Category Archives: Mark D’Onofrio

12.14.12
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Rhule to be named head coach

BREAKING NEWS: As of Saturday night, Matt Rhule officially accepts offer to become Temple’s 26th head football coach … press conference on Monday … I already updated Temple football Wikipedia page …

Matt Rhule motions to his PSU teammates to get a good look at the worst
helmet in the history of college football after a sack of a Temple QB.

Some people dream about Jessica Cristobal, I dream of Matt Rhule.
(Hey, I can’t pick my dreams, they just happen.)
In this latest one (true dream, not a made-up one), Rhule is addressing a group of Temple supporters and members of the press at his “introductory” press conference in the Howard Gittis Room at the Liacouras Center.
The team is going wild in the background and all during the conference nobody can hear what Rhule is saying because of the noise the group is making amongst themselves.

Jessica, we hardly knew ye

The newspaper and TV guys along the first row are shrugging their shoulders and pointing to their ears.
Suddenly, Bill Bradshaw goes to the podium, takes the microphone from Matt and says: “Guys, I know you are excited but please give Matt a chance to talk. This is his day. It’s rude to be talking while he’s talking. OK, Matt.”
Then Bradshaw hands the microphone back to Rhule and a spitball flies by Bradshaw’s ear.
Then I wake up.
Unless Temple re-opens its coaching search, something like this will happen on Monday around noontime, with or without the noise or the spitballs.
This just  in: Temple won’t be re-opening the coaching search and Matt Rhule will be named head coach on Monday. Rhule is the current assistant offensive line coach of the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
Just as there were red flags surrounding past hirings (like Jerry Berndt going 0-11 before he was hired and DC Ron Dickerson giving up 55 points in his last game), a coach this well-liked being hired is a huge red flag to me.
I would like someone to ask Bradshaw why Temple didn’t reach out to Ball State coach Pete Lembo (it didn’t), but I doubt that question is going to come up or be answered on Monday.

“The biggest thing I would say: I am blessed to be at Temple and I love Temple”
_ Matt Rhule

I’d rather have an ass-kicking Bill Belichick-type than a “players’ friend” Andy Reid-type any day of the week.
People tell me Matt can be quite the disciplinarian but I will have to see that for myself in the next few months.
I keep hoping something good comes out of this. Maybe Matt brings in Adam DiMichele to be his QB coach. Maybe he brings back Bruce Francis to show the wide receivers how it is done. Maybe he can convince DC Chuck Heater and Heater’s son-in-law, Sean Cronin, to stay. Give Heater Kevin Newsome to play free safety and Heater becomes the best DC in the country again and Temple gets another first-round NFL draft pick.
Still, it all comes down to winning. To me, that’s all that matters.
I felt even in Steve Addazio’s final days that nothing short of seven wins in 2013 was acceptable.
I’m holding Matt Rhule to those same standards. I hope he holds himself to that standard.
I hope he holds the players to those standards.
To me, the success or failure of Matt Rhule’s selection as next Temple coach rests on that record. Nothing else.
Until then, when it comes to Matt Rhule, I’ve moved from Northeast Philly to Missouri: Show me.
Jessica Cristobal, we hardly knew ye.

12.13.12
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Our picks: Lembo, Bowles, Rhule (in that order)

BREAKING NEWS: CBS Sports and Owlscoop.com are now reporting as of Thursday night it’s down to Rhule or D’Onofrio … God help Temple if it’s D’Onofrio, whose Miami defense was ranked No. 118 of 120 FBS teams in 2012 …

Todd Bowles, because he represents the diversity this university  is all about and  proudly rocks the Temple colors and has a winning head-coaching record in the NFL, should be named the next Temple coach if it’s between him and Rhule. I think it might go to Matt Rhule , though.

Lembo and Cristobal have “home run” power while Bowles and Rhule, at best, are gap hitters and it’s more likely that Bowles or Rhule will strike out or pop up than the other two guys

Getting information from inside the walls of Temple athletics is almost impossible.
Bill Bradshaw runs a tight ship and that approach has navigated Temple through some troubled waters in the big-time college football world.
I’m OK with that because of the nice ports this trip has taken Temple fans of their major sports.
He hired “the most underrated head coach in college basketball” in his old baseball infield mate at LaSalle, Fran Dunphy.
He hired a program-builder without peer in Al Golden who lifted the Temple football program off the scrap heap and into respectability.
Love him or leave him (cough, leave him), Steve Addazio was able to talk his way into two high-profile jobs after Florida and was able to take Golden’s talent and win Temple its first bowl game in 30 years.
Addazio might have done Temple a huge favor by leaving after this  4-7 disaster.
That’s 3 for 3 and the best Bradshaw hit at LaSalle was .312, so I’ve got to like him better as an AD than a lead-off hitter.

Bradshaw’s track record is good, so I’m OK with his stealth methods.
The latest news is that Temple fans may have to wait until next week to learn of a new coach.
In the meantime, all we can do is read between the scraps of information we’re able to get out of Broad Street.
Reading the tea leaves, as it were.
We’ve learned that early last week Bradshaw called a current NFL and former Temple player and asked him who he would chose between Matt Rhule and Mark D’Onofrio, two former Temple coaches.
The player said without a doubt Rhule.

That was before Eagles’ defensive coordinator Todd Bowles entered the picture and I’m told Bowles is now considered a very serious candidate.
Former Florida International University coach Mario Cristobal already interviewed, as did current Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco. No confirmed status on two great head coaches already available, Dave Clawson of Bowling Green or Pete Lembo of Ball State.
My choices are Lembo first, Clawson second and Cristobal third simply because they have taken FBS teams to bowls as head coaches. They would remove all the guesswork about how they will do at Temple simply because they’ve done it as a head coach before.
I’m thinking, though, that Temple will hire someone like Rhule or Bowles because this delay speaks more to Rhule and Bowles finishing their NFL games this week. If you are into conspiracy theories, and I’m not, you might guess the delay might have something to do with new Temple president Dr. Neil D. Theobald, an Indiana guy, flying out to the Hoosier state to try to convince either Colts’ head coach Bruce Arians or Lembo to take the job. Arians might win the Super Bowl, so that’s not happening but I would gladly take Lembo instead.
Borrowing a phrase from Facebook friend Chris “Mad Dog” Russo “gun to my head” Bowles gets the job. (I wrote this Thursday afternoon and still believe Todd should get the job over Matt Rhule or Mark D’Onofrio for a multitude of reasons.) The reasoning will be that Temple is looking for stability in the position above all and Bowles will beat out Rhule based on his small sampling (2-1 record) as an NFL head coach. Plus, he has OWL in the middle of his name and the marketing people love that kind of stuff.
That said, I’d rather see either Lembo or Cristobal sitting there at the presser on Monday. To use a baseball phrase Bradshaw might understand, Lembo and Cristobal have “home run” power while Bowles and Rhule, at best, are gap hitters and it’s more likely that Bowles or Rhule will strike out or pop up than the other two guys.
That would make it 3 for 4 for Bradshaw.
Good enough?
Yes, in baseball, but maybe not athletic administration.

12.10.12
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Latina: The Harold Stassen of TU candidates

Breaking News: ESPN reporting Mike MacIntyre to be named Colorado coach … Temple would be wise to scoop up Pete Lembo, Dave Clawson or Mario Cristobal now …
John Latina (left) has the persistence of Harold Stassen. 

Clawson has the Midas Touch wherever he goes and Temple fans would give thumbs up to that choice

You can say a lot of things about the current coaching candidates at Temple University but John Latina holds the patent on the word perserverance.
Latina is the Harold Stassen of Temple head coaching candidates. Stassen, a former Mayor of Philadelphia, ran for President of the United States in 1944, 48, 52, 64, 68, 76, 84, 88 and 92.
For reasons known only to him, like Stassen, Latina keeps throwing his hat into the ring and Temple keeps humoring him (and maybe themselves) by interviewing the guy.
Latina applied for the Temple head coaching job when Arians left, when Jerry Berndt left, when Ron Dickerson left, when Bobby Wallace left and when Al Golden left.
 Latina must know by now he has no shot but keeps applying anyway, even enlisting Bruce Arians’ support this time.

Clawson’s plusses:
1. Head coach and has been CEO of a program and terrific on game day
2. Won everywhere he’s been
3. Coached in the Philly area before
4. Beat Addazio with half of Daz’s talent

Sorry, John, I’d rather have Bruce as Temple’s next head coach but I know that has the same chance of happening as you getting the job.
In Mystery Science Theater, there was once a great line about Harold Stassen: “You’ll never win. You’ll always lose. You’re Harold Stassen.”
To me, guys like Latina and Ohio State running backs’ coach Stan “Definitely Not The Man” Drayton throwing their hats into the ring only serve to muddle up the process.
They have to know they are not getting the job, but wasting Temple’s time interviewing them does not do the Owls any favors. Temple needs to move and move now.
My favorite guy for the job is current Bowling Green head coach Dave Clawson.
I wrote on Saturday that either Mike MacIntrye or Clawson were 1 and 1A but I wasn’t sure which was the 1 and which was the A.

SI’s Pete Thamel is on top of the search.

After careful analysis of their coaching histories, now I am.
Clawson has the Midas Touch wherever he goes. As an offensive coordinator at Villanova, Clawson was 12-1. As Fordham head coach, that school had its best season since Vince Lombardi. As Richmond head coach, he stockpiled enough talent for Mike London that the Spiders won the FCS National Championship. MacIntrye really did it at only one place. MacIntrye also has a “George O’Leary” issue, listing being a two-time defensive coordinator at Temple University (1997 and 1998) on his resume (from the official San Jose State website). MacIntyre was never the defensive coordinator at Temple. He was the defensive backs coach. Ron McCrone was the defensive coordinator in 1997 and Raymond Monica was the defensive coordinator in 1998.

USA Today chimes in on the Temple job.

Clawson has no such credibility issues. Now, at Bowling Green, he has the Falcons in what was once the Eagle Bank Bowl playing MacIntyre and San Jose State. I hope now neither guy shows up for the game.
With MacIntrye at Colorado, and Temple leaning toward hiring a guy with head-coaching experience, Clawson is clearly No. 1 and Mario Cristobal is No. 2.
There’s a big dropoff to No. 3 and you should need a parachute to get to guys like Drayton, Latina and former Owl defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio.

Inquirer’s Mike Jensen on Dave Clawson

Tomorrow: Waiting for a puff of smoke outside Mitten Hall

10.30.08
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Temple vs. Navy: Eight Men in a Box



A typical ‘8 men in box’ alignment (left)

By Mike Gibson
Eight Men Out was a movie about the White Sox scandal, starring John Cusack.
Eight Men In is what Temple’s football braintrust should be considering for the game at Navy this Saturday (3:30 p.m.).
As in “Eight Men in a Box.”

Temple at Navy
Saturday 3:30
Navy-Marine Corps Stadium
Annapolis, Md.
TV: CBS College Sports Network
(Channel 274 on Comcast Phila.)
Radio: 1210 AM WPHT

There’s no denying Temple University’s football defense, when healthy, has 11 superb athletes manning those positions.
The evidence is pretty convincing. Allowing only 6 regulation points to a UConn team that put up 45 on Virginia, 7 to a good Western Michigan team, 10 to Ohio, 10 to Miami, seven to an Army team that scored 44 on Tulane, etc., etc.
This week, the Owls are relatively healthy.
I respect Navy because it beat Wake Forest and Rutgers.
I don’t fear them because they got hammered by a Pitt team that lost to Bowling Green.
Last week, Navy ran for like 11 miles worth of yardage in a 33-7 win over Southern Methodist University and they didn’t even try a pass once.
Not complete a pass, mind you.
Attempt a pass.
The week before, Pitt’s defense played eight men in a box and “held” Navy to 197 rushing yards.
The Panthers dared Navy to pass. It could not, at least not effectively, and Pitt won, 42-21.

Bring violence
to the football.
Disrupt plays,
put a helmet
on the ball,
get turnovers.

That got me to thinking about what should happen on Saturday afternoon.
Move eight of the Owls superb athletes inside this week. Assign two the pitch man, two more the quarterback. Don’t allow them to think. Just tell them to react.
Tell everybody else to flow to the ball. Bring violence to the football. Disrupt plays, put a helmet on the ball, get turnovers.
Making plays. That’s what it should be all about this week for Temple’s football team, defense, offense and special teams.
On offense, it would be nice to block for quarterback Adam DiMichele and future superstar running back Kee-Ayre Griffin (Kee-Ayre, the future is Saturday). It would be nice to find Bruce Francis more often to open up the running game.
But, on Saturday, it’s really all about defense from Temple’s perspective.
Leave Dominique Harris, Jamal Schulters and Jaiquawn Jarrett back to break up the trick plays (i.e., forward passes).
Everyone else should be playing the run.
If Al Golden and Mark D’Onofrio are the defensive geniuses I think they are, they’ll figure this out long before me and the Owls will have been working on this for 10 days.
Eight in a Box.
If they come out lined up that way at, say, 3:31 p.m., you will know the Owls are ready to win.

09.30.08
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My soft-pretzel depression


Great photo of Temple’s terrific fans by Darryl Rule.

“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’ “
_ American poet and author John Greenleaf Whittier …

By Mike Gibson
Like a lot of people, I eat when I’m depressed.
When Temple wins in football, and that’s not nearly enough, I practically skip out of the stadium on a natural high and can’t wait to talk about the win in the parking lot afterward.
I don’t think about eating. I don’t think about sleeping. I just think about winning.
That’s the most fulfilling feeling of all.

You now about those
victory cigars
Red Auerbach used to have?
Well, I have my defeat pretzels

After Temple loses, and that’s always too much, I saunter over to the concession stand and buy the biggest jumbo soft pretzel they have.
You know about those victory cigars Red Auerbach used to have?
Well, I have my defeat pretzels.
I’ve been walking out of Lincoln Financial Field eating too many soft pretzels lately, thinking so much about a lot of things that I never really noticed how the pretzel tasted.
Some soft-pretzel thoughts:
CHESTER STEWART _ I’m sure he’s a good kid and a nice guy, but he’s just not ready to lead a Division I football team to a win. After he overthrew a ton of guys in the Penn State game, I chalked it up to first-game jitters. After he mastered the art of overthrowing open guys by 10 feet in the Homecoming Game against Western Michigan, I said enough is enough. “I thought I did all right,” Stewart said after the game. Sorry, Chester. Three points is not all right. Twenty-one points is all right. Fourteen points would have been acceptable but three points is abysmal. Ridiculously not all right.
AL GOLDEN _ If he didn’t have the confidence to run a balanced offense with Chester Stewart, then he should have went with Colin Clancy or taken the redshirt off Vaughn Charlton. “I thought he did all right,” Golden said of Stewart. With all due respect, Al, what have you been smoking? THREE POINTS IS NOT ALL RIGHT. It just isn’t. It’s the quarterback’s job to put points on the board and that means touchdowns and not field goals out the wazzoo. If Chester Stewart isn’t moving the team, it’s Al Golden’s job to get someone in there who can move the team. It’s not Al Golden’s job to keep running the same guy out, failed series after failed series.
VAUGHN CHARLTON _ Obviously, the redshirt was promised to this talented young man. But, as with everything in the Al Golden Era, the team comes first. It’s the team, not the individual. Vaughn has to go into the office and volunteer to do what’s best for the team. He just has to. Don’t wait for the coach to ask.
THE FANS _ They’ve done a great job in the first two games, 17K and loud and strong in the two games. A lot of them, me included, left without being able to talk for the next two days due to cheering so loudly. The fans, like the players, left a lot on the field. There is a law of diminishing returns. Unless this team is able to string together three straight wins, don’t expect a lot of them to return for the remaining three home games.
MARK D’ONOFRIO _ What can you say about the job Temple’s defensive coordinator has done? Twelve points against UConn, seven against Western Michigan. He’s a genius. Temple is very lucky to have him, but you have to wonder if the law of diminishing returns begins to erode the performance of this defense. They leave a lot on the field, too, and get little back.
THE REFS _ In three of the four Temple losses, a ridiculous call cost the Owls the chance of winning. This time it was sideline interference on a fourth-down call. Refs are human. They’ve been in the MAC for years. They take away Temple’s only touchdown, a beautiful run by James Nixon. They don’t want a team kicked out of another conference coming in and dominating their league. They make up ridiculous stuff like that, coming at a crucial time when Temple stopped Western Michigan on a fourth-quarter third down.
Thinking about all of those people and things got me to the bottom of the Lincoln Financial Field steps. By then, the soft pretzel was gone.
The depression, brought on by lingering thoughts of what might have been, was not.