected reporter with close ties to the Boston College football program and to Harris himself.
As far as smoke goes, that’s a lot.

2011 pre-season media poll for ACC Player of Year

As far as fire goes, this is a five-alarmer.
In the interest of accuracy, Harris is NOT the all-time leading rusher but if he had played his final year at Boston College, he no doubt would have been. He came into this season just 878 yards short of the all-time record. That’s for the ACC, where some good football has been played the last 30 or so years. Since he averaged well over 1,000 yards the first three seasons, he might have done that by mid-year. He had a falling out with head coach Frank Spaziani but his two former offensive coaches now at Temple, Kevin Rogers and offensive coordinator Ryan Day, love the guy.
What does this mean for Matty Brown?
Nothing.
Brown will get his carries. Harris can’t be expected to be 100 percent this year.
I see an 80-90 percent Harris adding a lot to the Temple team, though. If, God-willing, Harris comes back closer to 100 percent, he immediately becomes a Pierce-like threat and the best running back in the Big East and a potential first-round draft pick. I don’t know, though, of a whole lot of guys who came back better after a serious knee injury. Maybe the Bionic Man, but that was a fictional TV series. We can only hope for that to happen here.
I see Harris possibly playing the same role Brown did to Pierce last year as a supporting back.
Harris will get his 1,000 yards and six to 10 touchdowns (heck, Brown almost had 1,000 yards) and Brown could get the 27 touchdowns and 1,700 yards Pierce got last year.
Or both could get over 1,000 yards and split the same 33 touchdowns and 2,700 yards (roughly) Pierce and Brown got together last year.
It’s all good.
Remember, the fact that both Pierce and Brown had the misfortune of getting hurt (but still playing) against Bowling Green cost the Owls a game. Brown needs an insurance policy and Harris is at least that. Just like Brown was Pierce’s insurance policy.
Temple head coach Steve Addazio kept the embers of the fire going last week when asked if Harris was going to join the team:
“Not yet.”
Yet was the operative word.
When is the next similar word.
Judging by the smoke on the horizon, it could be very soon.

Shane Rafter’s recruiting video.

If the last guy taken in the final round of the NFL draft is known as Mr. Irrelevant, you can call Shane Rafter Temple’s Mr. Relevant.
Raftner earned that distinction by becoming the first player who verbaled to Temple for the class of 2013.
Raftner, a 6-5, 284-pound offensive lineman from Moorestown, N.J. is listed as “only” a two-star recruit in the Rivals.com database.
Now if there is ever a more “irrelevant” stat in sports, it is the star system as assigned by recruiting websites such as Rivals.com and Scout.com, particularly when it comes to offensive linemen.
It comes down to who do you trust, one of the greatest offensive line coaches in college football history, Steve Addazio, or a well-meaning Rivals.com employee sitting behind a computer who does not understand basic OL skills like leverage.
I’m going with Addazio on this first recruit.
One of the things I like about Addazio is that he does not give out one of the precious 25 scholarships like candy. I’ve only questioned one of his schollies and that’s because it was given to an honorable mention Central League running back whose dad probably could have afforded the Temple tuition.
Al Golden once gave a quarterback scholarship based solely on the performance in a seven-on-seven passing drill at the Al Golden Football Camp. Probably not his best idea. Ironically enough, two of the first QB recruits Golden made AD (after Adam DiMichele) never had the kind of career this year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Northern Illinois’ Chandler Harnish, had. Now it looks like the third time was a charm for Golden, because that begat New Mexico Bowl MVP Chris Coyer. The difference between Coyer and the other two guys was that Coyer was a high achiever as a prep star and the others were not.
Addazio and line coach Justin Frye, also a product of the powerhouse Florida Gators’ program, carefully evaluated Rafter before offering.
That’s good enough for me.

Harris made the cover of TSN in 2010.

After emailing Boston College contacts, I did get one response. Montel Harris was listed in the commencement program under “Montel Harris Jordan.”
It was confirmed that Montel Harris Jordan is the one and only Montel Harris, the No. 1 running back in Boston College history.
In fact, he was spotted wearing a cap and gown at the BC commencement ceremony (no photos as of yet). That clears the way for Steve Addazio to “recruit” Harris.
All Harris has to do is to pursue a Masters’ degree in a program at Temple that Boston College does not offer.
Since Temple offers many more graduate programs than BC does, that should not be a problem.
It is all up to Harris now, whether he wants to pursue that degree at Temple or Rutgers or enter the NFL supplemental draft. Or even go Division II.
Whatever he decides, we wish him well.

As you can see from this video, Harris’ running style is more similar to MB than BP.

Ordinarily, May 21 would be just another day at the Edberg-Olson Football Complex with players throwing the ball around, hitting the weight room and generally getting their work done.
It is the next important day on the Temple football schedule because that’s when Montel Harris is expected to get his degree from Boston College. Commencement ceremonies are 10 a.m. at Alumni Stadium.
Temple can’t comment on him now, but once he walks up to the podium, past commencement speaker Robert Woodruff, the uni can officially go about the process of securing his services.
Boston College says 4,443 are expected to receive degrees but doesn’t list who right now.
Yesterday, the BC football blog, “Soaring to Glory” wrote this:

Harris would be a big get for Temple and another BCS landing spot for the ACC’s all-time second-leading rusher.
Still, it’s not a slam dunk.
The uni would have to process the paperwork, apply for a special “Russell Wilson” exemption that would allow Harris to play right away.
Even if that goes through, Harris has a lot of work to do in order to be ready for this season.
He did not compete in BC’s spring practice due to rehabbing his injury.
Once here, he would have to prove himself and perhaps play second fiddle to Temple’s returning No. 1 all-purpose (yes, No. 1 over No. 2 Bernard Pierce) yards producer, Matty Brown.
Still, if all of this comes to pass, Brown will have someone at least as talented as Pierce to help him carry the load this fall and would free Jalen Fitzpatrick up to play his more natural position, slot receiver.
If Harris doesn’t come, Fitzpatrick could be Brown’s backup and incoming freshman Khalif Herbin would have to be brought up to speed in order to play BCS slot receiver right away.
:
A BC fan’s humorous take on the Montel Harris potential impact at Temple (from BC Interruption):

The urban dictionary’s definition of “tool” is “One who lacks the mental capacity to know he is being used. A fool.”
Urban dictionary, meet Villanova running back Kevin Monangai, Villanova’s tool.
The first part of that definition might not apply to Monangai, but the fool part certainly does.
I must admit, I never have a hard time getting up for a football game against Villanova.
No matter what the stakes or the difference of the level of football, it’s hard to muster any sympathy for a team representing a school that did its underhanded best to keep Temple out of the BCS picture.
Don’t let that Big East press conference charade fool you.

Now wearing No. 2 in your game program.

If this was up to Villanova, the Owls would remain in MAC hell forever.
That’s why I want to beat them 88-0 (although I would settle for 42-7). Err, make that 50-squat.
I don’t know if Temple’s football players, though, know all the machinations involved behind the scenes or feel the same level of dislike as most Temple fans do.
They do understand the language of trash talking, though.
To that end, I have to thank  Monangai, Villanova’s snap-on tool.
Monangai tweeted two months ago that “Temple is going to the Big East”  and “all the more reason for us to snap-on them.”
The first rule of trash talking is that if the guy you are fighting is bigger and faster and Temple tougher than you, your best chance is to lay in the weeds and knock him out with sneak attack, sort of like Japan in World War II.
It’s not the smartest thing in the world to walk up to the guy and announce you are going to “snap on” him.
At the time, I thought Monangai would be a non-contributing sub but it turns out he will be the No. 1 or No. 2 running back coming off a good spring practice.
According to Villanova’s official website, head coach Andy Talley was quoted as saying the following:

Austin Medley is the current No. 1 running back and he will be wearing No. 1, but Monangai will get plenty of snaps and wear No. 2 (he changed his number from 26 at the end of last season).
The Owls should have no problem finding No. 2.
Or getting up for this one, thanks to him.
Monangai fired the first shot in this war.
As President Roosevelt said  about Dec. 7, 1941, “it doesn’t matter who fires the first shot as much as who fires the last shot.”
Hopefully, the Owls end this last Mayor’s Cup with a nuclear-type spanking.

On the second Mother’s Day without my mom, I was going through my garage looking for summer stuff (tennis shoes, tennis rackets) and I realized I lost an electric pump for an air mattress.
While going through a box looking for that pump, I found a lot of Calvin and Hobbs’ comic strips she sent me when I was living in Doylestown and this was one of them.
 She loved them and cut them out carefully (to the edge) and sent me them snail mail.  Attached to the one shown (with an old-fashioned paper clip), she gave me a handwritten note and told me how much she loved and missed me.
Strange how people talk to you beyond the grave.
There is not much Temple football in this message, other than, if you have a mom, don’t take her for granted.
 Since I think all Temple football players and fans have moms, I know some will appreciate this story.
At least I hope so.

 Steve Addazio talks about John Youboty, Marcus Green and Ryan Alderman.

Summer reading season is near and, like a lot of people, I like to curl up with a good piece of fiction from time to time.
As a junior in high school, required reading was “1984” by George Orwell (some time before 1984, which I thought was centuries into the future at that time) and I polished that off in one six-hour sitting.
My latest reading material is the depth chart released by the Temple football coaching staff to Owlscoop.com editor John DiCarlo.

Steve Addazio is a much better football coach than he is an author.

I’ll call it “Depth Chart Blues” because I know it can’t possibly be serious, to borrow a phrase from John McEnroe.
The author, presumably a manuscript submitted by Steve Addazio, didn’t sit around at the typewriter for a long time.
Al Golden told me a long time ago (well, it seems like a long time ago) to take the depth chart with a grain of salt and I’ve followed that advice. Golden has a Masters in Sports Psychology from Penn State and often used the depth chart as lab work to light a fire under some talented-but-underachieving guinea pigs. I don’t think Addazio plays mind games using the depth chart or anything else.
Still, it is interesting to look at from time to time in order to figure out a starting lineup against Villanova.
The first clue I got that it wasn’t etched in stone was that Matt Falcone is listed as the second-team WILL linebacker. Matt Falcone hasn’t played in a real game since 2009. Not only that, he hasn’t practiced over a year (although he should by summer).
Hmm.
Yet unquestionably the best linebacker in the spring, Nate D. Smith, is not listed on the first or second team anywhere.
I’m going to stick my neck out here.
Nate D. Smith will start at middle linebacker no matter what the depth chart says.
Heck, I’d like to see Matt Falcone start at punter to relieve franchise kicker Brandon McManus of those duties but that’s a tall order for someone coming off a knee injury. Right now, the backup punter is listed as Nick Holland.
Falcone was a first-team Associated Press all-state punter from Palmerton High when he was a senior. He was also the team’s star quarterback, so he can make an occasional pass out of punt formation if called upon.
That’s non-fiction.
Until August, any review of the depth chart will have to be listed under the fiction category.

Malcolm Eugene is playing like he did in this 2010 highlight reel.

Pick up a college football magazine, ANY college football magazine, and the thing that strikes you other than they come up way too early is the recurring theme throughout.
“They will be hurt by the graduation of _____, at quarterback, ______ at running back and ______ at linebacker.
Almost none of the magazines will mention that a team MIGHT improve at the position where a starter left.

Yet I see that happening at Temple in AT LEAST five positions from the way it was at start of the 2011 season:

Chris Coyer

QUARTERBACK _ Chris Coyer is unbeaten (4-0) as a Temple starter. Given his productivity (three touchdown passes) after he was inserted in the Ohio game, I believe he would have been 5-0 had he played the first two series. Heck, you can make a strong argument that the New Mexico Bowl MVP might have been a difference-maker against Bowling Green, Penn State or Toledo, too. Coyer is a major upgrade from a Chester Stewart/Mike Gerardi hybrid. I’ve studied game tape of all the returning Big East quarterbacks and Coyer takes a back seat to none of them.

Sean Boyle

CENTER _ John Palumbo, the 2011 starter, was hobbled by injuries throughout his final season. Sean Boyle, a 2009 starter, is back and more healthy than ever. A lot of people around the Edberg-Olson Complex believe Boyle is a better center than Palumbo was and Palumbo was very, very good.
Plus, it’s only logical that if Boyle can start over Palumbo in the opening game fo the 2009 season, he’s better than Palumbo now, too. Palumbo was here in 2009 as well.
FREE SAFETY _ Kevin Kroboth was a three-year starter and an outstanding player for the Owls, but he was a heady guy who didn’t necessarily make “talent” plays like intercept the ball and take it to the house. Incoming freshman Nate Smith is such a player, as is current first-teamer Vaughn Carraway. So is developing redshirt sophomore Brian Burns. Unless something unforseen happens, like Kevin Newsome switching over the defense in August, I see both of those guys being able to make all the cover plays Kroboth was able to make and also be able to pick off a pass or two and go to the house. If I had to predict one “true” freshman starter, it would be Nate Smith. Archbishop Wood is a fine academic school and has prepared Smith for the rigors of Temple.  Wood doesn’t produce writers the quality of, say, Archbishop Ryan or Father Judge, but recently has done a much better job of producing BCS football talent than the two mentioned schools.

Nate D. Smith

MIDDLE LINEBACKER _ Nate D. Smith didn’t get the nickname “Superman” for nothing. A Temple coach who was around for the Al Golden Era and the beginning of the Steve Addazio Era said the Owls have never had a playmaking linebacker with Nate D. Smith’s ability. Stephen Johnson was very good in his final season and got the most out of his talent, but Nate D. Smith was a three-time first-team All-State player in New Jersey and if Nate D. Smith gets the most out of his talent, you’ve got to believe he’ll be a major upgrade over a walk-on from Methacton.
SLOT RECEIVER _ Joey Jones was a dependable slot receiver for the last couple of years, but Jones lost a lot of his explosiveness when he tore his Achilles tendon in his freshman year. Jalen Fitzpatrick has all of Jones’ dependability and adds a lot more explosive element. Fitzpatrick is a special talent, who can play all over the field. He’ll be a major upgrade over Jones, who I liked very much.

Nate Smith, the free safety

WIDE RECEIVER _ As good as Rod Streater was, and I think he was good enough to be drafted, Malcolm Eugene has shown more in practice than Streats ever did. As we found out with Chester Stewart, practice can be deceiving but the actual game (recruiting) tape on Eugene as a junior college player his a virtual highlight reel and the recruiting tape on Stewart was spotty at best. I think Eugene is going to be enough of an upgrade on Streater for everyone to notice. In fact, I like the different talents this receiving corps brings to the table better. Deon Miller is a nice 6-6 end zone target and Eugene and Fitzpatrick can make explosive plays in the passing game plus Ryan Alderman is a solid and dependable possession receiver. Alex Jackson is a potentially great tight end as well. You need that kind of mix.

This is how good programs become better and it appears Temple’s recruiting is so back-loaded (talent level in subsequent years) that in  most cases better players are coming in to replace the ones who leave.
That’s consoling to know after losing three players to the NFL draft and eight more to free agent contracts.

Often, we get suggestions/requests to take Temple Football Forever out of the google blogersphere and either create a dedicated domain name or join a “big-time” sports network, most notably SB Nation.
The Domain was out, because all of my work is here and I don’t have the technical ability to move it. Plus, I’ve gotten used to all the bells and whistles from the graphic end here.

SB Nation was tempting, but it required two things: 1) I cover all Temple sports; 2) If I ever leave the network, they get to keep the name and all of the intellectual “properties” (stories I’ve written on this website since 2005).
I don’t have the same level of passion for other Temple sports nor the desire to lose my work, so SB Nation was out (I do like their design templates).
Spreading the word about Temple football IS a passion of mine so I have decided to partner up with No 2-Minute Warning, a group of outstanding college sports websites.
This opportunity just dropped in our laps the other day and I’m proud to associate TFF’s name with a quality group of dedicated college sports websites like No 2-Minute Warning.
All they require is that little photo link you see under the TFF banner on the right and, hopefully, this will mean more eyeballs directed to TFF.
Word-of-mouth has been important to TFF for the last seven years and now No 2-minute warning gives us our first platform to spread the gospel in other forms.
Donations are the lifeblood of TFF (in seven years, we’ve only made $169 from the google ads, a little less than $30 a year) so we’re counting on your support to keep the website alive for the next seven years and, God-willing, beyond that.
We are offering advertising opportunities this season. For $100 a month, you get a clickable  ad underneath the No 2-minute warning link on the sidebar  (approximately the same size) directing TFF readers to your website. That’s ideal for say, Temple athletics, to push Temple tickets or for spots on campus like Pub Webb, Maxi’s or the Draught Horse or, say, any Pizza place in Philadelphia to push customers through the door or advertise their specials.
And from now until the first kickoff of the Villanova game, a $25 or more contribution yields a TFF bumper sticker. For more information on that, click on the “Support Temple Football Forever” spot on the sidebar below the poll question.
So supporting Temple Football Forever can be mutually beneficial.