by Mike Gibson

5 Owl Newcomers To Watch

Very few programs update their rosters online as well as Temple’s football team does these days.

Like the U.S. Constitution, it’s a constantly changing document and staying on top of things can be a daunting task but the days when Temple announced a roster on the last day of the season and did not change it until the first day of the next one (Bobby Wallace and Ron Dickerson were the biggest offenders) appear to be over.

If you’ve made it to the July 4 holiday, that’s saying something so for our “five newcomers to watch” list this summer, we’re going with guys only officially on the roster. The others, some guys who were recruited last year and big things were expected of, obviously either are not coming or have some loose ends to tie up before admission.

We have only one definition of “newcomer” and it is this: Simply, a player who has not made a single play in a previous Temple game:

ryanerasmus

Sean Ryan

Probably the most talented wide receiver in the New York City high school leagues, Ryan takes his talents to 10^th and Diamond and already has acclimated himself to the workout routine. While Temple’s receiving duo of Ventell Bryant and Isaiah Wright is probably the most talented in the league, the ranks of the PROVEN are thin behind them and there is plenty of opportunity for advancement. That’s where the next guy comes into play as well.

Jadan Blue

Blue had over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns in the spring game—both highs for any wide receiver—and has moved to the head of the class of guys who Dave Patenaude has confidence playing in any situation.

Rodney Williams

A safety transfer from a Power 5 program, Syracuse, Williams has the edge to form one of the most dynamic safety duos in the AAC. That’s because the other safety, Delvon Randall, has been projected as a first-round draft choice if he repeats or improves on his 2017 season. Williams has started 21 games for the Orange the last three seasons, including a win defending national champion Clemson last year (one of the first plays in that game was a tackle for a 6-yard loss by Williams).

Darian Byrant

A product of Chestnut Hill Academy, Bryant was one of the Owls’ most heralded recruits three years ago as an offensive lineman. Patenaude has said “the best development has been with Darian Byrant” who, at 6-5, 320, appears ready to start at right tackle.

Tyliek Raynor

Raynor has world-class speed (4.4) for a tailback and appears ready to slide into David Hood’s third-down back role. He was Philadelphia Public League MVP in 2015 while gaining 1,327 yards on only 99 carries. He spurned solid offers from Arizona, Miami (Fla.), West Virginia and Purdue to play for his hometown school. No one knows if the torn meniscus injury suffered last year will shave a tenth of a second or so off that 4.4 but we should find out soon enough.

Friday (7/6): July Fireworks

Monday (7/9): College Football Pet Peeves

Wednesday (7/11): The Ideal Temple Uniform

Friday (7/13): Thoughts on the Rollout

Monday (7/16): Ranking the Schedule: 1-12

07.02.18

by Mike Gibson

Burying the Nutile Graph

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My friend and former co-worker, Marc Narducci, wrote the definitive piece on Temple starting quarterback Frank Nutile last week. If you can get behind the pay wall, it’s worth the effort. It dotted all of the I’s and crossed most of the T’s and weaved the necessary quotes nicely throughout.

As good as this article was, if I was the editor, I’d have to tell Marc he buried the Nut graph by not even including it in his story.

Make that the Nutile (pronounced New Tile) graph.

Of all of the terrific qualities Temple’s starting quarterback has, he was the No. 1 passer in the nation last season in terms of making positive plays while under pressure. While being pressured by the defense—meaning hit, touched or spun out of a play—Nutile make more positive plays of more than 20 yards per game than any quarterback in FBS football last year.

That includes the six quarterbacks who were drafted in the first 10 NFL draft picks last year. Marc did not mention that impressive factoid about Frank Nutile at all, though give him credit for mentioning that Nutile had 11 touchdown passes and a 60 percent completion percentage in those seven games. Extrapolate that out to the 13 games he should have started and that would be more than 20 TD passes.

Some guy with a beard pats Frank Nutile on the helmet

This is not to say that Frank Nutile will be a first-round NFL pick or he will be an NFL pick at all. The seven-game sample is not the same sample the first-round picks last year, but it bodes well for the 2018 season. Seven games, though, is enough to indicate that this guy is a proven guy under pressure, much like his quarterback coach, Adam DiMichele, was at Temple. Had DiMichele been granted his release by Penn State coach Joe Paterno, he would have started the 2009 Eagle Bank Bowl and the Owls would have had a signature win over UCLA. P.J. Walker was also good under pressure and chances are few Temple quarterbacks will have a signature drive like the one Phillip orchestrated with no time outs, 70 yards to go and 32 seconds left at UCF two years ago.

Having players like DiMichele, Walker and Nutile under center means a lot because that kind of fearlessness from a leader rubs off on his teammates. That’s a nice insurance policy to have considering much of this Temple fan base has been weaned on a lot of guys who looked like Aaron Rodgers in seven-on-seven passing drills but Mike McMahon in actual game situations. Chester Stewart, Vaughn Charlton and Mike McGann (22 interceptions in 2003) we are looking at you.

Fortunately, we are not looking at them in anything other than the rear-view mirror now.

One of the inspiring things about the Narducci article was the fact that his dad, Robert, a former quarterback at both Maryland and Louisville told him to keep grinding after the disappointment in losing the starting job to Logan Marchi last year. That grinding paid off when Nutile got his chance against Army, completing 20 of 29 passes and a touchdown in a game the offense did not lose.

It’s the same message the Anthony Russo family is giving to their son and no doubt the same message the Toddy Centeio family and the Trad Beatty family are giving to their sons. They have all seen what is on the other end of the grind, too, and the rewards are apparent.

Frank Nutile’s story has made that abundantly clear, even if the nut graph was buried so deep no one could find it.

July 4: 5 New Arrivals To Watch

Friday: Surprising Fireworks

Monday: How New Rules Impact the Owls

06.29.18

by Mike Gibson

Stadium: The Alternatives

TU fans would be right on top of the action at CBP.

For the next year, maybe five, the powers-that-be at Temple University who comprise the Board of Trustees can bang their collective heads against a wall or get to work.

Banging their heads would constitute essentially what they are doing now: Trying to make peace with people who want no peace.

Neville Chamberlain tried to do that with the Nazis in the late 1930s. When the British finally figured out the Nazis did not want peace, it was almost too late. Winston Churchill finally unraveled that mess.

Temple wants peace with its neighbors and a stadium entirely within property it owns. Because a part of that property is a public street, the neighbors can block it so Temple must abandon this folly and figure out a place and a way to build its stadium or look for the alternatives.

Here are the acceptable ones:

Plenty of room (counting space on right) for a 35K stadium at Broad and Master.

Move the stadium to Broad and Master. This would require knocking down a brand new $22 million Olympic sports facility and moving it back to Broad and Norris. That probably means spending another $22 million on the Olympic facility but it would be worth it. Critics of this plan say “it won’t fit” but that’s only if the fields are North-South. Anyone who attended the spring game saw plenty of room for an double-decker East-West stadium from Broad Street to 13^th Street that would require no closure of a city street.

A simple purchase of either “North Broad Getty” or “Auto Zone” or “Wheel thing” gives Temple plenty of room to connect the hospital with the main campus via a stadium

Connect the main campus with Temple Hospital. Put the stadium halfway up Broad Street. There is plenty of open land that Temple can acquire near the North Broad SEPTA train stop that would allow for more parking. Just take a ride North of main campus (lock the doors) and you will see boarded-up property, not actual homes, along the old route that included the Phillies first home (Baker Bowl, Broad and Lehigh). Can’t imagine the neighbors would object to Temple purchasing homes that currently are unoccupied and boarded up. It would be within walking distance of both the main campus and the health sciences center and just as accessible to rail and subway transportation as the current plan. Again, no public streets would have to be closed.

Swallow hard and accept Jeffrey Lurie’s demands. Any way you look at it, Temple is going to spend a lot of money parking its football program. Either it’s the laughably low figure of $130 million for a stadium or increase its rent five-fold to the Philadelphia Eagles for the right to play in one of the nicest stadiums in major college football.

Wait The Phillies Out. This is not as crazy as it seems. Extend the lease and work with the city and the Phillies to get their long-sought-after Center City stadium. Then slide into Citizens Bank Park. Play at the Linc until then. A 45K Temple football stadium in South Philly makes more sense than a 70K Temple stadium in South Philly or even a 35K Temple stadium in Templetown.

Unacceptable would be a move to Ambler or an upgrade of the Chester stadium (farther away than the Linc and less accessible to public transportation) or any deal with Franklin Field, which would be seen as a return to the bad old days.

Either way, if this last-ditch “community engagement” does not work, the BOT needs to roll up its sleeves and come up with a new plan.

Banging heads against a wall for the next five years serves no purpose to anyone.

06.27.18

by Mike Gibson

Stadium Delay: Did You Expect Anything Else?

A much-more inspired rendering of what a TU stadium SHOULD look like.

All along in this never-ending Temple Stadium saga, there have been two types of people:

The first type, the believers, are the “wink wink, done deal” crowd, saying that everything is taken care of and nothing to worry about. Most of these people live in Virginia, New York and Florida.

The second group, the skeptics, are more intimately familiar with Philadelphia city politics, who have lived here all their lives and who have been through this whole thing once before with the building of The Apollo (now the Liacouras Center).

The site of the spring game

Those of you who have followed this space for years know to count me in the second group.

The Temple News deserves credit for breaking this story on Monday—really a lot of credit in that no other media outlet seems to care enough about—that Temple officials have decided to delay the project to “further engagement with the community.”

Did you really expect anything else?

From the time a BOT member told a long-time fan at the March 2012 NCAA Tournament (on the very day Temple beat North Carolina State) this was a “done deal” the stadium has been anything but a done deal.

The current uninspired rendering

The believers are more likely to claim to have inside information than the skeptics. As recently as May, we were told by those people to “expect shovels in the ground by August.”

Now it is much more likely that those shovels will be figurative ones burying the project than actual ones moving the AstroTurf off Geasey Field.

Here’s the bottom line on the stadium: The neighbors don’t want it and no amount of “engagement” is going to convince them otherwise. There is no political incentive for their representatives to do anything but oppose a project that includes the permanent closure of a city street where the city, not the university, has the final say.

Unlike the Apollo project in the 1980s, Peter J. Liacouras is not around anymore. When he threatened to move Temple out of the City of Philadelphia to Ambler, people believed him and then Mayor Ed Rendell brokered a deal to get the Apollo done. He had an outspoken ally and a respected community voice in then hoops coach John Chaney, who told them in no uncertain terms what their neighborhood would look like without Temple. Too much development on campus has happened since then to make a similar threat anything but an empty gesture.

This time, the city holds all of the cards, owns the card table and has a key to the basement where this game is played and there will be no dealing.

Friday: The Alternatives

06.25.18

by Mike Gibson

Good News for Owls: More Bowls

If the AAC can get a tie-in to the new bowl in Arizona, Temple could be playing in Tempe.

Anytime someone moans and groans about there being “too many bowls” I say there are too few.

After being hit with a “are you crazy?” stare, I mention two things:

Temple’s 2010 team
Cornhole Championships

By now, the story of the Temple 2010 team is well-known, but it’s certainly worth repeating.

Those Owls finished 8-4 and pummeled a team, UConn, 30-16, that made the Fiesta Bowl. The Owls being denied when the Huskies, also 8-4, were accepted (via being in a BCS league, the Big East) was widely regarded as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in recent sports history.

Besides some mentions on the afternoon ESPN talk shows, Temple got nothing out of that bowl season and, the day after head coach Al Golden held a meeting to say: “Guys, we’re not going anywhere” he announced he was taking the head coaching job at Miami.

Talk about a punch in the gut one day followed by a kick in the nuts the next, that was it for Temple football.

Cornhole championships come into play simply because that—and poker and bowling—are staples of the ESPN programming after the bowl games are completed in January. If two or three extra bowl games take cornhole, bowling and poker off television that’s not only more palatable to me but for ratings in general.

Anything that gives an 8-4 or a 6-6 Temple team a greater chance at bowl exposure is good news, not bad so that’s why Brett McMurphy breaking the story of more bowls starting with the 2020 season is encouraging.

Chicago and Myrtle Beach, S.C., are locks to host two of the three new bowls. Phoenix, another attractive site, is rumored to be leading for a third bowl.

Meanwhile, from an American Conference perspective, the league is musing a permanent invitation for its champion to play in the Liberty Bowl, if the champion doesn’t make the NY6 game. That’s a good idea because the Liberty is a tier above the current places where the second-place team usually goes (Military, Boca).

All this should be officially announced on July 1, which is less than one week away.

Anything that’s good for Temple and bad for cornhole is OK in my book.

Wednesday: Stadium Delay

Friday: The Alternatives

Monday: Under Pressure

Wednesday (7/4): 5 New Arrivals To Watch

Friday (7/6): How New Rules Impact the Owls

06.22.18

by Mike Gibson

Krafting An Entrance Strategy

Pat Kraft (far right) going crazy for Temple after Jahad Thomas helped beat PSU.

Today’s post was supposed to be about the new transfer rule.

Then Pat Kraft happened.

Kraft has applied for and, depending upon who you listen to, will or will not get the University of Maryland athletic director job.

There is a pattern here.

Kraft happened like Al Golden happened, like Daz happened and like Matt Rhule happened and, inevitably, like Geoff Collins will probably happen.

Let’s face it: Until Temple gets into the P5, this will happen with every high-profile Temple athletics employee. That’s why, as I’ve been saying for years, everything Temple does in sports has to position itself to join the big boys in sports. In every way, Temple is a top-notch national school. It is the sixth-largest educator of professionals in the United States and it has top 10 national schools in business (Fox), Dentistry, Journalism (Klein) and arts (Tyler).

This is where the frustration comes into play for many long-time Temple fans. Once, with great people like Ernie Casale, Wayne Hardin, John Chaney and Skip Wilson, Temple was a destination and not a place to pass through. Maybe one day Temple will be able to attract those kind of athletic employees again and catch up to the students who already have this figured out.

It is located in the only city in America which has qualified for the prestigious designation of a World Class city by the World Heritage Foundation. Students over the last decade have indicated by a wide margin they’d prefer to go to college in a city than rural environment.

Temple’s football team currently–currently–plays in the nicest stadium in its conference and one of the nicest stadiums in college football.

The Owls have a lot of things going for them.

One, unfortunately, is not being in one of the top five conferences. It is something that the uni must fix and soon.

Kraft’s exit strategy must turn into an entrance strategy to make this a destination and not a stop along the way. Maybe the next guy can figure that out because it’s obvious this guy, like so many before him, is looking for a way out.

06.20.18

by Mike Gibson

Stadium: No News Is Bad News

Colorado State was able to get this done in less than half the time TU talked about it.

Way back in May, a post from an ardent Temple fan on one of the two message boards covering Owl sports, read: “When You Hear Nothing, it’s a good thing.”

To use a double-negative for literary effect, nobody knows nothing about anything when it comes to concrete and mortar movement on a new football stadium, err, “multi-use complex” for Temple University.

It will be a long time before the construction workers show up at Temple

That’s not a good thing, unless you are against the idea of an on-campus stadium at Temple.

Our esteemed friend who posted that is an Owl fan from Virginia who knows a lot about many things but very little about Philadelphia politics. In the same thread, someone else posted “I’m hearing a shovel-in-the-ground date will be in August.”

Obviously, that guy, too, is from a place where the Government functions at a reasonable pace without the palms outstretched and greased. Philadelphia City government in the 21^st Century is something that would make the Tamney Hall guys blush.

There will be no “shovel-in-the-ground” date this August simply because there are no scheduled meetings of Philadelphia City Council’s facilities committee—the one that would have to approve Temple’s plan for closing 15^th Street—on the docket.

City Council’s adjourns for the summer after meeting tomorrow (June 21) and does not return until September. So file away the “I’m hearing” guy under another piece of misinformation that has been disseminated about this project since the words “done deal” were uttered in March of 2012.

That was six years ago.

Six.

By contrast, the new stadium at Colorado State was proposed in 2014 and construction started in March of 2016 and there has been a full season of football played in it already. That’s Fort Collins, Colorado. This is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where there has been no progress with the neighbors and their representatives who oppose this plan and another key City Council period to get something done is about to expire.

No deal has been done and no news is definitely not good news.

06.18.18

by Mike Gibson

Only Birthday Wish: Stadium Closure

If this doesn’t work at 15th and Norris, Broad and Master should be an option.

Another year down, another foot closer to the grave.

That’s a harsh way to look at it but, when the years in the rear view mirror represent a long road and looming just ahead is a brick wall with failing brakes those are, err, the breaks.

Come Tuesday, I will smile at whatever “happy birthdays” come my way with the realization that there has been nothing happy about the day since, oh, about age 40 when I realized what the average life expectancy was for someone of my demographic.

Taking the optimistic view, at least I don’t ever have any intentions of exiting stage right like Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade did last week.

There is too much to live for, like maybe another Temple football championship this year.

While that would be nice to get, the birthday present I would like most doesn’t involve a Stormy Daniels encounter or a lottery win as much as closure on this ongoing Temple Stadium issue.

One way or another. If it’s happening, I want to see a shovel-in-the-ground date in the next month. If not, I want to know that, too, in roughly the same time frame.

A good friend of mine ran into a member of Temple Board of Trustees in March, 2012—the day Fran Dunphy’s basketball team beat North Carolina State in the NCAA tournament—and the BOT member told him the stadium was a “done deal.”

Three years ago—in 2015—I was told by a BOT member on Cherry and White Day (not the same one) that the ACC wanted Temple to build a stadium first and, if the Owls did, an invitation to join that league would be forthcoming within a couple of years. The ACC did not know if Temple was committed to football and needed a concrete sign like a stadium before considering Temple.

Since 2012, all we’ve heard is a lot of talk and very little action other than drawings or renderings or an open meeting shouted down by the neighbors.

Some done deal.

To get things done in Philadelphia, you need the approval of the City Government and that hasn’t happened. I’ve vacillated on this stadium over the last five years but only a few months ago came to the conclusion I was for it for a simple practical reason. The BOT almost voted to eliminate Temple football in 2005 (the measure lost by a single vote) and no stadium and no additional Linc deal could regenerate the same kind of opposition. They might have to move the site from Broad and Norris to Broad and Master, but they should be willing to do it if that turns out to be the only option. Building a stadium means Temple Football Forever.

I know this blog won’t last forever, but I hope the program does and it would be nice to know what the deal is on that very soon.

This never-ending saga needs to conclude on way or another.

Wednesday: No News Is Bad News

06.15.18

by Mike Gibson

Recruiting: Encouraging Signs in Early Returns

Not every recruit gets to experience this championship feeling like they do at Temple

College football recruiting ranking this early in the game are like exit polls in politics.

They don’t mean much except to a small core of addicts but do give some insight into where the process is headed.

For Temple football, that apparently is a good place because the Owls through their early camps—the places where the hard recruiting work is done—seem to be doing just fine with their AAC peers and, more importantly, the future regional P5 schools on the schedule.

Let’s take the Temple versus Rutgers and Temple vs. Georgia Tech comparisons for instance. It’s important because Temple plays GT in 2019 and 2020 and RU in 2020 and 2021.

On Scout.com, which now encompasses the old 247.com site (with 50 full-time recruiting experts on the staff, Temple is ranked No. 63, while Rutgers is ranked 54. Both teams have six commitments with RU having five “three-stars” and Temple three of the same. Both teams are ahead of schools like Kansas State and Texas Tech.

On Rivals.com, Rutgers is No. 58 and Temple is No. 58—also ahead of Kansas State and Texas Tech. GT is 44 on Scout and 46 on Rivals. These numbers, of course, could change for the better or the worse but a lot of the groundwork has been laid by this charismatic coaching staff who connects well with the kids.

To use a political term, that is within the “margin of error” meaning that depending on how the respective staffs “coach up their player” could mean give one school or the other the overall talent advantage a couple of years down the line.

Given Geoff Collins’ proven track record at places like Florida, Mississippi State, Alabama and Georgia Tech, that’s a good sign for Temple.

Collins was the defensive coordinator at two of those schools and the recruiting coordinator at the two others so he knows the talent coming and going.

By this time, Collins should know what he’s doing in terms of what it takes to push the right buttons in the kids’ (and their parents’) minds to get them to commit. It certainly helps that he has a world-class university in a world-class city to sell.

Signing day will tell the rest of the story, but the exit polls are trending in a very good way.

Monday: Birthday Wishes

Wednesday: No News Is Bad News

Friday: Expanded Bowls

Monday (6/25): New Redshirt Rule

Wednesday (6/27): Under (Center) Pressure

06.13.18

by Mike Gibson

Road Trips: Early Owl Gets The Worm

Temple fans deserve a stadium every bit as nice as this 45K stadium in Chestnut Hill.

You hear it all the time, usually at tailgates far away from the students who do not know any better.

“It’s not like the old days.”

Pretty much everything about Temple football these days is better than those days, though, except for one detail:

Road Trips.

oneleft

Gone are the days where you can hop in the car and be in Central Jersey by noon for a game against Rutgers (although those days come back in a couple) and hit the road for a trip at Delaware or make a 5-hour drive up the Northeast Extension for a game at Syracuse.

Now the road trips, should you go, are in far-flug places like Tulsa, Dallas and Orlando.

Not as easy to get to as the old days.

Steve Addazio (and probably Matt Rhule and Al Golden) has to be thinking: “I left a lifetime job at Temple for THIS?”

Still, though, there are a couple of intriguing road trips on the schedule this year and to maximize enjoyment of them, the early bird—in this case, Owl—gets the worm.

Owl fans have been to the Washington, D.C., area at least four times over the last nine years—the Eagle Bank Bowl (2009), a 38-7 win at Maryland (2011), the Military Bowl (2015) and the 34-10 league championship win at Navy (2016).

So, while D.C. is a great town with many sites and sights to see, most Owl fans will approach that trip with a been/there/done/that attitude and drive down for the game.

Boston, though, is a completely different story.

It’s a great town with just as many venues as D.C. and it’s been a long time since Temple fans have been there. That’s a place screaming for more than a day trip and the lesson to be learned is preparation is key.

As can be seen in the illustration on this post, there is one room left on the night of Sept. 28^th in a hotel nearby Boston College at the very reasonable price of $93 a night. It’s a significant jump to the next, err, cheapest room ($152).

One year, two great road trips and, if you are planning to stay in Boston, making the necessary hotel and car reservations now is probably the time to do it.

Maryland, that sounds like a fan bus to me but hopefully as much fun as the last fan bus there turned out to be, basking in a 38-7 road win while watching Caddyshack broadcast on the bus TVs on the way home. When it got to a topless scene, you could hear a couple of the older ladies in the back of the bus gasp.

An athletic department representative then took to the bus intercom:

“This is a Bill Bradshaw-approved video.”

Great line about his boss, the Temple (now LaSalle University) athletic director and a funny way to end a fun day.

Here’s hoping the road trips on the docket in a few months are just as fun.

Last donations:

Phil E., Lorton, Va. (3/22/26… thanks, Phil!)

Brian C., Philly (2/6/26 thanks BC)

Owen R., Wellington, Fla., 2/5/26 (thanks so much to this great Temple grad…. we can now afford to take this main laptop to get my “n” “r” and “e” keys unstuck …. very much appreciated)

Ed S., New Hope, Pa. 1/30/26 (thanks, Ed)

Jon E., Cincinnati, 1/12/26

William B., Phoenixville (12/9/25, thanks William, our first contribution since Oct.) Ed S., New Hope, and Joe S., Drexel Hill thanks to both Ed and Joe; David N., Silver Spring, Md. 10/10/25 (thanks so much, Dave) Brian C., North Philly 9/27/25 ; John from Landenberg (who we sat next to when Temple beat Maryland, 38-7) at the game today 9/6/25 (thanks, John); Jon E., Cincinnati (8/30/25), thanks, Jon; David K., Glen Mills, 8/25/25; Eric B., San Diego 8/23/25; Jay M., Salem Ore. 8/15/25 (proving that Temple Owls are everywhere. Thanks, Jay). Another anonymous donation from the same source (thanks a bunch), 8/10/2025; Anonymous (your generosity is greatly appreciated, much thanks) and Joe F., Nashville, Tenn,, 8/5//25 (thanks, Joe, our first contribution in over a month); Steve B., Rose Valley, Pa., a Temple fan (thanks, Steve, that goes in the pot for a backup laptop if this one goes down Only $300 away), 7/6/25:

Earlier:

6/15/25 (Ed S., New Hope–thanks Ed!!!)

Earlier:

Michael A., Havertown, PA (thanks, Mike); 5/14/25 Anoymous (thanks, much appreciated) 4/25/25, David B., Delaware (owner of the most photogenic dog on the internet and someone who I and the late Phil M. had a great conversation with at the 2012 UConn game… can’t believe how time flies, thanks, Dave!!! will definitely meet up again at the next Temple at Delaware game); Matt P. (former Temple player under Al Golden), 4/21/2025 (thanks, Matt, could not have come at a better time because we have a bill for this site coming 4/30 and did not know how we were going to pay it); Brian, Philadelphia (thanks, Brian for being a long-time reader, sorry I missed you at C&W this year) 4/15/25; Ed S., New Hope, PA (4/6/25; thanks Ed, our first donation in nearly two months);

2/8/25: Anonymous.

Robert G., Quakertown, 12/17/24 and Joe F., Philadelphia, 12/16/24.. thanks for taking some of the sting out of paying to fix this laptop. Much appreciated.

Others:

Brian C., Philadelphia.

Anonymous, Anywhere USA (thanks for the generous donation), 9/2/24; David B., Delaware (8/24/24), thanks, David!) Ed P., Yardley, Pa. (6/20/24) …. thanks, Ed!!

David E., Philadelphia, Pa., 6/19/24 (thanks David); Zamani F., Philadelphia, Pa. June 7 (thanks, Z) Michael A., Havertown, Pa, May 9; John J., South Bloomingville, Ohio May 5; Hill Studios, Paulsboro, N.J. (thanks for breaking the longest time between contributions in TFF history), May 1, 2024 (the three May contributions will keep us afloat through the summer, thanks, Mike, John and Hill Studios it’s great to know people care); Jon E., Cincinnati, 10/11/23 (thanks, Jon); John from Landenburg at the Miami game (in the parking lot no less), 9/23/23. Thanks, John. Great conversation as always.

Two donations on opening day against Akron, one at the game from Ed of Perkasie and one from the greatest punter in Temple history, Eddie L., of the same hometown of Bruce Springsteen (our first contributions since April and they keep this site going; much appreciated); Heriberto S., McDonough, GA, 4/24/23 (thanks, Heriberto!!) Two on 4/14/23 (thanks to Joe F. and Ross M. ); Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla. 2/18/23 (thanks, Tom!!!)Ed P., Yardley, Pa. (1/9/23; thanks, Ed,) Lawrence S., West Chester, Pa., 12/28/22, our first contribution in over a month (thanks Larry, this will help in having to replace the printer we purchased in the summer that went on the fritz); Bob C., Chadds Ford, Pa., 11/27/22 (thanks Bob, our first contribution since September) Ed P., Perkasie, Pa. who donated 9/24/22 at the UMass game and Ed and I both remember and love Pennridge coach Wayne Helman; Joe S. (Delaware County), 9/3/22 (thanks Joe, hope to see you at Lafayette or RU); James G. (thanks James and for all the great posts you make on this site),, 7/29/22: Matt P. (former Al Golden player, thank you Matt for the generous donation it will be put to good use as we will explain in Monday’s post), 6/9/22; Matt F., Horsham, Pa. (thanks, Matt!!), June 6, 2022; David, B., Milton, DE (thanks, Dave), April 11, 2022: Andy B., Philadelphia, Pa. (our first donation of 2022, thanks Andy), March 3, 2022; Ed P., Yardley, Pa. 12/25/21 (thanks, Ed for the Christmas donation); Matt F., no hometown found (“a celebratory donation for Carey’s firing”), 11/30/21 thanks, Matt; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio, 11/29/21 (thanks, Jon for the donation and the great comments on this site); James G., Royersford, Pa. 11/28/21 (thanks, Jim, for the donations and your comments on the website); Anonymous (no home town given but donation really appreciated), 11/20/2021; Roger D., Rehoboth Beach,, Del., 10/24/21; Joe S., Drexel Hill, Pa. 10/3/21 (thanks, Joe) At the BC game (9/18), John from Landenburg (thanks, John for being a great friend of this site for so many years); Three Aug. 21 donations: Eric A (former player), Atlanta, Ga; Anonymous (by request), Cincinnati, Oh; Tim R., Buffalo, N.Y. (sincere thanks to all); David N., Silver Springs, Md (thanks Dave) 7/10/21; former Temple player Matt P., who lives in Columbus, GA now (thanks Matt) 7/9/21; Joe F., Philadelphia (4/7/11, thanks Joe) Matt F., Horsham, Pa., 3/27/21 (thanks, Matt); Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio (1/31/21, thanks Jon) Ed P.,, Yardley, Pa. (thanks, Ed, much appredicated), 1/16/21; Mitchell S. , 12/21/20, our first contribution since (10/8) earlier, Former Owl Bruce G., Flourtown, Pa, who generously donated $100 in “honor” of the Ambler guy 10/8/20; (if they hate you in Ambler, we love you in Flortown,” BG says). Thanks, BG, we appreciate it; Earlier: James G., Philadelphia (7/21/20, thanks James) Robert B., Philadelphia (7/13/20, thanks, Bob, hope to see you at the tailgates again this fall); Previous: Jon E. from Cincinnati 6/15/20, our first donation this calendar year (thanks, Jon); Earlier, John from Landenberg; Kurt B., Wyomissing Hills, PA (former Temple player, 10-15-19) Earlier: David B. , Springfield, PA (9/26/19 … thanks, Dave!) also John from Landenberg (9/21/19); Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla. (8/22/19, thanks Tom!! Also, 10 days earlier, Bob. C and Joe S. and, on June 26, first bowl MVP Mark B.

Earlier: Matt F., Philadelphia; Matt P. (former Temple player) John from Landenberg and Jon E. from Cincinnati

Jay M. no hometown found ; Earlier: William B. Chicago; John from Landenberg, ; Mark B, South Jersey, Joe S, Springfield, PA…,

Also:

Ed P., Perkasie, Pa; and Richard W. (no hometown given); Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Tim C., no hometown available; Bob C., David B., Springfield (Montco); Mark B., from South Jersey; John from Landenberg, Pa.; Joe S., Primos, PA; Thomas W., Palm Coast Fla; Jon E., Cincinnati; Mike S.,no hometown; Ed P., Yardley; William B., Chicago; Matt M., Philadelphia; Matt T.., Oreland; Kevin H., Philadelphia; John from Landenberg, Pa.; Carl M, Silver Spring, Md.;; Brett K., Swedesboro, N.J.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, NY; David K., Malvern; Jon E., Cincinnati ; Jon, SE Ohio; Cordalia and Jim S., Eastampton, NJ.; Herb G., Newport News, Va.; Richard W., Royersford; Matt T., Philadelphia, Pa.; MWB, Mechanicsville, Va.; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; K.J., Alexandria, Va.; Jeff D., Philadelphia,; Michael R., Philadelphia,Matt T, Philadelphia, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.(8 in a row for 8 in a row, thanks EM); Jake and Diane Gicker, Dunmore, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.; Adrian R. Sr., Harrisburg, Pa.; Frank M., Marlton, N.J.; Ernie, Millville, N.J.; ; Jay M., Salem, Ore.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Phil E., Lorton, Va; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Matt M., (five donations in a row); Kevin F., Philadelphia, Pa.;Matt M. (three donations in a row, thanks, Matt); Matt M.; Matt M.; Brian C., Philadelphia, Pa.; Matt M., Hometown ;Unknown; David N., Silver Spring, Md.; Matt M., hometown unknown; Frank K., Horseheads, N.Y.; Mike F., Montauk, N.Y.; John, Landenberg, Pa.; Michael B, D.C.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; James G., Philadelphia, Pa.; Michael R., Philadelphia, Pa.; David N., Silver Spring (Md.);
Mark H., Gilbertsville, Pa.; Lisa M., Hummelstown, Pa.; Johnny Who, West Chester, Pa.; John T., Medford, N.J. (formerly North Catholic, Philly); Jon, SE Ohio; Jay M., Salem, Ore.; Dan M., Moscow, Pa.; Cyrus, Oklahoma City; Jon E., Cincinnati; Chris K., Harrisburg, Pa.; Chip M., Silver Spring, Md.; Dave B., Springfield, Pa.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, N.Y.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Ed F., Philadelphia, Pa.; Frank P., Jamison, Pa.; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Matt G., Haddonfield, N.J.; Tom L., Charlottesville, Va.; Thomas S., Landisville, Pa.; Jack D., Haddonfield, N.J.; Heriberto S., McDonough, Ga; Dr. Jim S., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Dick White, Milton, Del.; Matt T., Philadelphia; Jerome S., North Caldwell, N.J.; Mike D., Fairview, N.C.; Tim W., Myerstown, Pa.; Edward P., Yardley, Pa.; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Kurt B., Wyomissing, Pa.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Tom S., East Norriton, Pa.; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio; Matt T., Yardley, Pa.; Steve C., West Chester, Pa.; Floyd, Blackwood, N.J.; Jim J., Chalfont, Pa.; John, Landenberg, Pa; Jon E., Cincinnati; Ron A., Camp Hill, Pa.; Jay S., Jenkintown, Mr. John H.; Jonathan N., Atlanta, Ga.; Michael E., Levittown, Pa.; Ted D., Media, Pa. Nick and Sharon, Upper Bucks County; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Todd H., New York City; Alex H., Westport, CT; Joe S., Primos, PA; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, N.Y.; Stanley G., Mountain Top, Pa.; David N., Silver Spring, Md.; Micah F., Philadelphia, Pa.; James S., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Johnny B. at the Hill Studio, Paulsboro, N.J.; Nick C., Philadelphia; Tom C., Birmingham, Ala.; Phil. E. (Fast Phil), Lorton, Va; Jerome S., North Caldwell, N.J.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; George P., Downingtown, Pa.; Edward F., Philadelphia; Bryan S., North East, Pa.; Josh P., West Chester, Pa.; Brent Z., Atlanta, Ga.; David B., Springfield (D), Pa; Lisa M., Hummelstown, Pa.; David H., Pottstown, Pa.; Brian O., Ambler, Pa; Frank P., Jamison, Pa.; Brian C., Philadelphia; Mark B., Manlius, N.Y.; Ted D., Media; Scott J., Columbus, Ohio; Thomas H., Mullica Hill, N.J.; George T., Rehoboth Beach, Del.; Rob G., Fleetwood, Pa; Steve C., West Chester, Pa.; Fred A., St. Augustine, Fla.; Michael S., Westfield, N.J.; John, Landenberg, Pa.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Frank P., Jamison, Pa; Matt G., Basking Ridge, N.J.; Joe S., Primos, PA; Nick and Sharon, Upper Bucks County; John T., Medford, N.J.; Cap P., Finksburg, Md; Coolowl, New York City; Michael B., Washington, D.C.; Oakee, Salem, VA; Rob from Fleetwood; John from New Kensington; Kathyrn, Bloomingville, Ohio; Rockland Owl; Matt, Haddonfield, N.J.; Anthony, New York City; Jason F., Berlin (N.J.); Ed, New Hope; Mark B., Manlius, N.Y.; Mike, Lindenwold, N.J.; Tom C., Birmingham, Ala. Jim, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Kurt, Wyomissing Hills, PA;
Dave, Ocean City, N.J.; James, Chalfont; Ross, Garden City (N.Y.); Schmitty, Ocean City, N.J.; Sarge (via Schmitty);
Broad Street Leon; Martin, Encino (Calif.); John, Boston; Mike, Susannanoa, N.C.; Francis, Lansdale; Tom L., Charlottesville, Va.; Mark, Gilbertsville, Pa.; Frank, Sebastian, Fla.; George, Toms River, N.J.; Tom, Branchburg, N.J.; Chris, Philly (our first Philly donation!); John, Landenberg, Pa.; Tom S. East Norriton, Pa.;

Quotable

"It's very difficult for us to represent to our students that this is a first-rate University without providing the experiences that are offered elsewhere. A great football team, a great basketball team, a great dance program [among other things] . . . our students are entitled to all of that and we will provide it." _ the late Howard Gittis, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Temple University

"Temple's success in 1A football would clearly help its image. Immediate positive public identification with Temple as a whole is what we're talking about. .... Temple's overall image has been boosted by the success of men's basketball led by Coach Chaney. Success in 1A football would have a far greater impact nationally than basketball (or virtually anything else) in developing the University's overall image. . ...Universities with 1A football programs must invest to succeed ..."
_ Peter J. Liacouras, Chancellor, Temple University

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