Category Archives: Khalif Herbin

03.26.13
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Sports Illustrated sits down with coach Rhule

Ryan Alderman (left) and Jalen Fitzpatrick look like they are having fun
after Fitzpatrick caught game-tying touchdown pass at UConn.

You can forget all of that talk about Temple football becoming the Boise State of the East.
How about the Florida Gulf Coast of the North?
That’s essentially the message head coach Matt Rhule imparted to Pete Thamel in today’s online edition of Sports Illustrated.
That’s OK with me.
The message essentially is this:
If Temple’s players have fun, they’ll play loose and with confidence and win, just like  those Florida Gulf Coast kids did over the weekend in Philadelphia.
If Temple’s players play tight, like Georgetown and even our own Scootie Randall did, they won’t perform to their highest level.

Any publicity is good, especially on SI.com

Think Florida Gulf Coast and Khalif Wyatt.
Or the fun Khalif Herbin looks like he’s having when he’s carrying the ball from scrimmage. When he’s running a pass route, Herbin looks out of his comfort/fun element.
That’s the kind of confidence and fun levels that Rhule wants to bring to the Edberg-Olson Football Complex every day.
If the Owls can play with that kind of confidence and sense of fun that FGCU and Wyatt always plays with, the results on the field will be Boise State-like.
I once asked Temple football Hall of Fame coach Wayne Hardin about the fun of playing football.
“Mike, the only way you can have fun is to win,” coach said.
If the only way to win is to have fun and still do work, I’m all for it.
I think Rhule might be onto something here.
We’ll find out for sure in the laboratory environment of September, October and November.

03.23.13
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Temple football’s Khalif and Wyatt

Temple Football Forever congratulates our friend Fran Dunphy and his Owls on a great season (Fran-haters, he did not shoot 0 for 12) … also congrats to our friends from LaSalle. .. hope Explorers win the NC …

There was a reason Wyatt Benson was the first in the end zone on most TD celebrations.

“I’m only going to switch someone who wants to be switched.”
_ Matt Rhule

Temple’s big man on campus these days is Khalif Wyatt, a basketball player for the Owls.
Temple football has both a Khalif and a Wyatt, though not in the same uniform.
I hope the the football Owls get as much out of their Khalif and their Wyatt as the basketball team has.
Khalif Herbin and Wyatt Benson.
If so, they should be in good shape this fall.
Pick a rushing touchdown, any touchdown, for Temple’s football team in the last three years and if there’s one common denominator it is that Wyatt Benson is blowing up a defender right before it.
Sometimes two defenders.
All you have to do is look at the South Florida film from last year.
Montel Harris sprung free for an exclamation point touchdown only after Benson destroyed someone on a sweep.
Same for all five of Bernard Pierce’s touchdowns at Maryland two years ago.
In all of my 30-plus years of watching Temple football, I can honestly say Wyatt Benson is the best blocking fullback the Owls have had since Paul Palmer followed Shelley Poole through the hole to nearly win a Heisman Trophy.

Nobody appreciated Benson more than Montel Harris.

Now Benson has been moved from fullback to linebacker, a position of strength for the Owls.
Go figure.
Herbin, like the 5-5 Matty Brown four years ago, needs to get the ball in his hands more than a typical slot receiver does. He’s got the potential to make those explosive plays downfield that Steve Addazio always talked about but never delivered. A switch to running back might help get him more than the two or three touches a typical slot receiver gets per game.
Current Temple head coach Matt Rhule indicated the strong possibility exists that Benson will be back at fullback in August.
“He’s our starting fullback, but what does a fullback do?” Rhule told Owlscoop.com. “He came here as a linebacker and I liked him as a linebacker.”
Good point.
He’ll play 15 snaps and you can do that and play linebacker as well.
Hey, if Bill Cosby, Bill Juzwiak, Fizzy Weinraub and John Rienstra can play two ways for the Owls, so can a few of these modern players. (Although Rienstra, an offensive tackle, only played nose guard on goal-line situations.)
It won’t kill Benson to play linebacker and come in to block on the goal-line package, something Rhule was in charge of for the New York Giants this season.
Also notable in practice from Saturday is this quote from Rhule:
“I’m only going to switch someone who wants to be switched.”
He was talking about Kevin Newsome from quarterback to another position, but I hope the same, err, rule applies to everyone else.
Khalif Herbin please report to Rhule’s office immediately and bring a letter of recommendation from Matty Brown.

 A Twin Brother from a Different Mother

Player
Height/Weight
40 speed
Yards gained from
Scrimmage in final
High school year
Position started/finished at Temple
Matt Brown
5-5/150
4.40
1,450 (9 TDs)
WR/RB
Khalif Herbin
5-7/170
4.34
1,940 (43 TDs)
WR/???
03.20.13
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Matt Rhule Bobblehead Day

Fans grab their spots prior to the 1919 C&W game. (Nah, that’s across
the street for a 1919 A’s game at Shibe Park, 22d and Lehigh.)
Sean Boyle a few days
before he signed at
Temple, Feb. 5, 2008

Spring cleaning comes around this time of the year for me.
This year, I found an old Al Golden Bobblehead (see right), an old social security card and re-arranged some of the furniture.
Everything for a purpose.
When I looked at Al’s bobbing head, I remembered how he routinely changed a player’s position for the betterment of the team.
Everything Al did regarding personnel moves was for a reason. I don’t remember a single Al Golden personnel switch that didn’t work out. Al was shaking his head yes while I was thinking that.

Matt Rhule interview today
Please click here to read an interview with Matt Rhule that appeared in today’s Harrisburg Patriot-News.

I’m the same way. I re-arranged my furniture for function, not style. I moved the chairs and the sofa this year so I can get to the door quicker when the Publisher’s Clearing House people arrive in a couple of weeks. (Smile.)
So it goes with position changes for the Temple football Owls. Change for a reason is good change.
Head coach Matt Rhule made one I totally endorse.
Sean Boyle, a long-time starter at center, will move to the right tackle spot vacated by the dependable and graduating Martin Wallace.  That makes a lot of sense. Boyle is the team’s best offensive lineman and will be protecting Chris Coyer’s blind side, plus Kyle Friend proved he’s more than a capable center as a true freshman last season. It’s mind-boggling to think that Sean Boyle signed on Feb. 5, 2008 (not 2009) in the same recruiting class with guys like Adrian Robinson and Mo Wilkerson. His maturity will help this team.
Some other functional changes that could make sense:

Kevin Newsome: Temple Owl Forever

KEVIN NEWSOME (QB to DB) _ It would be a shame if Newsome’s path to get on the field was blocked by Coyer and Juice Granger again, but I see that happening. Newsome is arguably the best athlete on the team and wants to play quarterback.  Unlike Coyer and Granger, Newsome can play another position. I suggest safety. I love the way Newsome said last year: “I’m a Temple Owl until the day I die.” He’s 6-3, 215, runs like a deer and has a 37-inch vertical leap. On third down against Maryland last year, starting strong safety Justin Gildea went up for “jump ball” type plays with taller Maryland receivers on four different occasions. Not surprisingly, the Maryland guys came down with key receptions each time. Gildea was in great position to make the plays but had no vertical. Put Newsome in the same position and those balls either get knocked down or picked.

ALEX JACKSON (TE to DE) _ Jackson has some experience as a DE and maybe it’s time to put him back there. For some reason, Alex could not catch a cold at TE last year and Rhule’s new offensive philosophy minimizes the tight end position.  I do see a guy with his height and speed being a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks. I like it when opposing quarterbacks have nightmares against the Owls. It would be great for Jackson and Sean Daniels to be meeting regularly at the opposing quarterback.

Khalif Herbin could be the
 Matty Brown of the next 3 years.

KHALIF HERBIN (WR to RB) _ Temple already has one great Khalif in a major sport (basketball) and put  this Khalif as a RB and he might be the next. This is the exact same situation Matty Brown faced four years ago. When he was moved to running back from slot receiver, his career took off. Brown was 5-5, 150 at the time and ran a 4.40. Herbin currently is 5-7, 170 and runs a 4.34 40. He’s got the metrics to do it.
Sometimes, you’ve got to re-arrange the furniture for function.
Steve Addazio was too stubborn to do it.
One of the intriguing things about this spring practice that starts on Friday will be finding out if Matt Rhule is as open to change as Al Golden was.
If he is, expect Matt Rhule Bobblehead Day to come sooner than later.

02.20.13
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Matty Brown’s replacement? How about Herbin?

“Jerry Jones’ Money, you a running back” comes up at the 2:12 time stamp. That’s song lyric perfectly describes Khalif Herbin in my book.

Matt Brown’s career took off after being switched to RB.

As the crow flies, where both Matty Brown and Khalif Herbin played their final years of high school ball is separated by only 50 miles of I95 and Garden State Parkway highway in New Jersey.
Brown played his final year at Peddie School in Highstown. Herbin played at Montclair.
To me, that’s really the only thing that separates the two players.
The highest compliment I can pay Herbin now is that, used properly _ the way Brown was _ he can be just as good and maybe even better.
I really believe that.
Going into this 2013 season, I am not worried about too many areas of Temple’s football team this upcoming season, but I was worried about finding the next Matty Brown.
Until the light bulb went on in my head yesterday.
The next Matty Brown is sitting right there in the Edberg-Olson Complex.
You know, that shifty, elusive guy everybody else underestimates until he’s putting up six points on a regular basis?
Instead of wearing No. 2 or 22, he’s wearing No. 27.

In 2009, Matty Brown started the seson as a slot receiver until a similar light bulb went off in Al Golden’s head and Al gave Brown a chance to carry the ball. It turned out to be a stroke of genius

Khalif Herbin is my choice. Heck, he’s got the talent to be better than Brown. He’s faster (4.39 to Brown’s 4.44). He’s even bigger (5-7, 170 to Brown’s 5-5, 150). There are a lot of intangibles about Brown that make him the toughest son-of-a-gun I’ve seen play for Temple in a long, long time (maybe ever) but I’d like to see what Herbin can bring to the table with the same opportunity.
Herbin was an unbelievable talent with the ball in his hands (check out the film above, just from his first five high school senior games).
He just didn’t get the ball in his hands enough last year. As a 5-7 slot receiver, it’s just not possible.
That was one of the many problems with Steve Addazio. He didn’t maximize the talent of his players. To me, one of the best athletes on the team should not be a third-team quarterback nor should a guy as elusive as Herbin be a slot receiver. A guy who both runs and throws the ball as well as Chris Coyer does should not be spending the first two downs of every series handing of to a running back.
In 2009, Matty Brown started the season as a slot receiver until a similar light bulb went off in Al Golden’s head and Al gave Brown a chance to carry the ball. It turned out to be a stroke of genius.
The position move led to a nice chapter in Temple football history.
Not that Brown is gone, Matt Rhule should consider doing the same for Herbin.
Temple found Brown while playing for Peddie School in Blairstown in 2009 and could find his replacement in a Montclair, N.J. product.
The Owls need a game-breaker like Brown and Herbin could be all that and more. It’s definitely worth a shot.

The Khalif Herbin File

2011
Carries
Yards
Touchdowns
139
1,940
43
2010
176
1,488
15
2011 Punt Returns*
12
245
3
2010 Punt Returns**
4
133
1

*Also returned 7 kickoffs for 243 yards and 2 TDs
**Also returned 9 kickoffs for 385 and 2 TDs
12.16.12
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The Matt Rhule Story resumes at Chapter 3

When and if Hollywood ever makes the Matt Rhule Story, another Matt (Damon) might be playing the title role and whatever happens on Monday, December 17, will be somewhere in the middle of the motion picture.
That’s because, at Temple University, the first couple chapters of the script have already been written. Young, dynamic, assistant coach helps friend lift a football program off the scrap heap of Division I football and into respectability. Then he’s passed over as head coach only to replace the guy who was picked instead of him.
Instead of sulking about being passed over the first time, he stays to keep a recruiting class together and helps the new coach win the school’s first bowl in 30 years.
After that achievement, he goes off to the big city and the bright lights of the NFL, only to be beckoned home by a crisis.
He becomes the school’s third coach in five years and restores the shaken players’ faith in humanity. Not quite Friday Night Lights, but at least Saturday Afternoon Heights.
Good stuff so far.
Whether or not it’s good enough for the silver screen will be determined in how the story develops moving forward.
The next scene is an important one because there will be an Elephant in the Room. The Elephant this time is stability and how long Rhule commits to staying at Temple.

If I were Rhule, I wouldn’t do what the last guy, Steve Addazio, did on the same day, saying he would tell recruits “to make Temple a destination school” and “don’t be passing through.”

Steve Addazio poses with the greatest helmet in the
history of college football the day he was introduced as coach.
Two months later, he got rid of it.

I would say, “I’m not going to ask the kids to do what I wouldn’t do. I’m staying for the duration. I’m not leaving unless I get kicked out of here and I don’t intend on getting kicked out of here. My solemn vow is that I won’t consider another job while I’m under contract to Temple. The people here have made a commitment to me and I will do the same for them. That’s only fair.”
In a world when money talks and BS walks, that statement alone would make national news. He would be the first coach hired in this day and age of musical chairs to ever say something like that.

“After all I did to change the helmets to TEMPLE,
Addazio is doing WHAT? That stubborn 3-yards-
in-a-cloud-of-dust rat bastard is going to get fired
and Matt Rhule is going to change the helmets back.”

It would be a powerful scene in the movie, too.
Another nice touch would be changing the Temple helmets back to  the popular TEMPLE era version (maybe with the school’s distinctive T on one side as a King Solomon-like Compromise) but that’s not a pressing need for Monday.
Cut to the final scene a few years later where a quarterback named P.J. Walker scrambles around and connects with a receiver named Khalif Herbin on a “Hail Mary” play in the end zone to win a BCS bowl game against Miami (Fla.).
Everybody goes crazy and Rhule, after a midfield handshake with old buddy Al Golden,  puts it in perspective.
“It’s just like the Doug Flutie play that beat Miami many years ago,” Rhule said. “Except we’re Boston College this time and our school gets put on the map and Boston College is pretty much in obscurity now, right?”
Chuckle, chuckle.
Fade to black.
Cut and print.
That’s a wrap.
Only in the movies?
Maybe, maybe not.

Tomorrow: Five things Rhule might change right away

11.05.12
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Scripting the first 10 plays versus Cincy

These were Temple’s first five plays vs. Louisville.

My back hurts from getting patted so much after calling for the Jalen Fitzpatrick throwback pass to Chris Coyer, finally used by Temple three months into the season.
My heart aches from being non-competitive on the scoreboard for three weeks.
My head still works, though.
I called for that pass on June 4 in a post I wrote detailing what would be a dream scenario season for the Temple football Owls. That’s five months and one day ago.
In order to avoid a nightmare scenario and get the Owls jump-started on a fine end to a rocky season, I would like to RESPECTFULLY suggest the following 10 scripted plays to open up the game on Saturday:

Khalif Herbin: First of his many Owl TDs.

We’ll assume Temple wins the toss and Cincy kicks it through the end zone.
TU25-Chris Coyer uses a play-action fake to Montel Harris to freeze the defense and rolls out and hits Ryan Alderman for a 6-yard gain near the sideline.
TU31-Coyer drops back to pass, then shovels it forward to Harris for an 8-yard gain.
TU39-Coyer runs right on a read option with Harris trailing. When the pitch guy goes for Harris, Coyer takes it upfield for +14, running out of bounds for ball security purposes.
CI46-Coyer hands off to Fitzpatrick coming around on reverse. Fitzpatrick feigns a throw downfield, handing it off to 4.29 sprinter Khalif Herbin coming from the other side on the double reverse. Field opens for Herbin, who scores a 46-yard touchdown.

Temple 7, Cincinnati 0

Cincinnati quarterback Munchie Legaux then drops back and surprisingly finds the middle of the Temple defense open and hits George Winn for a 75-yard touchdown. Temple makes a nice tackle on Winn in the end zone, though.

TFF’s first scripted play of the game.

Temple 7, Cincinnati 7

TU25-Coyer drops back and hands off to Harris on the wraparound draw, good for +15
TU40-Coyer rolls out and finds Harris over the middle of the field, +10.
50-Coyer rolls out and DBs come up on run support so he floats the ball over DBs head to Fitzpatrick, who gains 20.
C30-Coyer hands it off to Harris up the middle, +1.
C29-Coyer hands off to Harris, who uses a crunching block from No. 44 (Wyatt Benson) to get outside ala South Florida and scores a 29-yard touchdown.

Temple 14, Cincinnati 7

At this point, defensive coordinator Chuck Heater can be seen mouthing “bleep it” (only he didn’t say bleep) and goes to a 3-4 blitzing defensive scheme and unleashes speedy Owl linebackers Tyler Matakevitch and Nate D. Smith on pass rush responsibilities and Temple records a school-record 15 sacks. Other Owl LBs, like Blaze Caponegro and Ahkeem Smith, do a great job in run support. That allows Temple head coach Steve Addazio the comfort level to go back to his pound and ground approach and the Owls control both the clock and, with the help of Brandon McManus’ punting, the field position battle and win going away.
After the team sings “T for Temple U” public address announcer Carlos Bates says the uni will be giving out free Hawaiian Cherry and White Leis to the first 10K fans who come to the Syracuse game.

Hopefully, I won’t wake up from this dream to the last three weeks of nightmares.