Category Archives: Temple football

02.05.16
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Wide Receivers Lost and Found

wrchart

Win some, lose some.

The Owls lost Darnell Salomon to USF and Dae’Lun Darien to Penn State, but gained Freddie Johnson, Randle Jones and Isaiah Wright.

Time will tell, but I like that trade for a couple of reasons.

keithgloster

Keith Gloster

Ideally, Temple rarely has the perfect combination of receivers on the field at the same time. It happened only a couple of times in my memory. Willie Marshall was a Robbie Anderson-type wide receiver in the Bruce Arians’ Era, made all the more dangerous by a 4.3 speedster named Keith Gloster lined up in the slot. Marshall was a 6-foot-3 guy with a 37-inch vertical leap, whose specialty was catching passes in the red zone and over the middle. Gloster opened the middle for Marshall by stretching the field and going deep. A similar situation also existed in the Wayne Hardin years with Rich Drayton and Gerald “Sweet Feet” Lucear and maybe to a lesser extent far later with Bruce Francis and Travis Sheldon under Al Golden.

In the past couple of seasons, though, Temple’s been top-heavy in the same type of receivers—tall guys who are effective in the red zone but rarely stretch the field.

By all accounts, Dae’Lun is the same type of player Romond Deloatch, Anderson, Ventell Bryant and Keith Kirkwood are today–guys who are fairly reliable, have good hands, make plays over the middle but won’t necessarily stretch the field.

In Isaiah Wright, though, the Owls have a “best of both worlds” player, a guy who can make the big catch over the middle and take it to the house and, if Johnson or Jones turns out to be on the other of the field, his presence even makes Wright more dangerous. Other recruits could fill that role,  or maybe someone on the current squad, like 4.3 sprinter Cortrelle Simpson.

Temple fans will probably be following the progress of Darien from afar and Salomon from a relatively closer spot, USF. The numbers say Salomon will have the best career, but he’s had discipline and character issues that make his future far from a slam dunk. So Wright, Jones and Johnson could be just what they needed all along.

Willie Marshall and Keith Gloster should be especially proud.

Tomorrow: Karamo Dioubate

01.27.16
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Tyliek Raynor Another Home Run for Owls

http://www.hudl.com/v/DMRcG

Click on the above link and hit play. Unfortunately, there is not a single Youtube video on the internet of Tyliek. Hudl is a bad platform, but it’s the only one available.

By any measure, Temple football adding Tyliek Raynor is a home run for recruiting.

Since homer is a synonym for home run, the fact that Raynor is a homer himself had to help because, in his commitment statement, he said “I’m going to stay home and play for my city.”

If all great Philadelphia players felt the same way, that would have been Will Fuller catching the ball to beat Notre Dame on Halloween Night and not to beat his city. Maybe adding Anthony Russo begat Raynor and maybe Raynor will beget a player like Karamo Dioubate.

SGRATZ05-A

Gratz’s Javon Whitfield can’t stop Imhotep’s Tyliek Raynor on his 58 yard TD run on the first play during the 1st quarter Friday night in North Philadelphia, September 4, 2015. ( Photo courtesy philly.com)

We can only hope. The protractor for recruiting starts in North Philly and a 500-mile circle around it includes 46 percent of the nation’s population. Temple is one of the few schools in the country squarely in the middle  of roughly half of the nation’s population.

With the addition of speedy running back Raynor, that was a good start. Raynor was No. 3 on our final five countdown list, behind only West Catholic defensive end Tymir Oliver and Prep Charter defensive lineman Dioubate. Raynor, who was offered by Temple on the spot after he ran a 4.3 at the Matt Rhule Football Camp in June of 2014, is very, very good.

How good?

Consider this: He could not play in seven games this year because of an injury that limited his effectiveness in other games, but his backup, Mike Waters, scored 44 touchdowns and was named Philadelphia Inquirer Player of the Year. That’s not just for Philadelphia, but for the entire Inquirer coverage area, which includes the entire Philadelphia suburbs, most of New Jersey and all of Delaware. He was also named Pennsylvania Player of the Year.

That’s pretty good. I saw a lot of Waters, including a performance for the ages in the Pennsylvania state championship game against Erie Cathedral Prep. This is what I tweeted out to my followers after that game.

good

 

Much to my surprise, Waters saw the tweet and retweeted it to his followers. The bottom line is that if a great coach like Albie Crosby says Raynor is better than THAT kid, then Temple has something very special indeed. They will have the luxury of red-shirting Raynor.

The Owls will have to get Raynor healthy and keep him that way, but once he returns to 4.3, 4.4 speed, he gives them the kind of home run hitter they need. They have a home run hitter in Jahad Thomas and some fast backups in Jager Gardner and Ryquell Armstead, but neither Thomas, Gardner nor Armstead has a 4.3 40 in the books.

The clock never lies.

01.24.16
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5 Questions You Will Never Hear Pravda Ask

pravda-bg

On a snowy Saturday, while shoveling out of our driveway, a number of rhetorical questions occurred to us. Rhetorical, because they are the kinds of questions Pravda never asks once of Chairman Matt and probably will never ask. On the way out to the garage to pick up the shovel and the rock salt, I perused Pravda for some of the latest recruiting updates. There was one long posted update by one of the editors there and every word was glowing. In fact, I don’t remember a single word being written negatively about recruiting there in three years. One of the posters over there last week called a recruit “a reach” but prefaced that with the obligatory “I know we’re not allowed to be negative here. ….”

I wonder what gave him that impression?  It would have been nice to hear the answers to just one of these five questions:

gelb

Zach Gelb

  1. What happened to the hurry-up offense in Houston?

Only Zach Gelb of the reporters in Houston highlighted the Owls’ atrocious clock management in the 24-13 loss in the AAC championship game. Gelb dutifully reported he asked Matt Rhule, Jahad Thomas, P.J. Walker and Marcus Satterfield about it and said nothing was wrong, yet even Stevie Wonder could see wasting 20 seconds on every play call was very wrong. The fact that nobody else asked about it was also very wrong. We still have not heard a satisfactory answer. It could be about time we did.

stadium

  1. What did you mean by you are in favor of a stadium if they “do it right?”

Rhule has been quoted that he is in favor of an on-campus stadium “if they do it right.” One would presume that spending “only” $100 million is probably not conducive to doing it right.  A simple question to Matt on signing day is “what is your vision of a stadium done right?” A good answer might be comfortable 40,000 seating with a couple of state-of-the-art replay scoreboards and that’s probably not possible with the frugal price tag.

airhockey

  1. Would there be less air hockey at the next bowl?

Air hockey, touring the Everglades, bowling, liberal curfews and beach volleyball were all part of the Boca Raton Bowl experience. What wasn’t part of it was hoisting that bowl trophy at the end of the game. It was a learning experience for the first-year bowl staff, so maybe there will be a more business-like approach at the next one. It would be nice to get that on the record soon.

  1. If Missouri wasn’t a distraction, why did Tyler Matakevich say it was?

Rhule said his pre-AAC championship experience being interviewed for the Missouri job was not a distraction but Tyler Matakevich said on 6abc tv that Sunday afternoon that “it’s just another thing we have to block out and concentrate on the bowl.” If it wasn’t a distraction, there would be no need to block it out. Probably would have been better to tell Missouri no right away and say something like “I’m the Temple coach and the only thing I’m thinking about is winning a championship.” Instead, the “I can’t tell what the future holds” and “this is not about me” quotes let the papers talk about just that for two days when the focus should have been on the team and the school’s first shot at a title.

  1. If you had to put your finger on one thing, what was the main cause of the 3-4 finish?

This is something the staff will have to figure out in the offseason and inoculate against next season. It would be nice to know if they have identified the problem now so they can address it in the next few months.

01.21.16
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Top 5 Recruits On TFF Wish List

karamo

Should be No 1 target.

With one week left in the recruiting process, there are a number of guys the Temple coaching staff is still involved with but, in our minds, if the Owls get three of these five guys, the 2016 recruiting class goes from decent to great. This is just our list, not Temple’s, but from a public perception standpoint, getting most of these guys would be quite a haul.

KelvinHarmon

  1. Kelvin Harmon, WR

The Palmyra (N.J.) native currently is uncommitted, and his most recent offer was from Virginia Tech. The All-American wide receiver has 165 catches for 2,674 yards and 36 career touchdowns. He’s a longshot for Temple, chiefly because he had the foresight to pick a visit to Miami (Fla.) this weekend during a snowstorm.

sebastian

  1. Sebastian Silva, LB

Silva, a teammate of Anthony Russo at Archbishop Wood, is under-recruited, much like Tyler Matakevich was coming out of high school. He is a clone of Matakevich (6-0, 215) only stronger in both the bench press and dead lift now and 1.5 seconds faster in the 40-yard dash. If Temple thinks this kid is coming as a preferred walk-on, they are making a big mistake because he has a full ride to a couple of FCS schools and his family does not have the money to pay his way through Temple. He is more than worth the scholarship. It’s amazing when a high school senior has measurables superior to the National Player of the Year, but it’s true.

  1. Tyliek Raynor, RB

Amazingly, Raynor, from Imhotep Charter, missed most of the season with an injury and his backup, Mike Waters, scored 44 touchdowns to become the Philadelphia Inquirer Player of the Year. If Raynor is good enough to beat THAT guy out, he deserves a scholarship to Temple. He is an Arizona decommit and he runs a 4.3 40 with the moves of a Bernard Pierce or a Paul Palmer. He would fit in well at Temple.

tymiroliver

  1. Tymir Oliver, DL

With the last two picks, the Owls really need to go after lineman and Oliver, from West Catholic, is one of the two best remaining on the board. He has an official visit to Illinois this weekend and it’s hard to believe that playing for Bill Cubit will be more appealing than playing for a charismatic guy like Matt Rhule. This is where Rhule will have to earn his recent pay raise and close the deal.  Oliver is a Rutgers’ decommit.

 

  1. Karamo Dioubate, DL

Dioubate, a 4-star tackle from Prep Charter, decommitted from Penn State and is said to have had three visits to Temple since the decommit day. Only one, of course, was official, but it would seem to indicate that Dioubate has the kind of comfort level with his possible future Owl teammates that does not exist elsewhere. He is also involved with Michigan State. He would be for the Owls’ line what Anthony Russo was to the quarterback position.

01.19.16
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Kareem Gaulden Should Be Fan Favorite

If, on or around Feb. 3, the browser on your laptop or other device seems extra slow, resist the temptation to throw the gadget against the wall. Just remember it is National Signing Day for college football. In about two weeks, the internet will be shut down or close to it and the cure is readily available. Curing crazy is always a good thing and one way the NCAA can do that is to approve an early signing period.

That is the only way reasonable young men of their word will not have to go through what Temple football recruit Kareem Gaulden is going though now. Gaulden, a defensive back, was one of the early recruits Matt Rhule was able to snag for the Owls. If there had been an early signing day, like last summer when Gaulden gave his word, there would be no poaching of recruits of other programs.

Gaulden took to twitter and expressed his displeasure with the situation last week.

 

That tweet immediately made Gaulden a fan favorite at Temple, someone who to this class might be what All-American defensive back Kareem Ali Jr. was to the last class. Ali is the son of two former Temple athletes, one a football player and the other a track star, who grew up going to Owl games. After originally committed to a Power 5 school, Ali realized his dream was to play for the school that he cheered for all his life.

Gaulden, another defensive back, earned the same kind of love from Temple fans after that tweet. Fans love players who keep their word, and those are the great majority of athletes who commit early. An early signing period would eliminate the craziness of other schools coming in to try to flip recruits and those high school players deserve that option.

The others who take time to make their decisions can wait until Feb. 3 and that’s why an early signing period would be a victory for all recruits.

01.18.16
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Getting The Right Mix

beckster

Someday,  a player like Sebastian Silva could be lifting Matt Rhule like Dick Beck did for Bruce Arians.

On Halloween Night, Temple hosted Notre Dame and 100 big-time recruits at the same time. Among those players were Michigan commits,  Penn State targets and other various four-star players.

The Owls came up empty that night both scoreboards.

Unlike the Penn State game, when defensive back Keyvone Burton committed the next day, the Owls left that game with an empty feeling—a heartbreaking loss compounded by no commits. Had the Owls won that night, who knows what would happen but this weekend—at least from a recruiting standpoint—was three times percent more productive than that otherwise spectacular night for Temple football.

Not only did the Owls get their top recruiting target, quarterback Anthony Russo of Archbishop Wood, but added a couple of speed merchants. The latest pair are listed as “athletes” and they are Randle Jones III, from Miami Beach (Fla.), and Linwood Crump (Sayerville, N.J.) Both supposedly have sub-4.5 speed and, for people (raising my hand here), who said the Owls need burners like Travis Sheldon and James Nixon, they certainly fill that need.



Ideally, a great recruiting
class is a mixture of guys
wanted by P5 schools like
Dioubate and “trust the film”
guys and guys who
Bruce Arians liked,
tough guys, who could play
but were under the radar.
Nick Sharga of
the current team fits
that third category.

No word yet on the DT Temple needs, Karamo Dioubate  from Prep Charter, but that would be another Russo-like coup at his position. Temple has been known for final week signing surprises under Al Golden and, to a lesser extent, Matt Rhule, so maybe he’s one. He’s been involved with Michigan State and Auburn and is a Penn State decommitted player.

Ideally, a great recruiting class is a mixture of guys wanted by P5 schools like Dioubate and “trust the film” guys and guys who Bruce Arians liked, tough guys, who could play but were under the radar. Nick Sharga of the current team fits that third category.

Still would like to see the Owls make Russo more comfortable in his situation and add Sharga-like linebacker and Wood teammate Sebastian Silva. Even more than the Russo factor, adding an accomplished all-state player like Silva—who is faster, bench presses and dead lifts more than Tyler Matakevich now—would fill a linebacker need in this class that has popped up since the Owls lost a decommit to Rutgers.  Silva’s situation reminds me very much of Dick Beck’s when he came out of Central Bucks West. Beck, like Silva, was under-recruited but became the only captain of the 7-4 Owls in 1990. The rumor now is that the Owls will try to entice Silva to be a preferred walk-on and that just won’t work because other schools are offering him real money. Rhule should now, like Bruce Arians did for Beck then, find a scholarship for Silva. Just like I guaranteed Bruce back then, I guarantee Silva will be worth the scholarship. Fortunately, Bruce listened to me.

Silva is not only a baller, but he has captain-like qualities and the Owls would be remiss letting a quality player and individual like this get away. One day he will captain a college football team and I would like that team to be Temple.

Tomorrow: Why All Fans Should Love Kareem Gaulden

 

01.12.16
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It Could Be Now or Never to the Big 12 for Temple

big-12-conference-logo

One thing to watch before waiting for the latest in recruiting is the NCAA meetings this weekend (Jan. 14-16) in San Antonio.

If the craziest thing of crazy things happens, Temple could be one of two schools the Big 12 adds this weekend. The conference will more likely add Houston and Cincinnati, but Temple is not out of the question.

Time is of the essence since any expansion will probably go down at the NCAA convention this weekend (Jan. 14-16).  The Big 12 wants a conference championship game, but NCAA rules require 12 games for a championship game. Crazy as it seems, the “Big 12” has only 10 teams. The conference appealed the 12-team limit, but that will probably be denied and, knowing that, the conference might be quick to add two new teams. Having a conference championship game represents earnings of roughly $2 million per year per school in addition to offering a marquee matchup to help the conference bid for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Temple football, Notre Dame football,

Temple’s No. 1 selling points: 2 home crowds of 70,000 plus great TV ratings.

The conference needs two more teams for a playoff and the scuttlebutt is that the conference could reach out to Temple for one of the spots. If the Owls are asked to jump, the only question they should ask is how high because the revenue stream coming into the school is estimated to be in the area of $23.4 million per year now as opposed to the $3.3 million they are making now as a member of the AAC. Had the Owls been in the Big 12 last year, for example, their 23-10 basketball team would not have been snubbed on NCAA Selection Sunday. Also, a 6-6 Temple football team in the Big 12 would get a far more attractive bowl than the 10-win Owls got this past season.

The Big 12 is in a tight spot because the recent departures of Missouri and Texas A&M leave the conference two short of the minimum required for a championship game. Oklahoma, this year’s football champion, had to sweat out a spot in the championship semifinals because its league did not have a title game. The league wants to avoid such a scenario in the future.

That’s where Temple comes in because the league wants to add a TV network, like the Big 10 and the SEC has now. Temple is the only FBS school in the largest TV market (Philadelphia) not already taken by a Power 5 school, the fourth-biggest. The Big 12 had to be taking notes when the Owls drew the largest TV rating ever for a network night game in Philadelphia on Halloween night against visiting Notre Dame. Since Notre Dame has been on the network 56 times before that night, the variable that drove the ratings off the charts was Temple. Any addition of Temple would bring TV eyeballs that would make the addition a win-win for both parties. Still, better fits are Cincinnati and Houston. Cincinnati would be a travel partner for West Virginia. If the conference goes to 14 teams, than the other two teams being considered will be among Temple, UConn and Memphis.

While the Big 12 makes no sense for Temple from an Olympic sport standpoint, in an era where nothing makes sense, money talks and just about every school should be willing to walk.

01.10.16
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Temple Should Look to Wood for Package Deal

Short highlight of Sebastian Silva above. 

One way to jump-start the final days after the so-called dead period is the tried and true recruiting practice called “package deals.”

Many people thought that Jahad Thomas and P.J. Walker were part of a package deal that Temple had with the Elizabeth High pair. The popular thinking was that Walker, New Jersey’s Player of the Year, was “’enticed” to come to Temple when the Owls went after his friend, the less-recruited Thomas. That could not have been farther from the case. The actual story was that the Owls had Walker wrapped up, and it was Walker who strongly suggested the Owls take a look at Thomas.

silva

Sebastian Silva: Perfect technique

The Owls liked the film and, now, both Thomas and Walker have to at least be considered candidates for the AAC Football Player of the Year in 2016. I can’t tell you right now who is better. It’s that close between these two very good friends.

Sometimes things work out that way, package deals or not. The second guy recruited out of the same school often turns out to be better than the first guy and vice versa.

Archbishop Wood has also turned out to be a gold mine for the Owls, as next year’s projected starters at two positions are from that school. Colin Thompson figures to have the inside track on tight end,  while Nate L. Smith could be the starting free safety.

inquirer

That’s why it probably would not hurt Temple to take a long look at Tyler Matakevich 2.0 in Archbishop Wood linebacker Sebastian Silva (No. 43 in the above video). Sebastian is 5-11 (two inches shorter than Tyler), weighs 215 pounds and his 4.56 40 is almost 1.5 seconds faster than Tyler’s.



“I really like
this Silva kid.
He could be another
Tyler Matakevich.”
_ Steve Conjar

“His No. 1 school
choice is Temple.”
_ Frank Pacifico

“I really like this Silva kid,” former Temple tackling leader Steve Conjar said. “He could be another Tyler Matakevich.” Conjar has an acumen for picking out great linebackers. On the day a freshman Matakevich made a tackle for a 3-yard loss that saved a win over South Florida, Conjar said: “You watch. This kid will break all of my records.” That was 492 tackles ago.

Former Temple quarterback Frank Pacifico added this:  “He’s aggressive, fearless, athletic, has incredible mental toughness, is intelligent and above all, a real class kid. His number 1 school choice is Temple.”

On top of that, the Owls have been twisting Wood quarterback Anthony Russo’s arm to de-commit from the dumpster fire that is Rutgers’ football but, for some unknown reason—maybe misplaced loyalty—Russo has been reluctant to do so.

The closest Russo came to a Temple flip was when Marcus Satterfield came to visit.

 

Now Satterfield is gone, so Temple needs an inside guy to prod Russo to make the right decision to play in the same stadium the Eagles play in and for a winning team, not a losing one. Temple needs Anthony Russo more than Rutgers does. Anthony Russo needs Temple more than he does Rutgers.  It is, quite simply, a better fit . All of the family, friends and fans of Archbishop Wood will have an easier time getting to the Linc than Piscataway to watch Russo. Plus, he would be playing in a  town where he will most likely make his living in the business world. That could be legendary and would certainly beat setting up a shingle in the toxic waste dump that is Northern New Jersey.

Silva could make that case to Russo from the inside of the walls on Old York Road and, in the process, become for Temple’s future what Walker and Thomas are for Temple now.

Maybe in five years, we won’t know who is better: Russo or Silva, Silva or Russo. If it’s the kind of debate that exists now with Jahad and P.J., it would be a nice problem to have.

01.09.16
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Powerball Could Yield Best TU Stadium

power

Without a large endowment or big-ticket donors, fans of the Temple football team will have to hope one of the school’s season ticket holders hits Saturday’s $800 million Powerball Jackpot because the school’s current plans to build a stadium are woefully inadequate.

Then, they have to hope that fan has a large and generous heart and a warm and fuzzy feeling toward Matt Rhule’s team.

Temple is planning on spending $100 million to build an on-campus stadium similar in size to Wake Forest’s BB&T Stadium and that is just not good enough if the Owls hope to position their football team into a Power 5 Conference a few years down the line. Wake Forest’s stadium seats 31,700 and that is the smallest of the P5 schools, just ahead of fellow ACC member Duke (33,941) and Pac-12 member Washington State (32,952).

apollo

The difference between those schools and Temple is that all three of them have been grandfathered into the P5, charter members of established conferences long before the latest round of musical chairs added some new money from a former Big East school like Louisville. The schools Louisville left behind became the AAC, of which Temple is now a member. Louisville brought with it a 55,000-seat stadium that was filled on a regular basis.

No new teams bring 30,000-seat stadiums and surely the Owls’ administration has to be smart enough t realize that.  Fellow AAC teams with P5 aspirations bring larger stadiums, as Memphis seats 61,008, Connecticut 40,642, Houston 40,000 and Cincinnati 35,097. Temple is going to have to build a stadium of similar size or its entire athletic program could be marginalized into oblivion when the P5 splits from the G5, a fate many believe is inevitable.

That’s why the athletic department fund raisers are certain to check the roll of season ticket holders against the names of the Powerball winners next week. It could be their last best hope to build a functional stadium.

Tomorrow: Package Deals

01.08.16
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Lurie Doesn’t Have to Look Far For Best Guy

chipmatt

“This is a pretty sweet gig, Matt, you should think about it.”

 

If Jeffrey Lurie, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, is to be believed, then he really does not have to look far to find the next coach of his team. Lurie can grab a pair of binoculars, walk outside of his office at Lincoln Financial Field, and look four miles up North Broad Street. If he can see past City Hall, his guy is just north of there.

That’s where he will find Matt Rhule, the current head coach of the Temple Owls, who seems to fit all of the criteria Lurie outlined when he described his vision for the next Eagles’ coach. If Lurie was carrying a notepad around, Rhule certainly would earn a lot of checkmarks.

Smart, strategic, thinker? Check. Communicator who understands Philadelphia fan base? Check. Attention to detail and NFL experience? Check. Personal style of leadership that relates to players? Check.

No one knows if the NFL is in Rhule’s future, but he gave a clue in a four-hour appearance on 97.5 Thursday. A caller asked him if he’d rather have the Alabama job or the New York Giants’ job and he didn’t flinch. “Giants,” he said. “Temple is the only college job I want.”

Matt's communications skills passed the ultimate test with Sam Ponder.

Matt’s communications skills passed the ultimate test with Sam Ponder.

With all the clowns Lurie is bringing in for an interview–including a Chicago Bears’ assistant who is four years younger–he’d be crazy for not picking up  the phone and making a local call before the Giants do.

Lurie said he wanted a smart, strategic, thinker, who looks out for the long-term interests of the organization, and Rhule certainly has proven to be that in taking the Owls from 2-10 to 10-4 in three years. He did it by recruiting two- and three-star athletes, giving most of them a red-shirt year to get stronger and faster and he sacrificed short-term gain for long-term goals.  There are no redshirts in the NFL, but the thought process should be appreciated.

Lurie also said he wanted a communicator and anyone who saw Rhule talking to Sam Ponder on ESPN College Football’s Game Day knows Rhule certainly is that. He wanted someone who knows what it is like to coach the Eagles, and understands the fan base of Philadelphia, and Rhule gets a checkmark for that as well. If you can concentrate enough to give a coherent answer while looking at Samantha, you are a great communicator.

Lurie mentioned attention to detail and, as an assistant to Tom Coughlin in 2012 with the New York Giants, Rhule said that was his biggest takeaway, an attention to detail. Lastly, Lurie wants a personal style of leadership that relates to players and is not aloof.

With those comments, Lurie made clear he was looking for the anti-Chip Kelly—in other words, Matt Rhule.