Author Archives: Mike Gibson

02.23.12
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TU to the BE: Money should be no object

If you can’t see more Cherry in this photo than any other color, you need to
see an eye doctor immediately. Fortunately, I have 20/20 vision. So does Steve
Addazio, who also confirmed the numbers’ breakdown.
Today’s top stories on Yahoo sports

When I first heard what the holdup was on making today’s “handshake” agreement with the Big East a written one to join as early as this football season, I could only think of one word:
“Huh?”
That was in response to this:
“Temple is waiting to see if it can pay the $2.5 million buyout to the MAC.”
Money should be no object here, but I get the drift.

The university’s annual funding from Harrisburg was cut by $38 million, so paying $2.5 million on top of that cut for its sports programs to change leagues might not be viewed as good PR move for the school.

Heck, I watched Temple TV (it is Channel 50 on my cable system) this morning and uni president Ann Weaver Hart was saying “there’s going to be a lot of pain for everyone over the next year but we’ll get through it.”

I know all about pain.
If I have to go through another MAC season of forced Tuesday and Wednesday night home games and horrible road officiating, I’m going to have an ulcer.
I just decided I would be the greatest graduate in school history if I won the $60 million in the lottery tonight.
I would get into my beat-up, 125,000-mile 2004 Chevy Cavalier tomorrow morning, drive to Harrisburg and have one of those oversized checks deposited.

Most current BE fans are unaware that Temple
traveled 6,000 of its own fans to the New Mexico Bowl
or that 20,000 of the 23,000 in attendance at the 2009
Eagle Bank Bowl were Temple fans, but those
figures have been documented as true by both bowls.

Then I would get back into the Cavalier, drive back  across the state to Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, write out a check for $2.5 million and tell Temple AD Bill Bradshaw to wait a day or two so it can clear the bank.
I wouldn’t even blink an eye.
Then the Temple Alumni Review would write an article about me with the simple headline: “Greatest Grad Ever.”
I’d be the greatest grad ever because with my meager $2.5 million check, I’d faciilate a gold mine that would keep the school in the black long after I’m dead (which hopefully isn’t for 30 or so more years).
Think about it.
Temple has a 70K stadium in the heart of Big East territory. Lincoln Financial Field is a veritable gold mine and Temple is sitting right on top of it.
To get to that gold, all Temple needs to do is become a more than competitive Big East team, which most football experts will tell you is true right now.
It has a Big East-ready football team now, with the best coaching staff in the Big East  and the only coaching staff with three of its top five positions filled with guys who have won national championships as key parts of Florida’s staff.
Temple also has 15K students who will be living on campus for the next 30 years, who will become involved rabid alumni fans.

This is not your father or grandfather’s Temple, once a commuter school.
Give them the same competitive team they have now and the stadium fills up, the Temple brand goes national and applications for admission mulitiply tenfold.
That’s the kind of vision Temple needs now, whatever the cost.
Temple has a lot of grads with “want to” like me who have no “means to.”
I still think money should be no object.
West Virginia got $20 million together to buy out its agreement with the Big East. Enough of that should go to Temple to cover the $2.5 million. Even if the MAC holds up Temple for the two years notice, the parties should reach a settlement. Temple should suggest that Villanova take its place in the MAC to give UMass a travel partner.
After all, Temple is doing the Big East a huge favor by filling in an empty schedule.
If, though, money is the reason Temple ends up in MAC hell forever (or even one more day), I will scream.
So will anybody who cares even a little bit about Temple sports.
02.19.12
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Addazio’s impressive trifecta

It’s particularly sunny in Dazadelphia these days.

Forget Jeremy Lin and Linsanity.
I’ll take Steve Addazio and Dazmania any day over Lin.
At least in Dazadelphia because, even in this dead period of the offseason, I’ve never been more convinced that Steve Addazio is the guy to lead Temple to some, err, dazzling heights.
The first sign was Daz turning down Rutgers the way Steve Carlton used to shoo off reporters _ with a disinterested wave. The guy before Daz would have milked every ounce of the attention.  Not Daz.
Addazio’s turning down of Rutgers and his No. 1 recruiting class in the MAC, what he called “the best recruiting class in Temple history” were two breathtaking buzzer beaters but, for me, nothing made me admire Addazio more than his recent hiring of Ryan Day as offensive coordinator to replace Scot Loeffler. Day comes from Boston College, as does former BC offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers.
I would say “Thank, God” but that thanks is reserved for Daz.
In about one month’s of work, Addazio gave his Temple employers this impressive trifecta of accomplishments:
1) He turned down RU right away;
2) He produced the No. 1 recruiting class in the MAC;
3) He didn’t hire Matt Rhule as OC.
I was cringing at the prospect of Daz promoting Matt Rhule into the offensive coordinator spot he held in 2010 under Al Golden.
It would have been the easy pick.

Ryan Day turned out to be that somebody else.

It would have been the expected one.
It also would have been the incorrect one, in my mind.
In my 30 years of being a Temple season-ticket holder, I have never seen a more ill-conceived and mismanaged offense as I did for the 2010 Owls.
With a big, mean and nasty offensive line and weapons like Matty Brown, Mike Gerardi, Rod Streater, Joey Jones, Evan Rodriguez and Alex Jackson, Rhule’s offense produced a total of three points in an important game at Miami (Ohio) in 2010.
Three points.
That’s borderline comical, if it wasn’t so sad.
Against Ohio, with 10 days to prepare, Rhule’s first offensive play was an illegal formation. So what if the player lines up in the wrong formation? It’s the coach’s responsibility to drill into that player and the other 10 players what the formation is, ESPECIALLY on the first play of the game. That’s what 10 days of practice are for.
Now many say it wasn’t Rhule’s fault, that it was Al Golden micromanaging things.
That could have been true, but I’m a fact guy and not a theory guy.
FACT: The 2010 offense sadly underperformed visa ve their level of talent.
FACT: Rhule was sole offensive coordinator in 2010.
THEORY: Golden’s micromanaging MIGHT have had more to do with the non-production than Rhule’s leadership.
It could have been Golden’s fault. It could have been Rhule’s fault.
If it wasn’t Golden’s fault, I did not want to find out the hard way in 2012 and, thanks to Daz, I won’t have to.
FACT: The 2011 offense click on all cylinders, especially the last five games of the season.
Loeffler called the plays last year and the improvement was noticeable. Auburn noticed enough to hire Loeffler. Notice they did not hire Rhule, who has done an outstanding job as a recruiter and a linebacker’s coach at Temple in the past.  Just because you are a great recruiter and linebacker coach doesn’t mean you will be a great OC.
People ask me what I have against Rhule and my answer always is one word: Nothing.
That’s a fact. I just don’t want him as my OC.
Rhule is a great guy and big asset to the staff. Day and Rogers are great guys and big assets to the offense.
It’s all good now.
Day slides into the Loeffler spot and Rhule stays in the Rhule spot.
Works for me and I think that is the way it will work best for the Owls.
My admiration of Daz, which was already at the top of the chart, went off the charts with his recent restructuring of his coaching staff that served as the Cherry on top of a desert that included a spotless handling of the recruiting class and the RU situation.
Dazmania is the best word to describe it.
Or Dazzling.
I could care less about the Knicks, but I can’t wait until Cherry and White Daz.
I mean Day.

02.17.12
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Please keep the Tezsla family in your prayers

Anthony Tezsla was a tough linebacker in the Bruce Arians’ Era who later became a New Jersey State Trooper with three beautiful daughters.
Yesterday, in a horrible school bus crash in Burlington County, N.J., Anthony lost one of his daughters and his other two were first reported in critical condition.
As of this morning, one of those daughters was upgraded to stable condition while the other remained in critical care.
When I heard the name Anthony Tezsla, I knew he was one of us and I could feel my heart sink.
We should all say a prayer, many prayers, for Anthony and his family today and in the days ahead.

02.12.12
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Bradshaw, Hart headed to CUSA meeting

Conference USA
Big East
MAC

If you are a big fan of 1970s TV sitcoms like I am, you remember Sargent Schultz.
He was the Nazi who would say, “I know nothing. I hear nothing. I see nothing” when Colonel Hogan would break the prison camp rules on Hogan’s Heroes.
Well, when it comes to Temple and the conference realignment situation,  Temple AD Bill Bradshaw makes Sargent Schultz look like a blabbermouth.

Bill Bradshaw

That’s why I find Bradshaw’s trip to Dallas today intriguing. I did not hear it from him, but from reliable people that both Bill and Temple president Ann Weaver Hart were on the same plane to Dallas today.
Since I don’t think either is the other’s type, I’m guessing it must be on official business only and not a tryst.
Just so happens the CUSA meeting is in Dallas today.
CUSA lost a valuable member in Memphis. It is looking to replace that value with value.
I can’t think of a more valuable replacement than Temple.
Now I think the Big East is where Temple belongs. Most schools in the Big East are like Temple. Temple is in the East. I think Temple and the Big East were made for each other. I also think Cecily Tynan and I were made for each other but I can’t convince her of that and, besides, she’s married.
Temple isn’t married to the MAC. It’s sort of like a platonic friendship with no future.
Now that the Big East and Memphis are married, Temple has to move on from a platonic relationship and look to procreate its football legacy.
Maybe not.
There are only three reasons, as I see it, for Bradshaw and Hart to be in Dallas today:
1) Sign the papers for an all-sports membership;
2) Sign the papers for a football-only;
3) Hear what the CUSA has to offer.
It’s a tough call because Cecily (err, the Big East) has been a big tease of late and thrown out feelers that she might be interested.
CUSA is a hot number, sort of like Amy Buckman but nowhere near as hot as Cecily.
MAC is Cathy Gandolfo.
Amy has made clear that she has the hots for me and the feeling is mutual.
Cathy is no more than a friend.
Do you hold out for the dream girl or go for Amy or get stuck with Cathy?
We should find out more in at least a couple of days.
For me, it’s a 50/50 ball with Amy and Cecily. If Cecily doesn’t make her move soon, I’m going with Amy. I’m sitting by the phone but I’ve got a limited time to wait and if she doesn’t call, I’m outta here. I’ve waited long enough.
Cathy, we can still be friends.

02.08.12
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Memphis and Temple by the numbers

In addition to 2-, 1- and 2-win seasons the past 3 years, Memphis adds this fan base to BE football.

Memphis-Temple by numbers:

  • TV market (Temple 4th, 2,993,370 households; Memphis 49th, 669,940)

  • Full-time students (Temple 39,386; Memphis 22,755)

  • 2011 avg. football attendance (Temple 28,060; Memphis 20,078)

  • 2011 football record (Temple 9-4; Memphis 2-10)

  • 2010 football record (Temple 8-4; Memphis 1-11)

  • 2009 football record (Temple 9-4; Memphis 2-10)

  • 2011-12 current basketball record (Temple 17-5; Memphis 16-7)

  • 2012 football recruiting rank (Temple 54th, 1st in MAC; Memphis 87th, 6th in CUSA)

    • If there’s one famous quote that sums up Temple’s long-running sad saga with the Big East, it might be something Damon Runyon once said: “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” Runyon’s quote was in in reference to Ecclesiastes 9:11, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” Yeah, that pretty much sums up the Big East these days. By adding Memphis to ostensibly replace West Virginia today, the Big East inadvertently might have set the charges to blow up its own house. The BE is neither swift nor strong, bereft of men of understanding and today’s chance decision could prove its undoing. Memphis is the worst program in college football today and has been for the last three years. This story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal talks about the school’s putrid attendance and provides a photo of an Oct. 15 game against East Carolina. Despite what it looks like, it was not an end zone photo.

    Without a doubt, the smartest Owl
    ever (Wayne Hardin) meets the
    swiftest Owl ever (4.29 speedster
    Travis Shelton) at a luncheon
    on Monday.

    Now, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by an excellent reporter named Paul Zeise, Pitt is saying, “Hey, if West Virginia can leave by 2012, so can we” and may petition for early admission to the ACC. Syracuse could soon follow.
    Can you say implosion?
    Hey, at this rate, Villanova might be the only team left.
    From Temple’s standpoint, chaos is good.
    The more teams leave the BE, the better the chances that the Catholic Cartel’s blocking of Temple fails in the next go around which could be as early as weeks and months and not years.
    Does Temple want to even join this ship of fools?
    Well, yeah.

    College football is about the break off into the haves and have-nots and, no matter what you say about the current Big East group (even the leftovers), they are still part of the haves and probably will be.
    Big East schools will have a seat at that dinner table.
    Pressing their noses at the window looking in at the feast will be CUSA and MAC teams, unfortunately.
    They won’t even get scraps and, as a result, probably starve and die of hunger.
    Temple could stay in the MAC, but who’s to say what configuration college football will have for traditional MAC teams five years from now. I don’t want Temple to be in that group to find out.
    Implosion?
    Bring it on.

    02.02.12
    by

    Final month boosts Owls into ‘][‘op spot

    The 2012 Temple football recruiting class.

    Kevin Newsome was No. 2 PSU QB in 2009.

    Well, there were the 2010 baseball Giants and the 1993 Phillies and, now, you can put the 2012 Temple football Owls into that elite group.
    All three teams went from worst to first in a very short time.
    For the two baseball teams, we’re talking about last-place to first-place finishes in pennant races within a 365-day period.
    For our beloved football Owls, we’re talking about being ranked dead last in MAC recruiting (by Scout.com) as late as November to being ranked No. 1 (by both Scout and Rivals.com).
    From my money, give me Temple’s performance in football as being the most impressive.
    Steve Addazio carried the baton to the finish line to grab gold like Carl Lewis in the Olympic 400-meter relay race, getting the No. 7 all-purpose running back in the nation in Jamie Gilmore and Penn State transfer Kevin Newsome (once rated the No. 10 overall recruit in the nation) in the final days.
    The last Penn State quarterback who transferred to Temple, Steve Joachim, merely won the Maxwell Trophy emblematic of college football’s best player (1974). Here is a trip into the Newsome “way back” machine, if you consider Dec. of 2008 way back.

    Robinson: I’ve always loved Temple.

    Throw in Archbishop Wood defensive back Nate Smith, a West Virginia decommit that we talked about here on Saturday night, and the Owls moved to the top with bullet-like speed.
    Now I don’t put too much emphasis on stars because they are skewed in favor of the big-conference teams but this is the most impressive fact about the current Temple Owl group:
    Nineteen (yes, 19) of the 28 turned down offers (not just interest) by BCS schools to attend Temple.
    That, my friends, is how you win championships and I expect this group will join the current Owls in winning multiple titles, whether it is in the MAC or the Big East or somewhere else.
    This sent me scouring over the recruiting guides I got from attending Al Golden signing days and the highest number of definite BCS turn downs (not including the vague notion of interest) was Al Golden’s second recruiting class and that was a harvest of nine.
    I’m not sure how Addazio was able to quantify this as “Temple’s best recruiting class ever” which he did, but Daz can certainly make a strong argument that this is better than any Golden recruiting class. Best ever might be a little strong, since Temple recruiting classes brought in by Wayne Hardin and Bruce Arians were competing against a high BCS schedule, not one weighed down by eight MAC games a season.

    Still, the high school deeds of the playing coming into Temple University take a back seat to no era.
    Averee Robinson was 43-0 as a state championship wrestler during his junior year but said “truth be told, I really enjoy football more” and “I’ve always loved Temple.” Do you love this kid or what? With that kind of attitude, it won’t be long before he comes out from under brother Adrian’s shadow. He’s built low to the ground (6-1, 290) but nobody has the kind of leverage he does.
    Adrian’s number at Temple was 43, the same number of wins Averee had in wrestling last year and the same number of touchdowns Gilmore scored.

    Herbin ran away from
    the competition in N.J.

    Khalif Herbin also scored 36 rushing touchdowns against outstanding competition and averaged a sick 13.1 yards a carry from the line of scrimmage, often while taking off the entire second half because his Montclair (N.J.) team was benefiting from the Mercy Rule. I know they have him listed as a slot receiver, but I’d really like to see Daz give Herbin a shot at running back. Hey, if it worked for 5-5, 150-pound Matty Brown it will work for 5-7, 170-pound Herbin.
    This story calls Herbin “arguably the most electrifying player in the state” but I did not get a single argument when I asked a North Jersey colleague who would be the other part of that argument.
    “Nobody,” he said. “I guess the writer just wanted to use the word arguably but, honestly, there was no close second.”
    Truth be told, to borrow a phrase from Averee Robinson.

    For a complete list of bios and photos click here:

    02.01.12
    by

    ‘][‘ime to sign on the dotted ‘]["

    North Marion’s Jamie Gilmore could have gone anywhere. He chose Temple.

    Wednesday morning update: All 28 Temple recruiting targets have signed their LOIs, according to TU football office … complete bios and videos in TFF tomorrow

    This year’s event
    NOT open to public

    PHILADELPHIA – Wednesday, Feb. 1 is National Signing Day for football.
    Temple head coach Steve Addazio will discuss the 2012 recruiting class in a 4 p.m. media conference. This year’s event is not open to the public.
    Fans will be able to watch the press conference LIVE on OwlSports.com.
    Biographies and videos of the signees will be posted on OwlSports.com.
    Temple football opens spring drills in March, concluding with the annual Cherry & White Game on April 14.

    You can have the Super Bowl, World Series and the NBA finals but, to me, National Signing Day rates right up there with the first day of the NCAA Tournament as the most exciting sports day of the year.
    (Heck, I won the Inquirer’s NCAA pool last year so I have a personal stake in why the first day of the tournament will be extra special this year.)
    For Temple football fans, though, it’s ‘][‘ Day today, Feb. 1.
    It might have something to do with my teams not (like almost never) being in the Super Bowl rarely in the World Series and that I’m not a big fan of the NBA but National Signing Day has a special appeal.
    First, it’s an example of the circle of life.
    As sad as I am to see Bernard Pierce leave the household dinner table (although he did leave before desert), that’s how happy I am to welcome guys like Brandon Peoples, Jamie Gilmore, Khalif Herbin and Montrell Dobbs into the Temple family.
    I hope they work out as well as Bernard and, say, a lot better than Daryl Robinson, Tony “Soul Train” Cornelius or Eric Reynolds did.
    Only time will tell.
    

    Nate Smith decommited from West Virginia for TU.

    
    When the fax machine in the Edberg-Olsen Complex starts rolling today, the first 25 sheets of signed names will have Temple University football scholarships.
    Later that night, at the Liacouras Center, head coach Steve Addazio will be hosting a press conference to talk about the recruits. It will not be open to the public, but can be watched online.
    In the past, fans got to see the recruits on film and they looked like Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus on the big not-yet-HDTV screen.
    Gilmore is the No. 7-ranked all-purpose running back in the nation. (Thank you, Daz. That is just what this doctored ordered after Bernard Pierce left.)
    It’s a beautiful night that way.
    It might not be a rite of spring, but it’s certainly a rite of Groundhog’s Day Eve.
    On the average, no more than five of the signees provide immediate help to the next varsity team but I can see at least this much help in the current class.
    Gilmore and Herbin I see as helping right away.
    Once Daz gets over this notion of using Harrisburg’s Jalen Fitzpatrick as a running back and moves him into his more natural slot receiver role (picture a more explosive Joey Jones), it’ll be up to guys like Herbin, Gilmore and Peoples to fight for that coveted backup tailback spot to Matty Brown. (The way I read the NCAA partial qualifier rule is that Dobbs won’t be eligible to play for the 2012 Owls.)
    If there is an area of need in this class, that’s it _ a reliable and explosive Brown backup.
    Although I would like to see the Owls move Kenny Harper over to safety to bolster that side of the ball, I think they are pretty much OK in other areas. Deon Miller should be a big-time wide receiver. If Fitzpatrick has any hands at all, he should complement him on the other side with a reliable “Wes Welker-like” type in Ryan Alderman as a probable starter.
    Daz’s final three days produced a harvest (West Virginia DB de-commit Nate Smith has joined the fold) that should push this group to the top the MAC-rated classes.
    That’s not as important now as it will be five years from now but help, to quote John Kerry, is on the way.

    01.29.12
    by

    TU people needs Peoples

    An idea of the Brandon Peoples’ running style.

    Just by sheer dumb luck, I ran into Brandon Peoples the other night.
    I was coming out of the LA Fitness Center and holding the door right in front of me was a young man wearing an Archbishop Wood jacket and “B. Peoples” across the back.
    “Welcome to Temple,” I blurted out.
    He flashed a broad smile and an inquistive look.
    “How’d you know that?” he asked.
    I told him I’m a big Temple football fan.
    We shook hands.

    Potential TU backups at RB

    (numbers represent rushing figures during each player’s final high school season while playing the tailback position:
    Kenny Harper, Gainesville (Fla.) Buchholz (2010) _ 17 carries, 179 yards, three touchdowns (mostly played defense).

    Brandon Peoples

    Darius Johnson, Philadelphia Overbrook (2007) _ 147 carries, 1051 yards, nine touchdowns (his last high school year was indeed 2007).
    Brandon Peoples, Archbishop Wood (2011) _ 103 carries, 1,013 yards, 22 touchdowns.
    Spencer Reid, Harriton (2010) _ 142 carries, 960 yards, 12 touchdowns.
    Note: Khalif Herbin and Jalen Fitzpatrick, currently tabbed as slot receivers, had the most mind-boggling senior year rushing stats but those came out of the quarterback position. Herbin (Montclair, N.J.), had 105 carries, 1,950 yards and 43 touchdowns. Fitzpatrick, from Harrisburg, finished his senior year with 1,116 yards rushing with 13 TDs on 115 carries.
    Sources: tedsilary.com, pennlive.com, NJ.com., Gainesville Sun.

    “Good luck, man,” I said.
    “Thanks,” he said.
    (Geez, I should have asked him if he was related to Gary Peoples. I used to play fullcourt noontime pickup basketball 20 or so years ago at the Doylestown YMCA with a great player from Abington named Gary Peoples. The next time I see Brandon, I will ask.)
    If I had left LA Fitness five SECONDS later or five seconds earlier, I might have never crossed paths with Brandon Peoples until he arrived at Temple. Funny how those things happen. Heck, I did not even know he worked out at the same place I do. (And I only go to that LA Fitness because they have the TVs attached to the cardio machines.)
    Meanwhile, I’ve thought about that “good luck” remark for the past couple of days.
    A real smart man once said that luck is result of opportunity and hard work.
    It appears to me now that the opportunity part is right there for Brandon Peoples.
    Matty Brown is the No. 1 back and he’s earned it. Heck, I might be prejudiced by I think Matty Brown is the best running back in the Mid-American Conference by far and that’s not an indictment of the MAC as it is my belief that Matty is THAT good.
    The opportunity comes right behind Brown and that’s where Peoples comes into play.
    Right now, Temple’s backups at tailback are (in no particular order) Spencer Reid, Jalen Fitzpatrick, Kenny Harper and Darius Johnson. None of them had particular distinguished high school careers running the football.
    Peoples, on the other hand, did have an outstanding career running the football.
    What was that Bill Parcells said?
    Oh  yeah: “The best predictor of future success is past success.” (I wish Al Golden would have consulted that mantra before signing Vaughn Charlton, but that’s a whole other story.)
    Temple is about to sign a megastar in Montrell Dobbs, but it appears as though Dobbs won’t be eligible for the 2012 season.
    It does not look like that Addazio will reach out and get a big-time JUCO at the last minute, like Tiger Powell of Lake City, Fla.
    That leaves the incoming recruits, led by Peoples.
    I used to get Brandon and his cousin, Desmond, confused.
    They both have the same last name.
    They both played for Archbishop Wood.
    I solved that by associating Brandon Peoples with another BP (Bernard Pierce).
    If this BP has even half the career the other BP had, Temple’s peoples (fans) will be pleased.

    01.28.12
    by

    Source: RU leaning toward Flood

    Call me naive, but I believe him.

    In a perfect world, Steve Addazio would take the microphone at halftime at today’s St. Joseph’s University at Temple basketball game and say something like:
    “I was offered an opportunity to interview for the head coaching job at Rutgers yesterday and I declined. I’m not going anywhere. Temple is where I wanted to be all along and this university is better-positioned to do great things than Rutgers.”
    Cue the thunderous applause from the 10,006 fans in attendance.
    Band breaks out into T for Temple U.
    Students storm the court at halftime to slap Daz on the back.
    Owls finish up their rout of St. Joe.
    As we all know this is not a perfect world and that probably won’t happen.
    (Don’t say I didn’t throw the suggestion out there, though.)
    Still, Temple fans should calm down.
    I have a good friend who I worked with here, now working in North Jersey, who said his paper is earlier today was about  to break the story that Florida International University (FIU) coach Mario Cristobal will accept the head coaching job. If that fails, current assistant Kyle Flood would be the fall-back choice.
    Now it looks like Cristobal doesn’t see the Rutgers’ job as the Alabama of the North (only Rutgers’ fans are that delusional) and he’s going to pass.
    That opens up the, err, floodgates for Flood.
    Flood would not be the big splash RU fans are looking for but Greg Schiano’s leaving for Tampa Bay made the timing bad all around.
    Pernetti was given permission to speak with Addazio, but that never made it past the phone call stage according to my source.
    The guy is a first-rate reporter and I believe him.
    Still, I long for the days when Temple football had coaches like Harry Litwack, John Chaney and Fran Dunphy, guys who see  the Owls as a destination not just a step along the way.
    I long for the days when Temple football had a guy like Bruce Arians, who did not take the Virginia Tech job when it was flat-out offered to him (not just an interview), saying, “I couldn’t leave my Temple kids.”
    I long for the days when we had a guy like Wayne Hardin, who turned down the offensive coordinators’ job with the Dallas Cowboys to stay and do big things at Temple.
    Before the game with Wyoming, Steve Addazio said he was that kind of guy, saying that he loved Temple and could see this as his last stop.
    I sense that Steve is different than Al Golden in that he is principled and loyal enough not to leave after one year at Temple.

    01.25.12
    by

    Joe Paterno and Temple

    Joe Paterno and Wayne Hardin promote series.

    By Mike Gibson
    Every death is an incredibly sad thing, but I can’t help but think Joe Paterno’s passing on Sunday was sadder than most.
    Paterno was faced with reporting a repugnant crime, something none of us ever even think about, and he went to someone who was effectively the head of the Penn State police department.
    I thought he did his duty.
    He could have done more and, in retrospect, he would have done more.
    I don’t think that should erase all of the wonderful things he did for Penn State in particular and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in general.
    The true measure of a man is how many people whose lives he has touched in a positive way and I think Paterno more than met the measure.
    I’ve never even been aware of a man who came into contact, directly or indirectly, through more Pennsylvanians than Joe Paterno.
    My colleague at the Inquirer and fellow Temple News sports editor, Joe Juliano, often told me great stories of the “off-the-record” cocktail parties for Penn State beat writers. Paterno held them at his modest home a block or two away from Beaver Stadium. I wish I could tell you some of those stories, but off the record means off the record to me.
    Even after the man’s death.
    Paterno would have a cocktail or two and loosen up, giving the reporters a more human side of the legend.
    When it comes to Temple, I have my own Paterno story.
    As I young Temple fan, I read an anecdote that appeared, ironically enough, in a Bill Conlin column in  in the Philadelphia Daily News about Temple signing a deal to play Penn State beginning in 1975.
    “The guy who scheduled Temple must have been drunk,” Conlin quoted Paterno as saying, referring to the PSU athletic director at the time.
    Who knows, maybe Conlin both picked up the quote at one of those cocktail parties and violated a confidence mentioning the exchange.
    I have a strong suspicion both of the above are correct.
    Either way, the remark stirred enough of my fuel that I wrote Paterno a letter (back in those days we wrote handwritten letters), detailing how improved Temple was and that the Owls would be a worthy foe.
    Paterno wrote me a letter back, also handwritten, and admitted to the quote but said he was first against the idea but, upon refection, thought the series would be a “great gift to our wonderful Philadelphia alumni.”
    (Originally, the plan was to play all of the games in Philadelphia but that changed when the first one ended in a 26-25 win for Penn State at Franklin Field in 1975.)
    At the end of the letter, Paterno wrote:
    “Good luck to Temple.”
    I wish I had saved it but, to the best of my knowledge, it was in a shoe box I lost in one of my many moves since.
    Later, while working at the Doylestown Intelligencer, I fielded a call every Thursday morning from Paterno to Terry Nau, the sports editor of the Intel at that time. Nau and Paterno were friends from State College, where Nau was sports editor of the defunct daily the Pennsylvania Mirror.
    I was floored when he first called.
    “Hold on, Mr. Paterno,” I said.
    “Mike, it’s Joe,” Paterno said.
    “OK, here’s Terry.”
    On one of the calls, I mentioned to him that I wrote him a letter as a kid about the resumption of the Temple series and thanked him for his handwritten response.
    He said he remembered. He might have just said that, but I chose to think he really did remember.
    Love the guy, but always wanted to beat him just once to get back for the drunk comment.