From left, Jared Williams, Jamal Schulters, Kee-Ayre Griffin
By Mike Gibson
When he took over the head coaching job, Al Golden said the one thing fans will notice about him and his staff is a well-thought-out plan for Temple football success.
With today’s class of 25 and two holdovers from last year, Golden’s plan is crystal clear:
Speed kills.
Two classes, both lightning quick at all positions on the field.
One kid from the prior regime, Travis Shelton, has “Devin Hester-type” speed and, in case you don’t know what that is, Hester is the fastest football player in the world.
Or at least tied for that distinction with his cousin, Travis, who both have been clocked in a 4.27 blur.
Temple has Travis for two more years and, with this class, more of the same kind of speed for three years beyond that.
Daryl Robinson is the fastest player in Philadelphia high school history and he runs “only” a 4.37.
This team has the potential to literally run away from the rest of the Mid-American Conference in a couple of years.
If all goes right, maybe sooner. Temple appears to be incredibly deep and talented at running back right now, where a number of performers are capable of being “the guy” including
Jamal Schulters, one of the most recent acquisitions. Or it could be Kee-Ayre Griffin, who will finally arrive after being initially heralded as the jewel of the 2006 class.
“After I decided on Temple, a lot of schools still tried to come after me,” Robinson said on Tuesday. “My commitment to Temple was always strong.”
So was the commitment of the rest, including a running back named Jared Williams and a defensive end pass-rushing specialist named Muhammad Wilkerson. This
Muhammad is a mountain of a man who opposing quarterbacks are going to, whether they are like or not.
Even the interior linemen, people like Derek Dennis, are incredibly fast and athletic for their size.
Schools like Miami of Florida and the University of Southern California have proven plans for success with a foundation of speed.
Al Golden has spent the last two years acquiring that kind of speed.
It should be fun watching it kill for the next four years.

By Mike Gibson
There are all kinds of good recruiting stories out there.
In fact, with this incoming class of 25 new Temple Owls, there are probably 25 good stories.
For now, though, we’ll concentrate on the interesting case of one Chester Stewart.
Temple offered a scholarship to this kid without ever looking at a video.
Stewart finished his senior season with stats you wouldn’t normally find being produced by a big-time prospect (1,076 yards, 17 TDs).
In fact, Stewart attended a camp for quarterbacks last spring and Al Golden liked him enough to offer him a scholarship on the spot.
The story, or so it goes, was that Golden looked on as Stewart completed 10 straight passes in a seven-on-seven (no pads, no rush) drill and offered him a scholarship on the spot.
I usually like to see my quarterbacks in a real game with a real rush putting up real numbers, like Sto-Rox’s Adam DiMichele (2,967 yards, 36 TDs his senior year) but I’m going to have to trust Golden on this one.
Stewart accepted.
Golden didn’t look at not even one image of film.
He just liked what he saw in the one day at 11th and Diamond.
Stewart, who never took a snap at quarterback in a varsity game before this season, made Golden look, well, golden with his one year as a high school varsity quarterback.
He led DeMatha to an unbeaten season and threw the deciding TD pass in front of 9,000 fans for the D.C. Metropolitan championship.
Even more impressive about this young man is the strength of his character.
After committing to Temple, Stewart remained steadfast in that commitment despite being wooed by more high-profile programs. Temple made a commitment to Stewart and Stewart, in turn, made good on his commitment to Temple.
It’s with those kind of people that Temple will eventually turn this thing around.
We hope.

Joe Jones was Broward County’s top tailback.

By Mike Gibson
It’s not that often a three-star running back falls into your lap during the last few days of the recruiting process.
If what Owlscoop.com is reporting today turns out to be true, that’s just what happened to Temple University.
Joe Jones, from Broward County, Florida _ perhaps the nation’s top county, along with nearby Dade _ for Division IA talent, committed to the Owls today.
The Internet is full of accolades for Jones (see player No. 9 on this link), a 4.4 speedster who received solid offers from both Central Florida and South Florida and interest from even more high-profile schools.
The Miami Herald called Jones “one of the hottest recruits in South Florida.” Go to the bottom of this link for that evaluation.
Jones’ Temple selling point: Immediate playing time and the charisma of the young coaching staff, led by Al Golden.
This is a HUGE get by Golden, perhaps the No. 1 or No. 2 one by the coaching staff in this already impressive class.
Perhaps more importantly, this is a solid decision by this young man who has enough belief in his athletic ability that he’s going to be able to make an impact right away.
He will and so will the Owls.

By Mike Gibson
Quick.
Name the only school with projected starters on both teams in the upcoming Super Bowl.
USC?
Nah.
Notre Dame?
Nice try.
Ohio State?
Getting closer.
Penn State?
Still getting closer.
Rutgers?
Nah, you went too far.
Temple?
Got it.
Temple is the only school in the nation with projected starters on both teams in this year’s Super Bowl.
Raheem Brock (pictured) is listed as a starter for the Indianapolis Colts at defensive end.
Jason McKie is listed as a starter for the Bears at fullback.
And even Colts’ utility man, an all-time pass rusher at Temple like his dad, is getting some props.
“Who would have thought (Dan) Klecko would be our leading touchdown receiver in the playoffs?” Indy quarterback Payton Manning said after the Colts beat the Pats, 38-34, in the AFC championship game.
Who would have thunk it?
Temple players are no strangers to Super Bowls.
In the past, Anthony Anderson (running back) and Randy Grossman (tight end) played for great Steeler teams and Dan Klecko himself has been to one Super Bowl (de-activated for another) with the Patriots.
Alshermond Singleton played for Tampa Bay in its recent Super Bowl win.
We could go on and on but won’t.
Often, the Super Bowl MVP isn’t the star of the team but a guy who comes to the forefront.
Maybe it will happen for Raheem, Dan or Jason.
The message is clear to every kid in every corner of the United States: If you want to go to the Super Bowl, play for Temple.
Good luck to the Owls in this year’s Super Bowl and to those who sign on the dotted line with the Owls in a few days, the future Super Bowl representatives from what will be a winning career at Lincoln Financial Field.

From left, Elisha Joseph, Amara Kamara, Marcus Minor

By Mike Gibson
Go through the list of the latest Temple University football recruits and there is a common thread to almost all of them.
They either initially signed with or were recruited by Bowl Championship Series (BCS) schools.
That’s important because no Mid-American Conference recruiting group lists as many athletes with BCS pedigrees as Temple does. You win with good players and good coaching.
Temple got the coaching part of the equation solved when it jettisoned itself of Bobby Wallace in favor of Al Golden.
It is now taking care of the player end, getting the No. 1-ranked MAC class in, when all is said and done, two straight seasons.
Getting the best players two straight years certainly doesn’t hurt your chances of posting the best record soon.
The newest Owls, Amara Kamara, Morris Blueford and Elisha Joseph, not only have that kind of pedigree but heap as much lavish praise on the Temple program, coaches and players as have been heaped on them via their impressive press clippings.
Elisha Joseph _ By all accounts the 17th Owl, and most intriguing. He was all-state in Connecticut as a 6-4, 195-pound tight end/defensive end, but we could not find a single newspaper clipping detailing his accomplishment on the field. This should not be surprising since his school, Kent High, is a Hartford Public School and the only paper that covers that school is the large city Courant, which doesn’t routinely do features on hig school players.
Amara Kamara _ The North Jersey product and linebacker flows to the ball like a magnet. Read this story in the Newark Star-Ledger.
Wallace Bates _ A special PAC-10 signee out of high school who was looking to make an impact in that league right away. Chances are, he will make an immediate impact on college football in general and the MAC in particular. Here’s an interesting story off the University of Southern California football page. Signed today.
Morris Blueford _ If you are talking about Pedigree, you can start with Blueford. His father by the same name was a great player at Virginia Tech. The younger Blueford comes from a Hampton Roads’ recruiting area that rivals Florida’s Tampa Bay in terms of producing D1A-quality athletes. Golden now has his imprint there with Blueford, the son of an FBI agent.
Marcus Minor _ Got to love the comments he made in this story. There has been some discussion about whether academic issues could hinder or slow his arrival in Philadelphia. We may have to wait until mid-January to find that out.

Al Golden’s message is a compelling one.
By Mike Gibson
We’re No. 1.
How’s that?
Temple football was at the top of two interesting lists this weekend.
One was a NBC-TV list of important games of the 2006 season, where the Owls’ 28-14 win over Bowling Green on Oct. 28, 2006 was listing as one of the “11 top games” in the top 10 games of the season. The writer indicated that he was adding the Owls because so many groups of 10 (see, Big 10) now include a No. 11.
The more important list where the Owls currently are No. 1 is the Scout.com recruiting list. Even though Scout.com rather incorrectly lists the Owls as a “1A independent”, Temple’s official list of 13 recruits rates it as No. 1 in the MAC.
Since Temple is joining the MAC as a full-fledged member in 2007, its recruiting class probably deserves to be listed with the MAC teams now.
Whatever, Temple is No. 68 overall in the country and No. 1 in the MAC with 12 recruits left. The next MAC school, Miami (Ohio) is No. 75. Evidently, Al Golden’s commitment to Temple and his belief in the university and its football future is connecting with young people.
Here’s the Scout.com list, as of today:
Rk. School Commits Conf. Points Top
100

Off. Def. Sp.T. H.S. J.C. Avg.
Rat. Prv.
Rk.*
t50. Texas Tech 15 Big 12 964 0 0 1 8 8 6 1 14 1 2.60 50.
52. Connecticut 19 Big East 962 0 0 2 5 8 10 1 18 1 2.32 52.
53. Purdue 15 Big Ten 900 0 0 0 7 9 5 1 15 0 2.47 53.
54. North Carolina State 17 ACC 884 0 0 1 5 10 7 0 16 1 2.24 54.
55. Michigan State 14 Big Ten 796 0 0 2 3 8 6 0 14 0 2.36 55.
56. Stanford 10 Pac-10 783 0 0 1 6 7 2 1 10 0 2.80 56.
t57. Louisville 10 Big East 765 0 0 2 6 7 2 1 9 1 3.00 58.
t57. UTEP 22 Conf USA 765 0 0 0 4 13 9 0 20 2 2.18 57.
59. Washington State 16 Pac-10 711 0 0 2 5 9 7 0 11 5 2.56 59.
60. Boise State 19 WAC 669 0 0 0 5 10 9 0 18 1 2.26 60.
61. East Carolina 16 Conf USA 657 0 0 0 3 8 8 0 16 0 2.19 61.
62. South Florida 16 Big East 633 0 0 0 4 6 10 0 14 2 2.25 62.
63. Arizona State 8 Pac-10 624 0 0 1 5 3 5 0 6 2 2.88 63.
64. Duke 18 ACC 622 0 0 0 4 12 6 0 18 0 2.17 64.
65. Wake Forest 13 ACC 604 0 0 0 3 7 6 0 13 0 2.15 65.
66. Southern Miss 17 Conf USA 596 0 0 1 4 11 5 1 14 3 2.24 66.
67. Indiana 14 Big Ten 551 0 0 0 2 10 4 0 13 1 2.14 67.
68. Temple 15 I-A Ind 518 0 0 1 1 8 7 0 13 2 2.07 68.
69. Houston 18 Conf USA 495 0 0 0 2 12 6 0 17 1 2.00 70.
70. Kansas 14 Big 12 484 0 0 1 3 6 8 0 10 4 2.14 69.
71. Vanderbilt 14 SEC 482 0 0 0 1 8 6 0 14 0 2.07 71.
72. Central Florida 12 Conf USA 474 0 0 1 2 7 4 1 11 1 2.33 72.
73. Iowa State 8 Big 12 454 0 0 1 1 5 3 0 5 3 2.38 73.
74. TCU 8 MWC 439 0 0 1 2 4 4 0 8 0 2.50 74.
75. Miami (Oh) 13 MAC 438 0 0 0 1 7 6 0

By Mike Gibson
The subject was broached to a high-ranking Temple official in the hallway of the Liacouras Center recently.
“How are we going to keep Al Golden?” a man asked the official. “I mean, not necessarily now but in the next year or two when he has some success?”
The guy in the know winked.
“We’ve got that taken care of,” he said.
“You mean his salary?” the man said.
“Although he is well-paid, no. I can’t get into specifics but it’s taken care of …”
One member of the search committee who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons filled in the blanks for us.
We’ve been told that Golden’s contract states that he must not have any contact with any other school for most of the length of the current contract. At least five of the six years.
Golden’s not only cool with that, he and his agent suggested it. They felt they could not achieve the level of success they wanted to achieve at Temple with any speculation about his future over the formative first few years.
Golden alluded to it as much the next day, when he said, “the university has made a commitment to me and my commitment to them is that I will build a house of brick, not straw.”

You can’t finish the job when the neighbor uptown wants his house worked on, too.
One of the best-kept secrets coming out of Golden’s initial press conference over a year ago was his salary.
Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw wasn’t talking.
Then Temple president David Adamany wasn’t talking.
Nobody on the board of trustees was talking.
Nobody on the search committee was talking.
Then.

But the night before, an excited Golden _ perhaps not knowing about the next day’s gag rule _ was open enough about it to a Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter. Golden is making $575,000 a year _ more than double what the highest salary of the current best-paid Mid-American Conference coach makes. This is an impressive commitment by any standards.
When you are willing to make that kind of financial commitment to an unproven young coach, the people making that investment wanted protection.
Temple got that protection. It’s the kind of protection Idaho didn’t think about getting when it went after Dennis Erickson. Maybe it should have.
In fact, the plan was formulated by members of the search committee and Golden and his agent signed off on it before he was even selected for the job.
Al Golden is going nowhere until this brick house is the envy of all in the MAC neighborhood.
And when it is finished, chances are Golden is going to want to enjoy living in it for awhile.

By Mike Gibson
It’s been less than a month since the most important first season of Al Golden’s head coaching career.
We’re not talking about the football season that recently ended.
We’re talking about recruiting season.
This time, a full one.
Golden has hit the ground running and, in this race, he’s got Travis Shelton-type speed.
If the best recruiters in the country run a 4.5, Golden runs a Shelton-like 4.27.
Or at least a Daryl Robinson-style 4.31.
Despite recruiting for a school that has won zero and one game in successive seasons, Golden is recruiting with a zeal that produces impressive results.
Collegefootballnews.com named Temple’s 2006 class the No. 1 recruiting class in the MAC.
All signs are that this 2007 one will blow that one well off the charts.
Golden is Temple’s “Big Man on Campus” and he was escorting as many as 16 recruits around Temple Town this weekend, almost all larger in stature than the former Penn State tight end who will be their head coach.
From all the information we’ve been able to gather so far, Temple has at least 13, maybe as many as 15 or 17, commitments headed for 25.
Of the following, 13 are solid Temple verbals. Tempe is hopeful about Cooper signing, lured by the promise of not only some immediate playing time, but some immediate IMPACT playing time:
Daryl Robinson, North Catholic _ The Philadelphia Daily News’ co-player of the year in the city, Robinson scored 26 touchdowns on the best North Catholic team of the modern era. In the summer, he was listed as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com and rated the No. 15 cornerback prospect in the nation. He’s locked down three Division IA receivers this season.
Delano Green, Fork Union Military _ One of two Fork Union players at the Temple football banquet, who had what was described as a “fantastic” performance in a combine in late November. As a result, got two solid offers from ACC teams. Stands by his Temple commitment. Chances are another big-time Fork Union catch will verbal to the Owls in the next few days.
Charles Stewart, DeMatha (Md.) _ Starting quarterback and versatile all-everything athlete from one of USA Today’s top 25 teams. Tossed game-winning touchdown pass in D.C. championship game in front of 9,000 fans.
Marcellus Grigsby, Sacramento City College _ Same area that produced Tim Brown (who went to City College of San Francisco), Grigsby is considered one of the best JUCO running backs in the country and someone who could conceivably replace Brown as the Owls’ feature back. Grigsby is a mid-year transfer and will enter Temple in January.
Corwin Acker, Maryland _ Named the top running back in his Maryland county of Montgomery and named county Player of Year for struggling 1-9 Blake team despite encountering defenses designed to stop him. Rushed for 1,490 yards and 13 touchdowns. Runs a 4.4-40.
Elijah Joseph, Kent School (Ct.) _ Brother of former Owl recruit Alex Joseph. Great instincts to the ball. Reminds some Temple coaches of current Owl Junior Galette.
Matt Balasavage, Lancaster Catholic _ Perfect tight end for Golden’s pro-style offense, has height (6-5) and great hands and comes from a championship program. Caught 35 passes for 515 yards and five touchdowns. Also played defensive end for the Crusaders.
Kit Anderson, Neshaminy _ Running back also comes from a perennial contender. Not only the captain of the team, crowned King of his senior class. An excellent student and former teammate of current Owl starter Georg Coleman. Owls are concentrating on adding some speed and Anderson is one of seven recruits who have posted sub-4.5-40 times.
Chris Tremel, West Essex, New Jersey _ The 6-4, 260-pound defensive lineman has eye-opening speed (4.9-40) for a man his size. Owls currently have plenty of opportunities for young linemen to make their mark and Tremel could move up the depth chart quickly.
Richie Walls, Downingtown East _ Can play corner, or safety, running back or wide receiver. Runs a 4.37 40.
Tyreek Spain, Wissahickon _ 6-3, 215 pass-rush end who runs a 4.8 40 and turned down solid offers from fellow MAC teams Buffalo and Akron for Owls.

“I could not have been happier after Daryl told me he picked Temple. Coach Golden is a great guy and a great coach and he is on the verge of achieving some really incredible things at Temple and I’m glad Daryl is going to be a big part of that.”
_ North Catholic head coach Chalie Szydlik

By Mike Gibson
We can only guess what went on during the most recent phone call between Temple head coach Al Golden and North Catholic superstar Daryl Robinson, who verbally committed to Temple in July.

Robinson de-committed from an oral to West Virginia, then said when committing to Temple that “my recruiting is over. I’m done.”
Yesterday, in a Ted Silary story, Silary quoted Robinson as saying “some schools want me on offense and some on defense.”
Without asking Robinson point-blank, Silary took it upon himself to interpret that Robinson’s commitment to Temple was waning, too.

We can only guess how this made Golden feel. Maybe the conversation went something like this:
Golden: Daryl, what’s this, ‘Some schools want me’ quote all about?
Robinson: I guess I misspoke coach. I’m still firm. In fact, last week, I talked to (Northeast High superstar) Sean Evans and tried to get him to join me at Temple.
Golden: That’s what I like to hear. Just wanted to clear that up. We can’t wait to show you around. I just wanted to remind you that over 90 percent of Division I guys never make it to the pros, but a lot of them do go on to have great careers in business. In business, Daryl, your word is your bond and it doesn’t look good to go back on your word twice in such a public way. You are going to be big in this area long after your NFL career is over, if you are lucky enough to have one. You’ve got to establish your trustworthiness now. This would be a good way to prove to people in your hometown you’ve grown up.
Robinson: I know, coach. My word is good. See you next week, coach.
Golden: We can’t wait to show you around. See you next week, Daryl.
Robinson: Bye, coach.
Golden: Bye, Daryl.
We can only hope that’s the way things went down. There are all sorts of lowlifes out there in the college football world trying to put a bad bug in Robinson’s ear.
Let’s hope he follows the same heart that led him to Temple in July and not the lowlife slimeballs who are trying to get him to change his mind.

By Mike Gibson
Well, it was a great idea while it lasted.
Approximately two weeks.
Former Temple football coach Wayne Hardin announced a couple of weeks ago, on the air with athletic director Bill Bradshaw, that he would personally spearhead a plan that would “guarantee” 66,000 fans in the seats for Temple’s 2007 opening game with Navy.
The lynchpin of that plan was to move that game from Saturday, Sept. 1 to Thursday night, Aug. 30.

Hardin said on the air then that Bradshaw would “get to work” on moving the game on Monday.
Bradshaw has since ran into an old nemesis: The Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles are supposed to be “co-tenants” at Lincoln Financial Field with the Owls but treat the relationship more like a spoiled child, reluctant to share their new toy with their football younger brothers.
They made the Owls wait until two weeks before a scheduled 2003 opener with Villanova to even sign the stadium lease, creating a nightmare for both the Temple promotions and box office people. The Philadelphia Inquirer estimated that 10,000 fans walked home, rather than wait in long ticket lines that day. Still, the Owls and Wildcats drew 30,000 mostly irritated customers.
Now the Eagles have told Bradshaw to cool his jets because the Jets or some other NFL team might like to use that night for a meaningless pre-season exhibition game.
Temple needs close to a full year to promote the game to get the kind of crowd Hardin guaranteed. It needed the Thursday night prior to the Labor Day.
Wouldn’t it be great to see a billboard on I95 and I76 with a photo of Hardin and Golden asking fans to set aside the night of Aug. 30, 2007 for Navy and the Owls?
Or a radio spot from Hardin asking for a “personal favor” from all Temple people to attend the game?
And even then most were highly skeptical that Hardin could pull off this ambitious task.
It was an admirable goal for someone who was head coach at both Navy and Temple.
“Temple has 250,000 alumni living in the Philadelphia area, 30,000 full-time students and about 10,000 of them living on campus,” Hardin said. “There’s no reason Temple can’t get this done. If Temple put 66,000 in the seats, people around town might see that and think, ‘Well, maybe Temple has something here.’ “
He sold Bradshaw, who pledged to do whatever he could to help Hardin.
“When Wayne makes up his mind to do something, it’s hard to say no to him,” Bradshaw said.
Evidently, though, it’s not hard for Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles’ owner to say no to Temple or Bradshaw.
At best, the Owls could get the night.
At best, they won’t hear about it until around March 29, 2007. That’s when the NFL is scheduled to release its preseason schedule.
The Eagles have told Bradshaw to cool his jets until then.
Bradshaw is looking into moving the game to Friday night or waiting for the Eagles.
Friday won’t work because the Labor Day crowd has left for the shore and the Poconos by then.
Wednesday won’t work because the NCAA won’t allow teams to play before Thursday.
Thursday would work.
Would it draw 66,000?
Highly doubtful, but there’s absolutely no shot at anywhere near that kind of crowd on Friday or Saturday.
Would it kill the Eagles to tell the NFL they don’t want to play a home game that week, to reschedule it for the week before or the week after?
No, but taking the high road with a co-tenant is not something Jeffrey Lurie seems inclined to do.
Thanks, Jeffrey.
Thanks, as usual, for nothing.