Category Archives: Temple football

08.16.17
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Collins Rings In New Year

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They could have held this party in a phone booth 20 years ago.

As careers go, I’m so glad I got into the writing end of the media than the photographic one.

Exhibit A was the annual Season Ticket Holder Party at the Pavilion.

Pointing my cell phone as steady as I could at head coach Geoff Collins, I recorded this statement:

“People asked me tonight since I was from the SEC, that this was probably not as good as the SEC. Let me tell you this was better than anything in the SEC.”

I tried to download the video to post here only to get this message:

“Can’t attach file over 25 MB.”

It’s all Greek to me.

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My keepsake (I know, terrible photo)

Oh well. Taking the video seemed like a good idea at the time because Collins can hold the interest of a crowd maybe even better than his predecessor, Matt Rhule.

Collins, as always, seemed pretty sincere. Maybe they don’t have season-ticket-holder parties in the SEC but Temple’s season ticket-holder party went from a small-time deal in the Bobby Wallace days to filling every inch of an indoor football field with fans last night.

I finally got to meet the man last night and I was very impressed with him.

I told him how much I thought Nick Sharga needed to be involved in the offense this year, particularly with his blocking, and Collins agreed and one-upped me by saying that Nick not only blocks but gets in a healthy share of carries every practice. To me, you can talk about the quarterback all you want but if Sharga isn’t back there to be the last line of defense against a blitzing linebacker, the quarterback is probably going to end up on his back side. Before Sharga got here, that was pretty much the fate of P.J. Walker his first two years on the job. Rhule’s spread offense was a disaster because every time Walker went empty backfield, opposing coaches routinely blitzed one more player than the Owls could block and Walker had to run for his life.

Hopefully, Collins won’t make the same mistake by exposing an inexperienced quarterback to limited pocket protections.

We talked about coach Hardin and Collins said he was thrilled the coach made it to the Saturday practice before he passed, but I dared not ask him who the starting quarterback would be. Collins made clear before the first of two scrimmages that he would not decide who the quarterback would be until the second scrimmage and we’re just not there yet. I’m sure others asked the question, though.

I told him jokingly they could have held the season-ticket party in a phone booth in the 1980s and he laughed and said he was aware the program has come a long way. (Heck, he was the Albright College defensive coordinator in nearby Reading in the 1980s so he probably knew the Temple fan landscape in those days well.)

Speaking of ringing in the New Year, the season ticket holders were given a terrific keepsake in a quality championship ring.

I told Scott Walcoff, the associate AD, that whoever came up with that idea is a genius. Scott gave all the credit to his boss, Pat Kraft. Walcoff said that fans who still want the ring should keep an eye out because the university will make it available on a limited basis and it still might be available for those who purchase season tickets between now and the Villanova game. This is a quality item, far better than the kind of thing you might find in a cracker jack box. To borrow a phrase from Abraham Lincoln, “it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.” The fans who have been through more thin than thick but remained true to the program are champions in my mind.

Believe me, it’s worth it, but don’t take the accompanying photo as proof.

Photography was never my strong suit.

Friday: Perception Versus Reality

08.14.17
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QB Casting Call

The Temperors held the first of two closed scrimmages on Saturday as even the Temple fans are getting ready. This should be on the Jumbotron pregame for Villanova (our suggestion).

If hint-dropping is taken into account, Frank Nutile would be under center when the Owls travel to Notre Dame on 9/2/17.

Hint 1: Nutile has been taking MOST of the snaps with the first team during camp so far. When Keith Kirkwood, Adonis Jennings and Ventell Bryant are all on the field at the same time, it has been Nutile throwing the ball to them.

Hint 2: On Media Day, Collins said “the team seems to move the ball better with him in there” and “guys tend to gravitate to him when he’s in the room.” That was all on a question about how he got the nickname of Frankie Juice.

Of course, Collins could be throwing us all for a loop and saying these things to throw the speculation one way and then call a play that goes the other. He does not strike me as that kind of guy, though. He did have his first of two closed scrimmages on Saturday night and the word was that “all four” quarterbacks looked equally good.

What Collins does have is not unlike a director looking for a lead man. He has four distinct types.

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FRANK NUTILE_ Much more of a “Jim Plunkett” type than the other four quarterbacks. Not very mobile or flashy, but gets the throws where they need to be. Plunkett won a Heisman Trophy and two Super Bowls, so the strong silent type could be what Collins is looking for right now.

ANTHONY RUSSO_ Definitely more flashy than Nutile and called “the light who brightens up a room” by no less a quarterback authority than Trent Dilfer. Russo has been compared to the Atlanta Falcons’ Matty Ryan, because he is a similar “type” quarterback with functional mobility (the ability to get out of trouble in the pocket to make a throw downfield). Ryan, like Russo, is from one of the three Philadelphia City Leagues (Inter-AC, Catholic, Public) and Russo had the better high school stats against better competition. Getting Russo to stay home at Temple was, as Joe Biden might say, a big f’ing deal and Russo’s success with the Owls might have a Pied Piper effect. Temple tried to recruit two players from the Catholic and Inter-Ac Leagues before, one was Ryan and the other was Rich Gannon. Both became NFL MVPs. Russo had a more outstanding Philadelphia scholastic career than those two and his getting on the field sooner than later might to out to be a big benefit for the Owls.

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LOGAN MARCHI _ When a group of Temple fans first saw Marchi’s high school film, they pretty much agreed that they were watching Johnny Manziel. The then Texas A&M quarterback used to duck out of trouble, like Marchi did in those clips, and make something happen with his feet—like a big gain in the run game or an explosive play in the passing game, even if the pass was thrown off the back feet. Marchi threw a couple of those back-feet passes in the spring game and was intercepted. Maybe it was more of an aberration than the norm, but he’s had to catch up since.

TODD CENTEIO _ Reminds me particularly of the guy they are trying so hard to replace, Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Phillip “P.J.” Walker. Like Marchi, he has more than functional mobility in the sense that he can get out of the pocket and make a big gain in both the running and the passing game. Walker looked to run a lot in his first two seasons, but enjoyed more success when he became a pocket passer in his final two seasons. Now the Owls are desperately seeking a guy like him and may be forced to burn a redshirt to get another version of Walker.

The first scrimmage, or reading, is in the books. It may take a second casting call before all the characters in this movie are aligned.

Wednesday: Ringing In The New Year

Friday: Perception Versus Reality

 

 

08.11.17
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QB Dilemma: Nutile Looks Like The Guy

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Zach Gelb at the EO interviewing Chris Coyer’s kid back in the day.

Make no mistake, Geoff Collins has a quarterback dilemma.

Not necessarily a quarterback PROBLEM, but certainly a dilemma.

A “problem” is picking between Chester Stewart and Vaughn Charlton. Both came to Temple with dubious credentials, with Charlton throwing for only nine TDs as a high school senior at Avon Grove. The Strath Haven assistant coach who called in track results to the Philadelphia Inquirer had this to say about him: “Mike, what is Temple thinking? That guy blows.”

A little harsh, but Charlton was never a high-end FBS quarterback. Or, in my humble opinion, a quarterback you could win a FBS championship with under center.

These four guys new coach Geoff Collins has to work with all had much better high school careers than Charlton or Stewart and these are four guys Temple can win a championship with now.

This group of guys is a significant upgrade from those days.

The press is allowed only to see the last 10-15 minutes of every practice, so the appearance of the Zach Gelb Radio Show on campus recently gave some clues about what will happen. Two hours of unfettered access on one day tells you a lot more than 10-15 minutes on every day.

Gelb, a Temple grad, got really the first unfettered press access but, despite his pleas of “it’s my birthday” Collins wasn’t going to give him the icing on the cake with a premature anointing of a starter.

Suffice it to say that a parade of guests—heard through the prism of what sounded like someone stepping on the transmission lines—indicated that the guy throwing to the ones (Keith Kirkwood, Adonis Jennings and Ventell Bryant) the most this summer camp was Frankie “Juice” Nutile.

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In other words, there is a scrimmage on Saturday at Franklin Field and Nutile (pronounced NEW TILE) would have to throw about three interceptions to cause the quarterback depth chart to shift.

Combine that with the fact that Collins himself let slip the quote “the team seems to move the ball best with him in there” and the unmistakable notion is that in the next week or so Nutile will be named the guy.

Is that reading too much into it?

Perhaps.

True freshman Toddy Centeio also has received high praise from his teammates, but he unmistakably is running with the third team and throwing against third-team DBs. He appears headed for a redshirt.

That leaves Anthony Russo and Logan Marchi and those two mostly with the “twos” (in other words, Jager Gardner is the back he hands off to most, while Nutile hands off to Ryquell Armstead).

Collins told Gelb a lot will depend on this weekend’s scrimmage at Franklin Field (closed to the public) and how they do against live bullets. He also told Gelb that this isn’t a “gut” decision and that he and offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude (pronounced Patton Nude) have set up a baseball-like metrics system that tells them which quarterback moves the team better. That’s comforting to know the decision won’t come down to pulling the name out of the hat.

Other gems from the interviews:

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Stadium: All talk, no action.

 

Pat Kraft (Temple AD):

Gelb, who asks the best questions of any of the Temple media (hell, Pravda could learn a lot from his questions), started out by asking Dr. Kraft what he knew about the stadium situation and Kraft said: “You know more about it than me.” Not an exaggeration, since Kraft has been taken out of the loop because, as he explained, a “subcommittee of the Board of Trustees is handling all of that now and that’s where it is.” So, in short, the stadium is all talk and no action.

Scott Walcoff (Temple associate AD): 

The intro at the stadium on the Jumbotron will be new and improved, but he could not spill the beans despite Gelb waving the birthday card. Also, people going to the Billy Joel concert the day Temple plays will get into the Temple game for $10 by simply showing their Piano Man ticket.

Delvon Randall (safety):

Said that no Temple player sits and “chills” during practice, like they did with Matt Rhule, but that the drills going on can look like a cluster. “You want to add another word after that, don’t you?” Gelb said. OK, we’ll say it: Cluster Fuck. That might not be a good thing for game-day preparation, but we shall see. All I want out of Temple practices this year is so much concentration on detail that we will never again see a 120-yard penalty day like we did at Penn State last  year. Matt Rhule screwed the pooch with his preparation the week of that game and it cost Temple a win over a P5 champ.

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Collins:

Said the best thing about being a Temple coach is “being around these kids. They are the best group of kids I’ve been around as a coach anywhere. They are competitive. They love to practice. They love to compete and they love to be coached” and that he doesn’t want to put the pressure of getting another 10-win season on them but “I want to take all of that on myself.”

Monday: Quarterback Casting

 

 

 

 

08.09.17
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King Solomon’s Kicking Solution

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Austin Jones kicks arguably the most clutch FG of the last 10  years of TUFB.

Other than the quarterback dilemma, probably the toughest decision facing Geoff Collins in these weeks before the Notre Dame game is the kicking position.

Both Aaron Boumerhi and Austin Jones are, by all accounts, even this season.

One is a senior and one is a sophomore.

For the solution, Collins only needs to open the Bible and look for the story of King Solomon.  Two women claimed to be the mother of the same child and the King ordered the child be split in two so that the women could share him. One of the women objected, saying she’d rather see the child live with the other mother than be killed. Solomon saw that and declared her the real mother and awarded the child to her.

Collins should, in reality, split this baby this way: The senior, Jones, should get to kick this season and he should redshirt Boumerhi so he has him two years after that.

That’s the logical way to do it. All things being equal, the guy who put the blood sweat and tears into the program longer should be given the benefit of the doubt and Jones seems to be that guy. It was not Jones’ fault that he was the victim of a cheap shot at Memphis and probably should not lose his job because of it. Boumerhi is good, but I don’t see this as a Wally Pipp/Lou Gehrig-type situation where Pipp lost his job because of injury. Jones is not as bad as Pipp nor is Bourmerhi the Lou Gehrig of kickers.

Of course, if the reports are wrong out of camp and one is, err, kicking the crap out of the other than that guy should get the job and the other guy should be redshirted but, according to special teams’ coach Ed Foley, that’s not the case. Foley said that both are outstanding and both are doing well.

On the surface this is a tough decision.

King Solomon, though, would beg to differ.

Friday: The QB Dilemma

08.04.17
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Recruit Edition, Where Are They Now?

Some Sean Ryan highlights from last year are here. 

Most Philadelphia 76ers’ fans of a certain age will remember Brooklyn’s Erasmus Hall as the place where one of that high school’s greats, Billy Cunningham, put the organization on top of the basketball world twice.

Once, as a player for arguably the greatest NBA team ever, the 1967 Sixers, and once as the coach of the 1983 champs.

Now the City of Philadelphia has dipped into “The Hall” to pluck another great athlete, Sean Ryan, and if he has the same effect on the Temple football organization as Cunningham did on the Philadelphia basketball one, it will be a great ride.

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Ryan, a wide receiver, already has had an impact on the recruiting rankings. He is Temple’s 19th verbal to date and, so far, the highest-ranked player, period, of any position, head coach Geoff Collins has been able to reel in with his first full recruiting class.

More importantly, the class is ranked No. 47 overall in the country by Rivals.com and No. 1 in the AAC. If the Owls are able to hold it together until the early signing date of December 20th, they stand a very good chance of bettering their highest-ranked recruiting class in the last 10 years.

Amazingly, that mark was not set by Al Golden or Matt Rhule, solid recruiters in their own right, but by Steve Addazio (54, also in his first recruiting year). No. 54 was the highest-rated national recruiting class we could find and that was by Scout.com. In his five years, Golden had the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in the MAC three of those years and he sold that ranking every recruiting night.

Why are recruiting rankings so important?

Trust, but verify. If your coach, like Rhule, is identifying the two-star kids and hitting on them, that’s fine. It’s even better if your coach is getting the kids other highly-paid coaching staffs want.

That’s true with most of Collins’ haul and that’s the main reason why Owl fans should be so excited. Another is that he is out-recruiting the Power 5 teams he will face in 2020, like Rutgers and Maryland. This is a guy who is recruiting like he plans to be around for awhile and not live off the Rhule recruits and exit stage right.

That’s a great sign.

Another player, Rondell Bothroyd, out of Connecticut, turned down his hometown school, Yale, and his home state school, UConn, along with Boston College, for the Owls. He projects as a DE and a really good one because he had 13 sacks as a junior.

The Owls need Bothroyd but might need Ryan more.

Ryan is just the player Temple needs now. While the Owls are deep at receiver, Ventell Bryant, Keith Kirkwood and Adonis Jennings will soon be gone and no one would be surprised if it’s to the NFL. Isaiah Wright is ticketed for stardom, but more in the slot than as a prototypical wide out.

Ryan is that prototypical wide out and, by the time he gets here, there will be plenty of opportunity for him to shine.

Just like another Erasmus Hall guy who made it to Philly.

Monday: Double-Jointed

08.02.17
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Collins Brings The Juice to Media Day

Marc Narducci talks Sean Chandler in this Media Day report.

Sometimes the most revealing answers come from the most innocuous questions.

Someone asked Geoff Collins a Media Day query about how Frank Nutile got his nickname and Collins all but named him the starting quarterback for the Sept 2. Opener at Notre Dame.

After Collins went to great lengths to NOT name a starter, even mentioning that all four quarterbacks will get simultaneous snaps in practice Tuesday, his answer gave at least a clue in what direction he was headed:

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“The offense kind of moves and plays better with him out there,” Collins said of “Frankie Juice” Nutile. “If you are just standing in a room, Frankie Nutile is just standing in a room with this group of guys and that group of guys and he’s just a guy that people gravitate to and one day I was out there and said it (Frankie Juice) and I can’t stop saying it, obviously.”

Collins did not single out any of the other three quarterbacks for praise, in all fairness he was only asked about Nutile. OC Dave Patenaude will have a say in this all-important decision, Collins will be the guy who pulls the trigger and, on Media Day at least, he was thinking Nutile.

There are a couple of reasons why Nutile might be considered a “safe” pick over, say, the other three. One, Patenaude made the comment about Todd Centeio questioning whether he would perform before “72,000 people” on opening day. (Does Patenaude expect 8,000 no-shows in the 80,000-seat stadium?) Two, if Nutile has less-than-stellar performance, it’s easier to go to Anthony Russo or Logan Marchi for the Villanova game. Then there is a third option. Nutile can go 24-33 with three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 35-21 win, but he showed no signs of that kind of performance in the Cherry and White game.

Other revealing Media Day answers:

Leon Johnson Taking Snaps on Defense

This is a little surprising in the sense that the Owls have plenty of high-end talent on the defensive line and they probably need Johnson to prop up an area of weakness in the offensive line.

Nick Sharga At Defensive End

Collins said that the holdover coaches said Sharga would “give Dion (Dawkins) fits” as a one-on-one scout team rusher at defensive end. I hope those same coaches told him about Sharga being the best linebacker on the field, Tyler Matakevich included, in a “real” game, a 34-12 win over a Memphis team that beat Ole Miss in 2015.

Shaun Bradley at Fullback

If the above clue about Nutile potentially starting was not enough, Collins offered that he made the switch of Shaun Bradley’s jersey number from 18 to 23 because Bradley, one of the team’s best linebackers, is also working at fullback and “he and Frankie Nutile have the same number and can’t be on the field at the same time.” If Bradley and Nutile were fourth-team fullback and quarterback, this would not be a big issue. If they are pushing for first-team time, it is.

Friday: Where Are They Now, Recruit Edition

07.31.17
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Media Day Primer For Coach Collins

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Some questions need to be answered

There have been a lot of firsts for Geoff Collins in his short tenure as Temple football head coach and today marks another one.

His first Summer Camp Media Day.

projectmayhem

While he has had other significant days with the media before, like the day he was signed as head coach and a post-mortem on a rainy Cherry and White Day, this one in the most special because he has an intimate knowledge of the personnel available to him.

This one also has a little more urgency in the sense that it will be month or so until kickoff. While Collins has pretty much winged these things in the past, here’s a primer offered to the coach for free on how he should answer some of the questions posed:

Are You Any Closer to Naming The Starting Quarterback?

What GC will probably say: “We’re going to let the process play itself out over the next couple of weeks and then make a decision.”

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What GC SHOULD say: “I could pick Russo, I could pick Centeio, I could pick Frankie Juice or Logan. I’m waiting for one guy to create enough separation so he makes the decision for me. If not, we’re going to throw four names into a hat, throw the hat up into the air and the first slip of paper that hits the ground will be the guy who starts.”

What Are the Chances of Switching to a 5-2 Defense?

What GC will probably say: “We went to a 4-3 in the spring and we’re comfortable with that going forward.”

What GC SHOULD say: “When I took the job here, I said the No. 1 thing I’ve learned as a coach is to use a system tailored to the talent you have, not try to fit the talent into a system. What I learned in the spring is that we have eight great defensive linemen and a lot of inexperienced guys at linebacker. To get another great player on the field and create the kind of Mayhem I want in the bad guys’ offensive backfield, I think we will go to a 5-2.”

What Will  Mayhem Look Like?

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What GC will probably say: “You wait and see. You’ll be pleased.”

What GC SHOULD say: “A lot of sacks, a lot of fumbles and interceptions and maybe a pick in the flat by Sharif Finch. We want to do something with those interceptions and fumbles, like return them for touchdowns.”

 

Why Has Recruiting Gone So Well?

What GC will probably say: “I can’t talk about recruiting until Signing Day.”

What GC SHOULD say: “I learned a lot of tricks as recruiting coordinator at Georgia Tech and Alabama. I’m applying them here, but can’t tell you what they are because some of our competitors might be listening.”

What Do You Tell Recruits Who Ask You If You’ll Be Around in Five Years?

What GC will probably say: “I tell them to not think about that, but to concentrate on the here and now.”

What GC SHOULD say: “I’m absolutely going to be around in five years, hopefully a lot more if they will have me. I read a great quote the other day on Temple Football Forever from coach Wayne Hardin that he made when he was head coach at Temple where he said he was happy to be here today and expected to be happy to be here tomorrow and that he had nothing to prove and no hills to climb and that winning was the most important thing to him. I feel the same way. These kids have had enough turmoil. They need a coach who is going to be around for a long time and I plan to be that guy. This fan base has enough with the revolving door of coaches here and I plan on ending that.”

Wednesday: Analyzing the Real Answers

 

 

 

 

07.28.17
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5 Questions That Must Be Answered

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Can Taver and Dave do the job as coordinators? We should find out soon.

From the way things look at the Edberg-Olson Complex, summer football practice began a long time ago.

Still, new head coach Geoff Collins has set the “official” start of practice for Monday, which coincides with Media Day. There are still some unresolved questions left over from spring practice and among them are these:

  1. Can The Coordinators Do The Job?

This is a question that the fans will not know for sure until September, but one that Geoff Collins should know by now. Taver Johnson has never been given these kind of reins at the FBS level, where he has been a position coach exclusively. However, Temple fans can take some solace in the fact that they have the best DC in the SEC as their head coach. Collins will be able to find the right buttons to push should Johnson’s hands stray. Dave Patenaude is a proven FCS product, but sometimes that does not translate to this level. He will get more benefit of the doubt than Johnson, though, simply because he has produced points in bundles.

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  1. Will the OL be Temple TUFF?

A lot of things went wrong in a 34-26 loss to Wake Forest in the Military Bowl, but the most alarming thing might have been the way the Temple offensive line was pushed around. They did not get any help from a defensive coaching staff that missed eight practices to recruit for Baylor and put them in a 31-6 hole. That meant a lot of pass blocking and very little run-blocking and WF head coach Dave Clawson saw that flaw and exploited it. Still, they have to become a lot tougher by the Notre Dame game.

  1. What role will Jager Gardner play?

Everyone knows that Ryquell Armstead will be one of, if not THE, best backs in the AAC but the Owls have a Diamond in the rough in Gardner, who has a world of talent. Will he slide into the role that Jahad Thomas played or will that role fall to Tyliek Raynor? This is a position worth watching, especially if Nick Sharga is back there for his minimum 15 plays to block for those guys again.

  1. Who Will Emerge at Linebacker?

The Owls have an overabundance of good-to-great defensive linemen (really, two-deep at every position) and are set at the four secondary positions with some high-end talent. At linebacker, however, they have lost all three starters. One of the solutions for Collins and Johnson would be to switch from a 4-3 to a 5-2 to get another great player on the field and mitigate losses at linebacker. Another would be for three players to emerge as suitable replacements for Avery Williams, Steph Marshall and Jared Alwan. Since Jared Folks split time with Alwan at the end of the season, he’s the logical top choice. The other two spots are wide open. I vote for Sharga being the Owls’ 2017 version of Holy Cross’ Gordie Lockbaum, playing 15 plays on offense and 15 plays on defense. The best fullback in the country probably is also the best linebacker on the team and by a good bit.

  1. Who Will Be Under Center?

We all know the center will be Matt Hennessy, but under center is the top question of camp. The first two guys on the field to celebrate the AAC championship were Anthony Russo and Frank Nutile, but Todd Centeio and Logan Marchi have an equal shot. Centeio would really benefit from a redshirt year, as Collins would be wise to study what happened to the last true freshman Temple threw on the field at Notre Dame, kicker Jim Cooper, Jr. Coop was spooked by what happened when he missed two chip shot field goals and an extra point—after kicking great all summer—and Collins would not want to be responsible for ruining Centeio’s career by throwing him to the wolves that early.

Monday: Media Day Primer for Coach Collins

Wednesday: Analyzing Media Day Answers

Friday: Where Are They Now, Recruit Edition

07.26.17
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Beginner’s Luck

bradshaw

If Collins’ first year ends the same way Daz’s did, Temple fans would probably sign for that Beginner’s Luck now.

When it comes to speculating on the kind of Beginner’s Luck Geoff Collins might have compared to, say, Matt Rhule, Steve Addazio or Al Golden, the old Brooklyn Dodgers’ owner Branch Rickey quote comes to mind:

“Luck is the residue of design.”

Arguably, Golden, Rhule and Addazio all had a good design going into their first seasons but there is something about this Collins guy that stands out—at least in my mind.

Golden had a 32-page binder on how to build a football program from the ground up, everything from recruiting to dealing with the press and parents and hiring a coaching staff. He started behind the eight-ball, though, as he was following an 0-11 season by Bobby Wallace and had a lot of leftover JUCOs in program.

So Al gets a pass.

Addazio succeeded Golden and Collins reminds me more of Daz than Rhule or Golden in the sense that he seems to have a workable plan that would lead to success in the first year. Addazio wanted to run the ball and had a big offensive line and a high NFL draft pick in Bernard Pierce. With that, and with Chris Coyer at quarterback, the Owls won their first bowl game in 30 years.

Things fell apart for Daz in Year Two when the Owls graduated to the Big East and he stubbornly stuck with the run against better personnel groups that were geared to stop it.

Rhule was all over the map in his first year, and probably went against logic by promoting Connor Reilly over the bowl-winning quarterback he still had on the roster. Many of us felt Rhule had six-win talent his first year and his head-scratching decisions both with personnel and in-game were learning on the job and the 2013 Owls were the Guinea Pigs.

Now Collins has come in with perhaps the best and deepest receiving corps in Temple history, a fine defensive line and secondary and a four quarterbacks who should not be THAT much of a dropoff from P.J. Walker. The receivers will help this new quarterback, whoever he might be. The lead running back, Ryquell Armstead, is outstanding, and that should help as well. The only question marks are the offensive line and linebackers, but they were quite good in the spring. What the OL lacks in talent, it makes up in experience and what the LBs lack in experience, they make up in talent.

Collins has a formula for success and a lot of pathways to it.  He has closely studied past Temple game film in a way other Temple coaches have not. Just last week, Collins said Sharif Finch was the best player on the field in a 2015 win over Penn State. If he’s going back and watching 2015 game film, his preparation and design is probably outstanding and comparable to what Daz’s staff—which had several key members of a national championship Florida team—did his first season.

As Temple center John Palumbo told his dad during Addazio’s first season, “Dad, it’s night and day between these guys and Golden. These are SEC coaches. They know what they are doing.”

Collins, a SEC coach, probably knows what he’s doing, too.

That’s why my gut tells me.

It could be indigestion, but I doubt it.

 

07.24.17
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The Gold Standard: Wayne Hardin

elbow

Steve Conjar talks to Wayne Hardin with my elbow and Mark Bresani’s back not being far away.

A few years ago, Eagles’ owner Jeffery Lurie stepped into some deep dog poop when he said his team was “the Gold Standard” of the NFL. “When I’m talking to other owners or other GMs in the league, we’re kind of the gold standard,” Lurie said on Aug. 8, 2003.

Hmm.

That was a year BEFORE an Eagles’ team he was owner of appeared in the Super Bowl.

belichick

Bill Belichick sent this note to coach Hardin with the game ball from Super Bowl 49.

Since the Eagles had not won the Super Bowl yet, that got some fans to thinking that there was some higher standard, like Platinum or Uranium.

The Eagles are claiming they are something they never were, or what the New England Patriots are right now.

hardinsnip

That’s why it was fitting that the real gold standard of the NFL coaches, maybe forever (sorry, Vince Lombardi), took time out of his precious summer vacation on Friday to say a few nice words at The Union League about someone most of us knew and loved, Wayne Hardin. (Owls’ TV really needs to put that celebration of life on YouTube so that it can reach a much wider audience.)

As much as Bill Belichick is the Gold Standard of NFL head coaches, that what Temple was lucky enough to have in Wayne Hardin. Belichick studied Hardin closely as a kid, then more as an adult and took copious notes on how Hardin attacked opponents. When Belichick was an assistant coach with the New York Giants, he sat in the stands of the Garden State Bowl and marveled how Hardin attacked California in a 28-17 win.

Those who watch Belichick’s teams can see a lot of Hardin in Belichick and it is a beautiful living tribute to the greatest head coach in Temple history.

Hardin will forever be The Gold Standard as far as Temple head coaches are concerned. He was not only the most successful, but also the most loyal. Despite being the only coach to ever have Temple FINISH in the Top 20, he remained for 13 years.  Think about it: Two great schools, Navy and Temple, have only finished in the Top 20 under one head coach. Those were both schools that coaches have to overcome significant hardships to achieve. For Hardin at Navy, it was no scholarships and a five-year military commitment. For Hardin at Temple, it was moving from one level to another despite not having the facilities of the major Eastern powers he faced. There was also the issue of loyalty. How many future Temple coaches will turn down a higher paying job as a football coach in Texas to remain at Temple? Hardin did when Tom Landry offered him the offensive coordinator job with the Dallas Cowboys.

If Lurie wanted to see what a real Gold Standard was all about, living or passed, all he needed to do was venture out of his office and make his way a couple miles North up to the Union League on Friday.

Not surprisingly, Lurie–ironically from Boston–declined the educational experience. His loss, but he must be used to that four-letter word by now.

Wednesday: Beginner’s Luck