Category Archives: Steve Addazio

07.09.12
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BC fans nearly unanimous in support of Harris

Montel Harris gets carried off the field after beating Clemson. This could be
him hoisted by the Owls after beating Cincinnati for Big East title at LFF.

“Is it wrong that I will be kind of rooting for Temple this year? I want to see Day, Harris and Rogers succeed.”  _ A.J. Black, contributing writer, BC Interruption

The news that Montel Harris is officially at Temple and participating in pre-season workouts made at least two people happy.
Steve Addazio and Ted Brown.
Addazio, you know about.

Bernard Pierce vs. Montel Harris
(both played 3 full CF years)
Pierce: 663 carries, 3,570 yards
Harris: 787 carries, 3,735 yards

The Temple head coach not only had the most successful first season of any coach in the school’s history, but he also followed that up with the highest-ranked recruiting class in Temple history, better than any of the Al Golden classes.
Even more notable than recruiting, Temple finished the 2011 season ON THE FIELD ranked higher in the Sagarin ratings than all but one of the current Big East teams (Cincinnati).
Sagarin (USA Today) had Temple finishing the 2011 season ranked No. 30 in the country, with only Cincinnati (No. 28) ahead of it and the Owls finishing ahead of Rutgers (37), South Florida (47), Louisville (64), Pitt (68), UConn (73) and Syracuse (83). Realtime RPI.com had Temple ranked No. 37, behind only Cincinnati (24) and Rutgers (30). Louisville was 53, Pitt 64, ‘Cuse (83, again) and UConn 89.
So much for Temple taking a step back without Al Golden.
Brown, you don’t know about unless you are an old-time North Carolina State football fan. Brown will now keep his spot as the ACC’s all-time leading rusher. Had Harris stayed at Boston College, he almost certainly would not have. Harris was just 828 yards short of the record when he left the Chestnut Hill (Mass.) school in March.
The circumstances surrounding his dismissal are foggy at best but there almost unanimous support of this young man on the most popular Boston College football fan website. More important than that, his two closest position coaches at BC, Temple offensive gurus Ryan Day and Kevin Rogers, have vouched for him. That’s all I need to know.
 You can make a strong argument that Harris is the best rusher in ACC history.

Harris graces cover of TSN in 2010.

On a Big East message board, one fan wrote that “this gives Temple a legit rusher.”
 Au contrare, my friend. It gives Temple THREE (3) legit rushers.
Remember, Matty Brown, not Bernard Pierce, was Temple’s No. 1 all-purpose rusher last year. Pierce was a third-round NFL draft choice.
Quarterback Chris Coyer, unbeaten as a starter, ran for a 69-yard touchdown against Ball State and an 80-yard touchdown against Villanova. Oh yes, Coyer, an excellent passer as well, gained 184 yards RUSHING against a bowl-winning Ohio team.
On this website, Brown was the runaway winner of a poll asking “Which running back most epitomizes the term Temple TUFF?” and beat out Pierce, Heisman Trophy runner-up Paul Palmer, Mark Bright and others by a large margin.
Brown won’t give up his No. 1 spot easily.
My feeling all along that this is all good for Brown and Harris and Temple. If, as expected, Harris is 100 percent, he will slide into Pierce’s spot and get the 27 touchdowns and 1,789 yards Pierce had last season.
If he’s 85-90 percent, he will slide into Brown’s spot of last season and pick up Matt’s 916 yards and six touchdowns.
It’s all good for Steve Addazio, Temple football, Montel Harris, Matt Brown and, especially, Ted Brown.

06.26.12
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Brown turns down SEC and Big 10 offers for TU

Buddy Brown’s junior year highlights at Williamstown, N.J.

“You don’t have to go to Rutgers, you can go right here. We are not North Jersey people. We are basically a step over from Philly. We love the Eagles. We love Temple basketball. We like all that. So why not stay here and have a chance to make a change?”
_Sean Brown, Buddy Brown’s father

Ben Franklin once said it first in this town, over 200 years ago:
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Now you can add a third certainty.
Delusional Rutgers’ fans.
Prior to Temple getting verbals from  Jihaad Pretlow and  P.J. Walker, RU fans were drooling over getting their services.
When the two committed to Temple, the prevalent opinion was Rutgers must have backed off at the last minute and “they weren’t that good, anyway.”
Now that Williamstown four-star linebacker Buddy Brown has committed to Temple, RU fans are saying the same thing.
Truth is no offer was ever pulled. Brown was 247.com’s top-rated linebacker in New Jersey and the 10th highest-rated player on the board at any position in that state. He was a four-star national recruit by them and a three-star national recruit by Rivals.com.

Your typical, run-of-the-mill, Rutgers’ football fan

Brown picked Temple fair and square.
It doesn’t matter what a group of nerd fans say, but what Brown says.
“I think more recruits should take a harder look at Temple,” Brown said. “They will be impressed.”
One RU fan came onto Owlscoop.com and wrote, “you really don’t think someone would turn down an offer to come to Rutgers or Penn State over Temple, do you?”
Well, yeah, and there’s no thinking involved, just facts.
Ask former Big East player of the Year Walter Washington (who turned down Nebraska), former Owl wide receiver Mike Palys (who turned down Penn State), former MAC defensive player of the year Adrian Robinson (who turned down Pitt) and current quarterback Chris Coyer (who turned down Ohio State), among many others who could have gone anywhere but chose Temple.
Rutgers’ fan reaction is curious and humorous, more than annoying, really.
They can’t accept the fact that Temple has a more charismatic head coach than they do, a guy who was head coach at Florida (even if it was for three months). They can’t accept the fact that Temple has a defensive coordinator who as a defensive coach was instrumental in an 11-0 season at Utah and was the brains behind a national championship defense at Florida.
They can’t accept the fact that, in comparison, they have a dull, bland, unproven offensive line coach taking over for Greg Schiano.
Yeah, right, and the 23th-ranked linebacker in the country got an offer pulled from Rutgers when he had offers on the table from Wisconsin (Big 10) and the SEC (Mississippi State).
I didn’t know Rutgers, 7-13 in its last 20 conference games, was in the NFC East.
Baghdad Bob must have had a degree in communications from Rutgers.
He was the guy who stood on one bank of the Tigris River on April 8, 2003 in Baghdad saying “American Troops are committing suicide” and “they will be either killed or burned in their tanks”  before getting to the other side.
Two U.S. Army M1 tanks could be seen in the background. By April 9, the entire town of Baghdad was secured and Bob was arrested by the troops he said would commit suicide or burn.
RU will learn the hard way on Oct. 20, 2012, just like Bob did on April 9, 2003. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

06.18.12
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Father’s Day tradition continues at TU


Newspaper clipping chronicling Jim Cooper’s heroics in Temple’s win over West Virginia.

“My dad could have gone to USC or Florida or Alabama and I still would be going to Temple. I know it’s where I want to be.”
_Jim Cooper

Appropriate that Jim Cooper Jr. committed to Temple around Father’s Day this year because, if the name Jim Cooper rings a bell, it should.
Jim Cooper Sr. used to kick for Temple in the Bruce Arians’ years. Cooper even kicked a field goal to beat West Virginia at Veterans Stadium.
Jim Cooper will kick for Temple again in name only as junior is the son of the senior.
The son also gave the coolest quote so far of any Temple recruit:
“My dad could have gone to USC or Florida or Alabama and I still would be going to Temple,” said Cooper. “I know it’s where I want to be.”
The Mainland (N.J.) Regional kicker enters his senior season with 24 career field goals, just six shy of the all-time New Jersey record for field goals. He should break that this season.
I don’t know if any other school has as many father/son connections as Temple University.
Some just off the top of my head:

Dan Klecko

Joe Klecko/Dan Klecko: Joe was an All-American at Temple, but made his fame as the anchor of the New York Jets’ fabled “sack exchange.” Joe should be in the NFL Hall of Fame. Dan was Big East defensive player of the year at Temple and has three Super Bowl rings as a role player with the Patriots and Colts (three more than his dad). Dan is now a sports talk radio host in Philadelphia.
Zach Dixon/Hassan Dixon: Zach was a 1,000-yard rusher for Wayne Hardin’s 1978 team which went 7-3-1. Hassan Dixon is his son and currently listed as a DB for the Owls.

Raheem Brock: representing 

Zach Dixon/Raheem Brock: Yes, the same father of Hassan is also the father of Super Bowl champion DE Raheem Brock and they both played at Temple. Brock was an outstanding TE and DE at Temple and currently looking for another NFL opportunity. He is a successful restaurateur in Philadelphia.

Mark Bright follows his blockers.

Jim Bright/Mark Bright: Jim Bright was a fullback for the Owls in the 1950s. Mark Bright was also a fullback for the Owls, but in the 1970s. Mark was named MVP in Temple’s 28-17 win over California in the Garden State Bowl. Mark was one of Hardin’s last recruits one year. Jim was the long-time principal at New Hope-Solebury High School. “His dad was a fullback at Temple,” Hardin said. “I told him, ‘At Temple, we take care of our own.’ So I took a chance on Mark. I’m glad I did.”

Not a father/son connection, but certainly one worth noting is that current starting Temple quarterback (and New Mexico Bowl MVP) Chris Coyer also has a family tie to Temple. A great uncle, Harry Cochran, was Dean of the Business School at Temple in 1959. Chris is majoring in business.

Now the Jim Coopers become part of the Temple football family once again. It’s a nice Father’s Day trend worth mentioning.

06.04.12
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Temple dreams and expectations

With 12 wins this year,  Chris Coyer could go to 16-0 as a Temple starter.

About this time every year, I run into a friend I will call Frank (because that’s his name) and, for the past five years or so, he’ll yell out “How is Temple going to do this year?” when I jog by his summer place in the Poconos.

Coaching up the OL.

Frank did not go to Temple and is about as New York City as they come (a big Yankee fan) but he became a Temple fan (he watches on TV) because his late beautiful wife, Amy, graduated from Temple.
About five years ago, I yelled out 7-5 (after a whole lot of losing seasons in a row). It was 5-7. (It should have been 7-5, except for fiascoes at Navy and Buffalo). I nailed the record the past couple of years with eight-win predictions.
This year, I dread jogging by Frank’s place because I just don’t know the answer.
It could be 8-3. It could be 11-0. It could even be 6-5, but I seriously doubt it will go below that.
Dreams, expectations, reality.
The dream is that everybody stays relatively healthy, that Justin Frye and Steve Addazio can coach up the offensive line and that Chuck Heater continues to show the nation he is the best defensive coordinator in the country.
This being June, I feel prepared to tell Frank 8-3 but I can dream of 11-0.
This is how it can happen:

Temple hits the snap-on button to steamroll Villanova.

Friday, Aug. 31.:  Matty Brown treats the Wildcats like he treated the U.S. Army for the last two years, going for 226 and four touchdowns. Chris Coyer rips off another patented 80-yard touchdown run and adds a pair of touchdown passes, one to Malcolm Eugene and another to Deon Miller. Ryan Alderman sustains three drives by catching third-down passes. Juice Granger ends the four-year rivalry by faking a kneel down out of victory formation and hitting slot receiver Jalen Fitzpatrick for a 63-yard score. “We call that our ‘snap-on’ play,” Addazio said. “We snapped it onto the game plan yesterday. It was the last page.” Temple 55, Villanova 3.
Saturday, Sept. 8: Randy Edsall opens the post-game press conference by saying, “for the third-straight year, my team wasn’t tough enough to beat this team. It’s a bad matchup for us.” After pestering by D.C. and Baltimore reporters, he ends the press conference by saying, “Look, if it wasn’t for the kindness of coach Addazio, we would have lost to them 45-0 last year. You didn’t really expect us to make up 45 points in one year, did you?” Temple 28, Maryland 13.

The best DC in the USA

Sat., Sept. 22: Given an extra week to prepare, Heater comes up with a brand new blitzing scheme that forces Penn State starter Matt McGloin into five interceptions, one returned for a touchdown by true freshman Nate Smith and another by outside linebacker Kevin Newsome, who volunteered to move to defense in August. “I totally take responsibility for this loss,” new Penn State coach Bill O’Brien says afterward. “I put in a lot of Tom Brady stuff for him. I know Tom Brady. Matt is no Tom Brady.” Addazio: “Newsome was too good an athlete to keep off the field.” Temple 17, Penn State 7.
Sat., Oct. 6 _ South Florida travels to Philadelphia for the first time and the weather is so uncharacteristically cool, with temperatures in the 40s, that the Bulls have a hard time coping. Temple students come up big in the first game back to the Big East as 30,000 students make the subway ride from the main campus to attend the historic event. “Between the cold and our guys fumbling and the noise their students were making, we just weren’t into it,” South Florida coach Skip Holtz said afterward.  “We don’t have crowds like that in Tampa.” Addazio gives basketball head coach Fran Dunphy the game ball. Temple 24, South Florida 14.
Sat. Oct. 13 _ With UConn benefactor Robert Burton watching from a superbox, Ryan Day’s spread offense kicks into full gear against the Huskies as Coyer hits Fitzpatrick, Alderman, Miller and tight end Alex Jackson for scores. Brown adds another on the ground. Burton storms out at halftime, yelling out loud “I told you guys we should have hired Addazio.” The win gives Temple a 5-3 overall advantage in the all-time series. Temple 35, UConn 7.
Sat. Oct. 20 _ Heater’s defense sacks two Rutgers’ quarterbacks for a school-record 15 times. Fitzpatrick hits a wide-open Coyer on a double-reverse throwback pass for six. Brandon McManus kicks five field goals and the Rutgers’ Rivals.com board implodes and servers crash after a 22-14 Temple win in front of 50,000 fans, 35K from Temple. They officially change the name of the Raritan River to the Denial River after one Rutgers fan writes, “Well, at least we won the battle of the fans.” Temple 22, Rutgers 14. “Penn State was sweet but, for some reason, this one was sweeter,” Coyer says afterward. The win evens the all-time series at 17-17 and gives Temple wins in five of the last seven meetings.
Sat. Oct. 27 _ Stability becomes the most-used word in post-game reports after Temple pulls out a 14-7 win at Pitt. “You can’t have five head coaching changes in a couple of years and expect a competitive   DI program,” one columnist writes. After the game, Gov. Tom Corbett presents Addazio with the Governor’s Cup, emblematic of the state championship. In keeping with his austerity policy on higher education, though, the trophy is made out of a used cardboard pizza box donated by neighboring Gov. Chris Christie. Temple 14, Pitt 7.

Pitino: Rooting for Temple?

Sat. Nov. 3 _ At Louisville, Rick Pitino hosts Dunphy in a club box at Papa Johns Stadium and photo of him high-fiving Dunph after a Temple touchdown causes a local stir. “I always cheer for Louisville,” Rick said. “We were high-fiving about the new scoreboard at the Liacouras Center. Temple just happened to score a touchdown at the same time.” Temple 17, Louisville 6. With the win, Temple’s all-time record vs. Louisville is now 4-2.
Sat. Nov. 10 _ With the Big East championship on the line, unbeaten Cincinnati travels to unbeaten Temple and College Football Game Day is in attendance. A 59-yard McManus field goal as time expires  sets off a wild celebration as the goal posts come down despite some heavy-handed Eagles’ security. Temple now leads the all-time series vs. the Bearcats, 10-4 with one tie, thanks to a Wes Sornisky field goal. Temple 13, Cincinnati 10.
Sat., Nov. 17 _ Brown once again becomes Army’s worst nightmare, this time scoring five touchdowns and running for 268 yards. “I thought he graduated,” one Army fan is overheard telling a Temple fan. “No, that was Pierce,” the Temple fan whispers back. “I wish it was Brown instead,” the Army fan says. Temple 42, Army 14.

Doug Marrone: No depth

Sat. Nov. 24 _ Syracuse dressed only 65 players for its spring game and through injuries and ineligiblity, brought only 35 players to Temple for the season finale. “Depth really hurt us,” Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone said. After the game, Syracuse tight end Louis Addazio announces he will transfer to Temple. Temple 32, Syracuse 14.

Temple finishes the regular season 11-0 and Coyer and Brown grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, with the cover headline stating “Fat Cat and Bug lead surprising Temple into Orange Bowl.”

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05.02.12
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ACC’s 2d-leading all-time rusher coming to TU?

First, Temple recruited Montrell Dobbs as a possible long-term replacement for Bernard Pierce. Now, Montel Harris seems to be at least a POSSIBLE short-term solution, according to CBS and BC Interruption.
 Everybody knows the REAL replacement for Pierce is our very own Matty Brown, who was Temple’s No. 1 all-purpose back last season. If Harris, as rumored, comes to Temple he will be eligible to play immediately since he will likely be graduating from Boston College in a couple of weeks, the so-called Russell Wilson Rule.

Tweet by Bruce Feldman on Tuesday.

Wilson graduated from North Carolina State and was able to finish his career at Wisconsin. Dobbs is sitting out a year and is positioning himself an interesting No. 1 fight between himself, Jalen Fitzpatrick (who could be a slot receiver), Khalif Herbin (who also could play slot), Brandon Peoples and Jamie Gilmore for the top spot on the 2013 Owls. Maybe one or more of those guys could be redshirted if Harris arrives on campus.
So Temple should be able to make a smooth transition from the Brown/Pierce Era to an equally impressive stable of tailbacks.
The difference between Montel and Montrell is that Montel will be able to play right away.
IF Harris comes to Temple, somebody is giving him very good advice. If he enters the NFL supplemental draft coming off a knee injury, he has virtually no chance to make an NFL roster. If he enters the NFL draft coming off a strong senior year at Temple, he’s got a good chance to do it as a first-round draft choice.
Pierce would have had the same opportunity if he had followed Steve Addazio’s advice to remain at Temple one more season.
 IF Harris comes, and that’s still a big if as of this minute, he will come with Pierce-like credentials. In fact, Harris is the second-leading all-time rusher in the history of Boston College and that’s impressive in itself. He would have entered this season as a prohibitive favorite to break Ted Brown’s ACC career rushing record that stood since 1979. Harris came into the 2011 season as the ACC’s preseason Player of the Year, but obtained a medical redshirt after hurting his knee in the first game.

If he doesn’t come, Temple will be fine at tailback. If one of the incoming freshman don’t pan out, Jalen Fitzpatrick can be an impact player at that position, just like Brown has been. Temple has more depth at that position than in the kicking game, put it that way.
Harris was kicked off err, asked to leave, the Boston College team for unspecified reasons, but if he comes here he would do so with the blessing of two top BC assistants who are now at Temple, quarterbacks’ coach Kevin Rogers and offensive coordinator Ryan Day. Obviously, they know the kid and, if they vouch for him, Steve Addazio would likely give him another chance.

IF Harris comes to Temple, somebody is giving him very good advice. If he enters the NFL supplemental draft coming off a knee injury, he has virtually no chance to make an NFL roster. If he enters the NFL draft coming off a strong senior year at Temple, he’s got a good chance to do it as a first-round draft choice.

Matt Brown, in my mind, would share the No. 1 tailback spot in the same way he shared it with Pierce. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for both and one that figures to be a mutually beneficial one for Temple as well.
Heck, it’s not as if a tailback has never been injured.
 Between Paul Palmer, Pierce, Brown and guys like Todd McNair and Stacey Mack (and now both Montel and Montrell as well as Peoples and Gilmore), you could make a case for Temple being Tailback U.
With a distinctive Capital T.
Interesting footnote on this story. In the Owlsports.com Cherry and White game notes, it said “Matt Brown is wearing No. 2 for the spring game. His number in the fall is yet to be determined.” I wondered out loud why they didn’t just announce he was wearing No. 2 henceforth and, err, Temple football forever.
Harris wears No. 2.
Mystery solved.
Maybe.

04.28.12
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Bernard Pierce to Ravens!

Final BE draft standings:
(2012 schools only)
Cincinnati 4
*Temple 3
UConn 1
Rutgers 1
Syracuse 1
USF 0
Pitt 0
Louisville 0
*Pierce (Ravens), Rodriguez (Bears) and Whitehead (Lions) help Owls tie single-season record for most players drafted (1987). Derek Dennis (Carolina), Pat Boyle (Lions), Morkeith Brown (Bucs), Stephen Johnson (Saints), Rod Streater (Oakland), Kevin Kroboth (Eagles), Adrian Robinson (Steelers) and Wayne Tribue (Broncos) sign FA contracts.

As far as I’m concerned, the Ravens got the steal of the draft in the third round when they selected Bernard Pierce.
Baltimore made a trade to move up seven spots to get Pierce.
Pierce was the Pennsylvania state champion in the 100-meter dash as a high school kid four years ago and he runs even faster with the football in his hands.
He’s got great vision, a sick burst to the outside, terrific moves in the open field and has the ability to punish tacklers and fall forward for an extra five yards at the end of every play. He’s a  much better receiver than people give him credit for (remember, he had Chester Stewart throwing him the ball for much of his three years at Temple). Largely because of Pierce, the Owls ran an offense that eschewed the pass for a power running game.
Ravens play Eagles in game two.
If Pierce starts, I’m not betting on the Eagles that day.

03.31.12
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Daz: ‘I like our personnel’

No truth to the rumor that was Holy Water poured on Chuck Heater last year.

There’s a lot of uncertainty upon entering the Big East season for Temple’s football team.
Lack of talent is not one of them, though.
On Friday, after the 13th practice of the season, head coach Steve Addazio made clear that “I like our personnel” and that there is plenty of talent to sustain and build upon the level of success of the last three years.
I agree.

Chuck Heater won’t have to be a miracle-worker with this group of Owls.

While there are significant losses in the areas of offensive line, the team is pretty well set at most other positions.
Even talented tailback Bernard Pierce, who figures to go now lower than the third round of this year’s NFL draft, finished second on the team in all-purpose yards to his replacement, Matty “Rock” Brown. In the true spread that Addazio plans to run with talented (and unbeaten) quarterback Chris Coyer at the helm, you can make a pretty good argument that Rock is a more effective college back.
The credit for much of this talent still goes to former head coach Al Golden, who made a practice of stockpiling prospects by redshirting most of his incoming freshmen. That was part of Golden’s “core values” of building a “house of brick, not straw.”
In each of his final two seasons, Golden redshirted no less than 16 of his 25 incoming signees.
Many of those guys will play significant roles with the 2012 Owls.
“The reason I redshirted at Temple so much,” Golden told a Miami-area newspaper recently, “was that I was committed to building a program. That’s the way the so-called powerhouse programs do it. We weren’t able to do that the first couple of years, but we were able to do it by the time I left. I want to do the same thing [at Miami].”
Addazio doesn’t believe in redshirting as much as Golden did, but that doesn’t mean he won’t benefit from it.
In many positions, even ones where high-profile starters left, there could be a talent upgrade from last year.
Take the case of tight Alex Jackson.
Jackson, another redshirt, split starting time with Evan Rodriguez two years ago.
“I think of our all tight ends last year he had the highest end [talent],” Addazio said. “He wasn’t ready to play last year, but now he is and that’s going to show.”
Even on the offensive line, if you count Jackson’s starts from two years ago and Sean Boyle’s starts from two years ago and Martin Wallace starting all last year, that’s three returning offensive line starting caliber players and that’s pretty good. Also, Big 33 recruit Adam Metz benefited from a redshirt year (thanks, Al Golden) and is ready to compete for his spot. These are quality offensive linemen.
On defense, there is plenty of talent along the line with John Youboty, Levi Brown, Kadeem Custis, Kamal Johnson, Marcus Green and Sean Daniels all returning. All have started games in the past. Two starting linebackers, Blaze Caponegro and Ahkeem Smith, return, as does Olaniyi Adewole, who got considerable playing time last year as a sub. Starting strong safety Justin Gildea returns, as does his backup, Chris Hutton. Starting free safety Kevin Kroboth is gone, but one-time five-star recruit Vaughn Carraway was his backup last year and should slide right into that spot without a drop in production.
At the corners, last year’s true freshman, Anthony Robey, was a lock-down cover specialist and starter until he got hurt midway into the season but is looking in top form in practice. Zamel Johnson also started at corner, but he is being pushed by Rutgers’ transfer Abdul Smith. Maurice Jones, who got plenty of playing time, is also in the corner mix.
Temple defensive coordinator Chuck Heater was called “Mother Teresa” by no less an authority than Urban Meyer for his work as DC of the Florida defense two years ago.
Addazio could have called Heater the same thing last year the way he pieced together a Temple defense  that lost seven starters from 2010 into the third-best defense in the nation (behind only Alabama and LSU) in 2011.
Heater won’t have to work a miracle for Temple’s defense this year because he’s got more capable parts already in place to have a defense that keeps the Owls in every game.
The same can be said for the rest of the team as well and that’s doesn’t even count the reinforcements from the calvary who arrive (hello, Kevin Newsome, Jamie Gilmore and company) in July.
Aug. 31 can’t come soon enough.
To borrow a phrase from Mr. T, I pity the fool called Villanova.
Hopefully, a blowout there starts an avalanche of similar good results for Temple fans the rest of the fall.

03.14.12
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Big picture looks good at practice

Steve Addazio talks about the new additions on the staff.

Much has changed about Temple football spring practice in one year.
That big ugly project in the background has been replaced by beautiful buildings on one side.
On the other side, a $10 million addition to a 12-year-old $7 million football facility is going up (and will be done by fall practice).
Not only is the scenery looking good, Al Golden’s “core value” of stockpiling talent at the redshirt level is kicking in for the good of the team.
Expect many of the “true freshmen” who Golden redshirted (16 of them) two years ago to make an immediate impact. We’ll talk about those redshirts in the coming days.
So while the scenery around the practice field improves, so will the talent level on the field, despite whatever losses to graduation and NFL the Owls experience in April and May.

03.09.12
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Temple TFF: New conference, new look

Temple Football Forever logos through the years.

Occasionally, like maybe once every tailgate, someone will ask me what possessed me to start Temple Football Forever.
Well, as a 30-year season-ticket-holder for Temple football games (there can’t be many of us, right?), along came a president who threatened the very existence of Temple football and, therefore, the way I spent my Saturdays however many years I have left on this earth.
The guy, David Adamany, handpicked a committee to “determine the future of Temple football” in December of 2004 and promised that the committee’s “complete report would be released” after the determination had been made.
That report was never released.
Never.

Our new look.

I’ve never found out why, but I think I have a pretty good idea.
The vote did not go the way Adamany, infamous for killing football at Wayne State, had planned. Nine people voted to continue Temple football. Eight voted against it.
I’d like to think I had a little something to do with that.
Months before the vote I found the addresses of each committee voting member and send them clippings of past Temple football successes on the field, with a cover letter basically stating a university cannot buy that kind of publicity.
I found an ally in the late, great Howard Gittis, who was not a football fan per se but who saw the value of football. He wrote me a nice response saying he would not allow football to die on his watch.
Gittis was Adamany’s boss and he kept his word.
I promised Gittis I’d do my best to drum up support in return.
Without Gittis, Temple does not play in the MAC or  Lincoln Financial Field or even have football today. (Adamany’s famous quote: “I can’t see why playing at Franklin Field isn’t good enough.” Ugh.)
Temple Football Forever was born the day the Owls joined the MAC on May 17, 2005.
I got up from my folding chair at the press conference, turned to my friend Sal the Owl, and we breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing full well the size of the bullet (really, rocket-propelled grenade) we dodged that day.
“Temple football now, Temple football forever,” I said.
So I went home and blogged my first post about that day and had my title.
Wednesday, the Owls made like the Jeffersons  and moved on up  to the (Big) East side and all signs point to them doing it right this time.
Thursday, I added a new logo for the occasion, thanks to my good friend, Owlified. I think it perfectly illustrates the future of a sea of folks wearing Cherry in a packed Lincoln Financial Field in a BCS conference along with how much fun it is to be an Owl football player and a winner in a great sports city like Philadelphia.

02.19.12
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Addazio’s impressive trifecta

It’s particularly sunny in Dazadelphia these days.

Forget Jeremy Lin and Linsanity.
I’ll take Steve Addazio and Dazmania any day over Lin.
At least in Dazadelphia because, even in this dead period of the offseason, I’ve never been more convinced that Steve Addazio is the guy to lead Temple to some, err, dazzling heights.
The first sign was Daz turning down Rutgers the way Steve Carlton used to shoo off reporters _ with a disinterested wave. The guy before Daz would have milked every ounce of the attention.  Not Daz.
Addazio’s turning down of Rutgers and his No. 1 recruiting class in the MAC, what he called “the best recruiting class in Temple history” were two breathtaking buzzer beaters but, for me, nothing made me admire Addazio more than his recent hiring of Ryan Day as offensive coordinator to replace Scot Loeffler. Day comes from Boston College, as does former BC offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers.
I would say “Thank, God” but that thanks is reserved for Daz.
In about one month’s of work, Addazio gave his Temple employers this impressive trifecta of accomplishments:
1) He turned down RU right away;
2) He produced the No. 1 recruiting class in the MAC;
3) He didn’t hire Matt Rhule as OC.
I was cringing at the prospect of Daz promoting Matt Rhule into the offensive coordinator spot he held in 2010 under Al Golden.
It would have been the easy pick.

Ryan Day turned out to be that somebody else.

It would have been the expected one.
It also would have been the incorrect one, in my mind.
In my 30 years of being a Temple season-ticket holder, I have never seen a more ill-conceived and mismanaged offense as I did for the 2010 Owls.
With a big, mean and nasty offensive line and weapons like Matty Brown, Mike Gerardi, Rod Streater, Joey Jones, Evan Rodriguez and Alex Jackson, Rhule’s offense produced a total of three points in an important game at Miami (Ohio) in 2010.
Three points.
That’s borderline comical, if it wasn’t so sad.
Against Ohio, with 10 days to prepare, Rhule’s first offensive play was an illegal formation. So what if the player lines up in the wrong formation? It’s the coach’s responsibility to drill into that player and the other 10 players what the formation is, ESPECIALLY on the first play of the game. That’s what 10 days of practice are for.
Now many say it wasn’t Rhule’s fault, that it was Al Golden micromanaging things.
That could have been true, but I’m a fact guy and not a theory guy.
FACT: The 2010 offense sadly underperformed visa ve their level of talent.
FACT: Rhule was sole offensive coordinator in 2010.
THEORY: Golden’s micromanaging MIGHT have had more to do with the non-production than Rhule’s leadership.
It could have been Golden’s fault. It could have been Rhule’s fault.
If it wasn’t Golden’s fault, I did not want to find out the hard way in 2012 and, thanks to Daz, I won’t have to.
FACT: The 2011 offense click on all cylinders, especially the last five games of the season.
Loeffler called the plays last year and the improvement was noticeable. Auburn noticed enough to hire Loeffler. Notice they did not hire Rhule, who has done an outstanding job as a recruiter and a linebacker’s coach at Temple in the past.  Just because you are a great recruiter and linebacker coach doesn’t mean you will be a great OC.
People ask me what I have against Rhule and my answer always is one word: Nothing.
That’s a fact. I just don’t want him as my OC.
Rhule is a great guy and big asset to the staff. Day and Rogers are great guys and big assets to the offense.
It’s all good now.
Day slides into the Loeffler spot and Rhule stays in the Rhule spot.
Works for me and I think that is the way it will work best for the Owls.
My admiration of Daz, which was already at the top of the chart, went off the charts with his recent restructuring of his coaching staff that served as the Cherry on top of a desert that included a spotless handling of the recruiting class and the RU situation.
Dazmania is the best word to describe it.
Or Dazzling.
I could care less about the Knicks, but I can’t wait until Cherry and White Daz.
I mean Day.