Category Archives: Brandon Noble

01.22.13
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One word for the new staff: Interesting

New Temple WR coach  Terry Smith could provide a, err, Gateway to  WPIAL recruits.
Temple’s loss is Arizona’s gain.

My Sainted mom, in Heaven since Jan. 14 of 2011,  used to tell me that if I don’t have anything nice to say about someone don’t say anything.
Most times I remember what she said but the few times I don’t, I usually regret it.
So, with that in mind, I’m going to write about the new Temple football coaching staff today and, to borrow a phrase from the Four Tops, this is going to be short.
It looks pretty much complete with a tweak or two remaining.
One of the current recruits used the word “genius” when new coach Matt Rhule informed him of the potential members of the staff back in December.
I prefer the word “interesting” instead.
So far, the people who’ve told Rhule “I’ll be there” include Brandon Noble (defensive line), Allen Mogridge (special teams), Ed Foley (assistant head coach) and Fran Brown (promoted from graduate assistant, probably DBs).
Genius might have been a more appropriate word if names like Bill Cubit (now offensive coordinator at Illinois), Nick Rapone (now DB coach of the Arizona Cardinals), Chuck Heater (now defensive coordinator with Marshall) or Nick Rolovich (now OC with Nevada) were either coming to or staying at 10th and Diamond.

Hopefully, Marcus Satterfield points TU in the direction of the end zone

Heck, I know for a fact that Heater, Rapone and Rolovich gave the jobs some serious consideration and Rapone, whose daughter goes to Temple, really wanted the DC job. A guy who runs the Western Michigan website assured me that he had word from “a very good source” Cubit declined the head coaching job at Western Illinois to pursue the OC job at Temple. Cubit is from Sharon Hill, so that makes sense.
Whatever happened in all of those cases is now water under the bridge.
All I care about is the Temple bridge holding up.
The good news is that I’ll take Rhule all seven days of the week and five times on Saturday over “we have to be able to run the ball for 200 yards a game” Steve Addazio.
It’s the rest of the staff that has me scratching my head.

Matt Rhule could have endeared himself
to hundreds of ex-Temple players and
probably thousands of Temple fans
and given himself a great DC by hiring
Nick Rapone, who was interested in the job.

So that’s why I’m calling this staff interesting.

There’s a lot of ifs involved.
If new wide receivers’ coach Terry Smith, former highly successful Gateway head coach, can build a pipeline to some of the better WPIAL talent that Pitt had been getting in the past and redirect the flow East to Temple, that could  be a significant hire. Temple has been getting talent out of the WPIAL in the past, but prospects who typically held offers to only schools like Kent State and Bowling Green. Pitt plucked a kid out of George Washington High in Philly last week. It’s time for Temple to launch an effective full retaliatory strike in Pitt’s backyard.

If anybody can get that done, it’s Smith.
Still, this is the first time I can ever remember Temple hiring a high school coach for its staff.
My thoughts on Phil Snow are well-chronicled below. I’m crossing all eight fingers and two thumbs that Temple is getting the 2001 Snow, not the 2012 Snow.
If Temple is getting the 2001 Snow, who had the UCLA defense ranked near the top of the PAC-10, that’s a plus.
Marcus Satterfield took obscure Tennessee-Chattanooga into the national rankings in points scored and total offense in 2011, so I’m hopeful there. Yet the Mocs (yeah, that’s their nickname) slipped back into the middle of the pack offensively in the Southern Conference in 2012, so that’s a concern.
If Temple gets the 2011 Satterfield, not the 2012 one, things could get interesting for the Lincoln Financial Field scoreboard operator in 2013.
And that’s the nicest word I can use for now.
Interesting, not if.

12.28.12
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Rhule’s complete staff is …

BREAKING NEWS: Nick Rolovich accepts position as Temple offensive coordinator as of 6:30 p.m. Saturday night … as Tyler Haddock-Jones might say … #geniuses ..

The Wisconsin football website “Bucky’s 5th Quarter” has high praise for Rolovich.

Nick Rolovich

The most agonizing thing out of Matt Rhule’s first few days as Temple head coach has to be the delay in the staff hiring announcements, which has to be expected.
The fans want to hear who now and that’s just not happening.
After all, Rhule’s got a job to finish at New York first.
Yet, if we are to believe the recruits, they seem to know who the assistants will be and they are not telling.
One of them, Tyler Haddock-Jones, used the hashtag #geniuses to describe the staff Rhule is assembling (see post below). He tweeted that he got off the phone with Rhule at 1:23 on Sunday afternoon and that Rhule told him what the staff would be then.
Haddock-Jones must have been impressed or maybe he’s just easily impressed.
We should find out one or the other in the next few days.
So far, two assistants have been named and while both appear to be solid hires, I wouldn’t use the hashtag #geniuses next to either one. Brandon Noble is going to be defensive line coach, while Rhule hired a guy from Tennessee Chattanoga, Marcus Satterfield,  to be an offensive coach in some capacity.
Of course, there are more announcements forthcoming and I would use the hashtag #geniuses next to these two:
CHUCK HEATER (DC) and NICK ROLOVICH (OC).

Genius, miracle-worker, same thing.

Heater, for obvious reasons well-documented here. He’s been an outstanding defensive coach everywhere he’s been and his 2011 Temple defense might have been one of the school’s best ever. It’s not his fault two of his starting defensive linemen were suspended or that his defensive ends lacked closing speed on the quarterback. A 3-4 defense utilizing linebackers as pass rushers would fix that problem until the Owls can recruit some stud sackers. Love to see Heater retained.
Rolovich’s pistol offense would work well at Temple. Chris Coyer was not the same quarterback in 2012 as he was in 2011 simply because Scot Loeffler wasn’t around to utilize he talents.
If Coyer can get out of a pass rush and throw on the run, that makes him a more effective dual-threat. The same can be said for Juice Granger and Kevin Newsome, who have similar skill sets.
I’ll believe Rolovich comes when I see him on North Broad Street. It might be a culture shock for someone who has worked in Hawaii and near Vegas the last two years to work at 10th and Diamond. Still, it can’t be too different from the Gainesville to Philly trip Heater enjoyed and, from all accounts, is apparently enjoying.
We don’t know yet if Rolovich and Heater are in the fold or will be in the fold, but if they join Rhule the staff IQ goes up exponentially and Haddock-Jones can use that hashtag without fear of contradiction.