Anthony Tezsla was a tough linebacker in the Bruce Arians’ Era who later became a New Jersey State Trooper with three beautiful daughters.
Yesterday, in a horrible school bus crash in Burlington County, N.J., Anthony lost one of his daughters and his other two were first reported in critical condition.
As of this morning, one of those daughters was upgraded to stable condition while the other remained in critical care.
When I heard the name Anthony Tezsla, I knew he was one of us and I could feel my heart sink.
We should all say a prayer, many prayers, for Anthony and his family today and in the days ahead.
Category Archives: Temple
Bradshaw, Hart headed to CUSA meeting
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| Conference USA |
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| Big East |
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| MAC |
If you are a big fan of 1970s TV sitcoms like I am, you remember Sargent Schultz.
He was the Nazi who would say, “I know nothing. I hear nothing. I see nothing” when Colonel Hogan would break the prison camp rules on Hogan’s Heroes.
Well, when it comes to Temple and the conference realignment situation, Temple AD Bill Bradshaw makes Sargent Schultz look like a blabbermouth.
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| Bill Bradshaw |
That’s why I find Bradshaw’s trip to Dallas today intriguing. I did not hear it from him, but from reliable people that both Bill and Temple president Ann Weaver Hart were on the same plane to Dallas today.
Since I don’t think either is the other’s type, I’m guessing it must be on official business only and not a tryst.
Just so happens the CUSA meeting is in Dallas today.
CUSA lost a valuable member in Memphis. It is looking to replace that value with value.
I can’t think of a more valuable replacement than Temple.
Now I think the Big East is where Temple belongs. Most schools in the Big East are like Temple. Temple is in the East. I think Temple and the Big East were made for each other. I also think Cecily Tynan and I were made for each other but I can’t convince her of that and, besides, she’s married.
Temple isn’t married to the MAC. It’s sort of like a platonic friendship with no future.
Now that the Big East and Memphis are married, Temple has to move on from a platonic relationship and look to procreate its football legacy.
Maybe not.
There are only three reasons, as I see it, for Bradshaw and Hart to be in Dallas today:
1) Sign the papers for an all-sports membership;
2) Sign the papers for a football-only;
3) Hear what the CUSA has to offer.
It’s a tough call because Cecily (err, the Big East) has been a big tease of late and thrown out feelers that she might be interested.
CUSA is a hot number, sort of like Amy Buckman but nowhere near as hot as Cecily.
MAC is Cathy Gandolfo.
Amy has made clear that she has the hots for me and the feeling is mutual.
Cathy is no more than a friend.
Do you hold out for the dream girl or go for Amy or get stuck with Cathy?
We should find out more in at least a couple of days.
For me, it’s a 50/50 ball with Amy and Cecily. If Cecily doesn’t make her move soon, I’m going with Amy. I’m sitting by the phone but I’ve got a limited time to wait and if she doesn’t call, I’m outta here. I’ve waited long enough.
Cathy, we can still be friends.
Memphis and Temple by the numbers
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| In addition to 2-, 1- and 2-win seasons the past 3 years, Memphis adds this fan base to BE football. |
Memphis-Temple by numbers:
TV market (Temple 4th, 2,993,370 households; Memphis 49th, 669,940) Full-time students (Temple 39,386; Memphis 22,755) 2011 avg. football attendance (Temple 28,060; Memphis 20,078) 2011 football record (Temple 9-4; Memphis 2-10) 2010 football record (Temple 8-4; Memphis 1-11) 2009 football record (Temple 9-4; Memphis 2-10) 2011-12 current basketball record (Temple 17-5; Memphis 16-7) 2012 football recruiting rank (Temple 54th, 1st in MAC; Memphis 87th, 6th in CUSA)
If there’s one famous quote that sums up Temple’s long-running sad saga with the Big East, it might be something Damon Runyon once said: “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” Runyon’s quote was in in reference to Ecclesiastes 9:11, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” Yeah, that pretty much sums up the Big East these days. By adding Memphis to ostensibly replace West Virginia today, the Big East inadvertently might have set the charges to blow up its own house. The BE is neither swift nor strong, bereft of men of understanding and today’s chance decision could prove its undoing. Memphis is the worst program in college football today and has been for the last three years. This story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal talks about the school’s putrid attendance and provides a photo of an Oct. 15 game against East Carolina. Despite what it looks like, it was not an end zone photo.
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| Without a doubt, the smartest Owl ever (Wayne Hardin) meets the swiftest Owl ever (4.29 speedster Travis Shelton) at a luncheon on Monday. |
Now, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by an excellent reporter named Paul Zeise, Pitt is saying, “Hey, if West Virginia can leave by 2012, so can we” and may petition for early admission to the ACC. Syracuse could soon follow.
Can you say implosion?
Hey, at this rate, Villanova might be the only team left.
From Temple’s standpoint, chaos is good.
The more teams leave the BE, the better the chances that the Catholic Cartel’s blocking of Temple fails in the next go around which could be as early as weeks and months and not years.
Does Temple want to even join this ship of fools?
Well, yeah.
College football is about the break off into the haves and have-nots and, no matter what you say about the current Big East group (even the leftovers), they are still part of the haves and probably will be.
Big East schools will have a seat at that dinner table.
Pressing their noses at the window looking in at the feast will be CUSA and MAC teams, unfortunately.
They won’t even get scraps and, as a result, probably starve and die of hunger.
Temple could stay in the MAC, but who’s to say what configuration college football will have for traditional MAC teams five years from now. I don’t want Temple to be in that group to find out.
Implosion?
Bring it on.
Final month boosts Owls into ‘][‘op spot
The 2012 Temple football recruiting class.
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| Kevin Newsome was No. 2 PSU QB in 2009. |
Well, there were the 2010 baseball Giants and the 1993 Phillies and, now, you can put the 2012 Temple football Owls into that elite group.
All three teams went from worst to first in a very short time.
For the two baseball teams, we’re talking about last-place to first-place finishes in pennant races within a 365-day period.
For our beloved football Owls, we’re talking about being ranked dead last in MAC recruiting (by Scout.com) as late as November to being ranked No. 1 (by both Scout and Rivals.com).
From my money, give me Temple’s performance in football as being the most impressive.
Steve Addazio carried the baton to the finish line to grab gold like Carl Lewis in the Olympic 400-meter relay race, getting the No. 7 all-purpose running back in the nation in Jamie Gilmore and Penn State transfer Kevin Newsome (once rated the No. 10 overall recruit in the nation) in the final days.
The last Penn State quarterback who transferred to Temple, Steve Joachim, merely won the Maxwell Trophy emblematic of college football’s best player (1974). Here is a trip into the Newsome “way back” machine, if you consider Dec. of 2008 way back.
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| Robinson: I’ve always loved Temple. |
Throw in Archbishop Wood defensive back Nate Smith, a West Virginia decommit that we talked about here on Saturday night, and the Owls moved to the top with bullet-like speed.
Now I don’t put too much emphasis on stars because they are skewed in favor of the big-conference teams but this is the most impressive fact about the current Temple Owl group:
Nineteen (yes, 19) of the 28 turned down offers (not just interest) by BCS schools to attend Temple.
That, my friends, is how you win championships and I expect this group will join the current Owls in winning multiple titles, whether it is in the MAC or the Big East or somewhere else.
This sent me scouring over the recruiting guides I got from attending Al Golden signing days and the highest number of definite BCS turn downs (not including the vague notion of interest) was Al Golden’s second recruiting class and that was a harvest of nine.
I’m not sure how Addazio was able to quantify this as “Temple’s best recruiting class ever” which he did, but Daz can certainly make a strong argument that this is better than any Golden recruiting class. Best ever might be a little strong, since Temple recruiting classes brought in by Wayne Hardin and Bruce Arians were competing against a high BCS schedule, not one weighed down by eight MAC games a season.
Still, the high school deeds of the playing coming into Temple University take a back seat to no era.
Averee Robinson was 43-0 as a state championship wrestler during his junior year but said “truth be told, I really enjoy football more” and “I’ve always loved Temple.” Do you love this kid or what? With that kind of attitude, it won’t be long before he comes out from under brother Adrian’s shadow. He’s built low to the ground (6-1, 290) but nobody has the kind of leverage he does.
Adrian’s number at Temple was 43, the same number of wins Averee had in wrestling last year and the same number of touchdowns Gilmore scored.
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| Herbin ran away from the competition in N.J. |
Khalif Herbin also scored 36 rushing touchdowns against outstanding competition and averaged a sick 13.1 yards a carry from the line of scrimmage, often while taking off the entire second half because his Montclair (N.J.) team was benefiting from the Mercy Rule. I know they have him listed as a slot receiver, but I’d really like to see Daz give Herbin a shot at running back. Hey, if it worked for 5-5, 150-pound Matty Brown it will work for 5-7, 170-pound Herbin.
This story calls Herbin “arguably the most electrifying player in the state” but I did not get a single argument when I asked a North Jersey colleague who would be the other part of that argument.
“Nobody,” he said. “I guess the writer just wanted to use the word arguably but, honestly, there was no close second.”
Truth be told, to borrow a phrase from Averee Robinson.
For a complete list of bios and photos click here:
‘][‘ime to sign on the dotted ‘]["
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| North Marion’s Jamie Gilmore could have gone anywhere. He chose Temple. |
Wednesday morning update: All 28 Temple recruiting targets have signed their LOIs, according to TU football office … complete bios and videos in TFF tomorrow
This year’s event
NOT open to publicPHILADELPHIA – Wednesday, Feb. 1 is National Signing Day for football.
Temple head coach Steve Addazio will discuss the 2012 recruiting class in a 4 p.m. media conference. This year’s event is not open to the public.
Fans will be able to watch the press conference LIVE on OwlSports.com.
Biographies and videos of the signees will be posted on OwlSports.com.
Temple football opens spring drills in March, concluding with the annual Cherry & White Game on April 14.
You can have the Super Bowl, World Series and the NBA finals but, to me, National Signing Day rates right up there with the first day of the NCAA Tournament as the most exciting sports day of the year.
(Heck, I won the Inquirer’s NCAA pool last year so I have a personal stake in why the first day of the tournament will be extra special this year.)
For Temple football fans, though, it’s ‘][‘ Day today, Feb. 1.
It might have something to do with my teams not (like almost never) being in the Super Bowl rarely in the World Series and that I’m not a big fan of the NBA but National Signing Day has a special appeal.
First, it’s an example of the circle of life.
As sad as I am to see Bernard Pierce leave the household dinner table (although he did leave before desert), that’s how happy I am to welcome guys like Brandon Peoples, Jamie Gilmore, Khalif Herbin and Montrell Dobbs into the Temple family.
I hope they work out as well as Bernard and, say, a lot better than Daryl Robinson, Tony “Soul Train” Cornelius or Eric Reynolds did.
Only time will tell.
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| Nate Smith decommited from West Virginia for TU. |
When the fax machine in the Edberg-Olsen Complex starts rolling today, the first 25 sheets of signed names will have Temple University football scholarships.
Later that night, at the Liacouras Center, head coach Steve Addazio will be hosting a press conference to talk about the recruits. It will not be open to the public, but can be watched online.
In the past, fans got to see the recruits on film and they looked like Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus on the big not-yet-HDTV screen.
Gilmore is the No. 7-ranked all-purpose running back in the nation. (Thank you, Daz. That is just what this doctored ordered after Bernard Pierce left.)
It’s a beautiful night that way.
It might not be a rite of spring, but it’s certainly a rite of Groundhog’s Day Eve.
On the average, no more than five of the signees provide immediate help to the next varsity team but I can see at least this much help in the current class.
Gilmore and Herbin I see as helping right away.
Once Daz gets over this notion of using Harrisburg’s Jalen Fitzpatrick as a running back and moves him into his more natural slot receiver role (picture a more explosive Joey Jones), it’ll be up to guys like Herbin, Gilmore and Peoples to fight for that coveted backup tailback spot to Matty Brown. (The way I read the NCAA partial qualifier rule is that Dobbs won’t be eligible to play for the 2012 Owls.)
If there is an area of need in this class, that’s it _ a reliable and explosive Brown backup.
Although I would like to see the Owls move Kenny Harper over to safety to bolster that side of the ball, I think they are pretty much OK in other areas. Deon Miller should be a big-time wide receiver. If Fitzpatrick has any hands at all, he should complement him on the other side with a reliable “Wes Welker-like” type in Ryan Alderman as a probable starter.
Daz’s final three days produced a harvest (West Virginia DB de-commit Nate Smith has joined the fold) that should push this group to the top the MAC-rated classes.
That’s not as important now as it will be five years from now but help, to quote John Kerry, is on the way.
TU people needs Peoples
An idea of the Brandon Peoples’ running style.
Just by sheer dumb luck, I ran into Brandon Peoples the other night.
I was coming out of the LA Fitness Center and holding the door right in front of me was a young man wearing an Archbishop Wood jacket and “B. Peoples” across the back.
“Welcome to Temple,” I blurted out.
He flashed a broad smile and an inquistive look.
“How’d you know that?” he asked.
I told him I’m a big Temple football fan.
We shook hands.
Potential TU backups at RB
(numbers represent rushing figures during each player’s final high school season while playing the tailback position:
Kenny Harper, Gainesville (Fla.) Buchholz (2010) _ 17 carries, 179 yards, three touchdowns (mostly played defense).
Brandon Peoples Darius Johnson, Philadelphia Overbrook (2007) _ 147 carries, 1051 yards, nine touchdowns (his last high school year was indeed 2007).
Brandon Peoples, Archbishop Wood (2011) _ 103 carries, 1,013 yards, 22 touchdowns.
Spencer Reid, Harriton (2010) _ 142 carries, 960 yards, 12 touchdowns.
Note: Khalif Herbin and Jalen Fitzpatrick, currently tabbed as slot receivers, had the most mind-boggling senior year rushing stats but those came out of the quarterback position. Herbin (Montclair, N.J.), had 105 carries, 1,950 yards and 43 touchdowns. Fitzpatrick, from Harrisburg, finished his senior year with 1,116 yards rushing with 13 TDs on 115 carries.
Sources: tedsilary.com, pennlive.com, NJ.com., Gainesville Sun.
“Good luck, man,” I said.
“Thanks,” he said.
(Geez, I should have asked him if he was related to Gary Peoples. I used to play fullcourt noontime pickup basketball 20 or so years ago at the Doylestown YMCA with a great player from Abington named Gary Peoples. The next time I see Brandon, I will ask.)
If I had left LA Fitness five SECONDS later or five seconds earlier, I might have never crossed paths with Brandon Peoples until he arrived at Temple. Funny how those things happen. Heck, I did not even know he worked out at the same place I do. (And I only go to that LA Fitness because they have the TVs attached to the cardio machines.)
Meanwhile, I’ve thought about that “good luck” remark for the past couple of days.
A real smart man once said that luck is result of opportunity and hard work.
It appears to me now that the opportunity part is right there for Brandon Peoples.
Matty Brown is the No. 1 back and he’s earned it. Heck, I might be prejudiced by I think Matty Brown is the best running back in the Mid-American Conference by far and that’s not an indictment of the MAC as it is my belief that Matty is THAT good.
The opportunity comes right behind Brown and that’s where Peoples comes into play.
Right now, Temple’s backups at tailback are (in no particular order) Spencer Reid, Jalen Fitzpatrick, Kenny Harper and Darius Johnson. None of them had particular distinguished high school careers running the football.
Peoples, on the other hand, did have an outstanding career running the football.
What was that Bill Parcells said?
Oh yeah: “The best predictor of future success is past success.” (I wish Al Golden would have consulted that mantra before signing Vaughn Charlton, but that’s a whole other story.)
Temple is about to sign a megastar in Montrell Dobbs, but it appears as though Dobbs won’t be eligible for the 2012 season.
It does not look like that Addazio will reach out and get a big-time JUCO at the last minute, like Tiger Powell of Lake City, Fla.
That leaves the incoming recruits, led by Peoples.
I used to get Brandon and his cousin, Desmond, confused.
They both have the same last name.
They both played for Archbishop Wood.
I solved that by associating Brandon Peoples with another BP (Bernard Pierce).
If this BP has even half the career the other BP had, Temple’s peoples (fans) will be pleased.
Joe Paterno and Temple
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| Joe Paterno and Wayne Hardin promote series. |
By Mike Gibson
Every death is an incredibly sad thing, but I can’t help but think Joe Paterno’s passing on Sunday was sadder than most.
Paterno was faced with reporting a repugnant crime, something none of us ever even think about, and he went to someone who was effectively the head of the Penn State police department.
I thought he did his duty.
He could have done more and, in retrospect, he would have done more.
I don’t think that should erase all of the wonderful things he did for Penn State in particular and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in general.
The true measure of a man is how many people whose lives he has touched in a positive way and I think Paterno more than met the measure.
I’ve never even been aware of a man who came into contact, directly or indirectly, through more Pennsylvanians than Joe Paterno.
My colleague at the Inquirer and fellow Temple News sports editor, Joe Juliano, often told me great stories of the “off-the-record” cocktail parties for Penn State beat writers. Paterno held them at his modest home a block or two away from Beaver Stadium. I wish I could tell you some of those stories, but off the record means off the record to me.
Even after the man’s death.
Paterno would have a cocktail or two and loosen up, giving the reporters a more human side of the legend.
When it comes to Temple, I have my own Paterno story.
As I young Temple fan, I read an anecdote that appeared, ironically enough, in a Bill Conlin column in in the Philadelphia Daily News about Temple signing a deal to play Penn State beginning in 1975.
“The guy who scheduled Temple must have been drunk,” Conlin quoted Paterno as saying, referring to the PSU athletic director at the time.
Who knows, maybe Conlin both picked up the quote at one of those cocktail parties and violated a confidence mentioning the exchange.
I have a strong suspicion both of the above are correct.
Either way, the remark stirred enough of my fuel that I wrote Paterno a letter (back in those days we wrote handwritten letters), detailing how improved Temple was and that the Owls would be a worthy foe.
Paterno wrote me a letter back, also handwritten, and admitted to the quote but said he was first against the idea but, upon refection, thought the series would be a “great gift to our wonderful Philadelphia alumni.”
(Originally, the plan was to play all of the games in Philadelphia but that changed when the first one ended in a 26-25 win for Penn State at Franklin Field in 1975.)
At the end of the letter, Paterno wrote:
“Good luck to Temple.”
I wish I had saved it but, to the best of my knowledge, it was in a shoe box I lost in one of my many moves since.
Later, while working at the Doylestown Intelligencer, I fielded a call every Thursday morning from Paterno to Terry Nau, the sports editor of the Intel at that time. Nau and Paterno were friends from State College, where Nau was sports editor of the defunct daily the Pennsylvania Mirror.
I was floored when he first called.
“Hold on, Mr. Paterno,” I said.
“Mike, it’s Joe,” Paterno said.
“OK, here’s Terry.”
On one of the calls, I mentioned to him that I wrote him a letter as a kid about the resumption of the Temple series and thanked him for his handwritten response.
He said he remembered. He might have just said that, but I chose to think he really did remember.
Love the guy, but always wanted to beat him just once to get back for the drunk comment.
Auburn gets a great OC in Scot Loeffler
Scot Loeffler’s first press conference at Auburn starts at 0:30 timestamp.
If you are an Auburn football fan, you’ve got to be feeling pretty good today.
Heck, you might not know who Scot Loeffler is but, trust me, you’ve got to be feeling pretty good today.
The most unpopular guy on a struggling football offense is either the starting quarterback or the offensive coordinator.
Scot Loeffler was Temple’s offensive coordinator for one season and all you need to know is that every Owl fan loved the guy and the plays he called.
That came one year after EVERYBODY hated the guy who preceded him, Matt Rhule. (Well, everybody loved the guy but hated the plays he called and the overall offensive scheme, which was bleeped up for want of a better term.)
Rhule’s offense, broken into its most basic terms, was this:
First down _ Handoff to Bernard Pierce (or Matt Brown);
Second down _ Handoff to Bernard Pierce (or Matt Brown);
Third down _ Pass (usually resulting in a sack);
Fourth down _ Punt.
The second page of Matt Rhule’s playbook is illustrated in the graphic here. All you need to know is that the graphic was made by the most precocious 17-year-old Owl fan ever. And there was not one long-time Owl fan sitting in the stands who disagreed with him. The only person I came across who supported Rhule was the father of a Rhule recruit and I run into a lot of Owl fans. Even more importantly, I know what I see and smell and it didn’t pass the vision and smell test with Rhule.
Loeffler passed with flying colors.
For one year at least, Loeffler injected some imagination into the offense.
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| The Matt Rhule offense |
Egad, passes on first down, a waggle to a talented tight end to open things up for an NFL running back.
Second down runs.
Touchdowns.
Who would have thought?
The Rhule Apologists say it was because Al Golden was a micromanager.
I’m not buying it.
I sincerely hope that Addazio doesn’t promote Rhule to his old job. Matt would be much more valuable in the role of special teams’ head coach.
We need a new guy in charge of the offense.
Otherwise, it’ll be Matty Brown left, Matty Brown right and an incomplete pass on third down.
That’s not my idea of an offense.
Fortunately, it won’t be that way for Auburn fans this fall. I expect Loeffler will see what the defense gives him and take it.
I also, sadly, fully expect Daz to hire Matt Rhule as his new offensive coordinator. Rhule’s title was “co-offensive coordinator” this season if that’s any clue.
My fervent hope is that he does not change that to sole offensive coordinator.
Daz, your move. Show me you are a better CEO than Al Golden.
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| This play will work with Alex Jackson next season, too. |
The Montrell Dobbs Show Debuts
Montville rival coach speaks in glowing terms of Montrell Dobbs.
“He’s got to be the most in-shape athlete I’ve ever seen in any sport in the state.”
_ Montville coach Tanner
Grove, speaking about
Ansonia’s Montrell Dobbs
_ Montville coach Tanner
Grove, speaking about
Ansonia’s Montrell Dobbs
About this time last week, I was lamenting how Temple could lose a guy named Bernard to the NFL draft while a guy named Montee returned to Wisconsin for his senior year.
Never mind the guy named Montee was rated higher than Bernard in every statistical and other rating category and therefore had MORE to lose than Bernard by returning to college. Bernard Pierce is rated as a high third-round pick. Montee Ball would have gone in the first round.
Well, a lot has happened in a week.
A couple of days ago, Temple got a full Montee as in a Montrell.
We don’t know if Temple’s Montrell Dobbs will be as good or better than Bernard but, judging on their high school stats, Dobbs outperformed Pierce in a number of categories.
While Pierce’s stats were impressive as a high school senior at Glen Mills (1,356 yards, 26 touchdowns), Dobbs’ 45 touchdowns were literally off the charts (see accompanying chart).
Temple Football Fun Fact
Owls finished ahead of the University of Florida, Notre Dame and Miami (Fla.) in the final USA Top 25 poll. Owls had two votes, Notre Dame and Florida one and Miami zero (sorry, Al Golden).
We don’t know how good a high school league Dobbs played in, but he followed that up with 1,227 yards and 21 touchdowns on a prep school level rated at about a JUCO level.
That’s a pretty good level of football.
Add in the fact that Dobbs, like Pierce, is a 4.5-40 speedster and appears to have Paul Palmer-type durability (he even had a few games over 50 carries) and this just might be the best pickup of the Steve Addazio Era (and he’s had a few good ones).
Dobbs told the Stamford Advocate that he’s “real excited” about coming to Temple. The only person more excited about Montrell Dobbs coming to Temple is me because a top-flight running back should have been Temple’s No. 1 priority in this class from the get-go and Dobbs fits the bill.
Since he’s a partial qualifier, getting Dobbs on the field ASAP to play the same role Pierce played with Matty Brown now becomes urgent.
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| Montrell Dobbs’ senior year transcript from Ansonia (Conn.) High. |
Addazio appears to have addressed that by having Dobbs enroll on Jan. 17 where he can work with Temple’s excellent staff of academic advisors to come up to 4.5 speed in the classroom as well.
Al Golden once told me that the formula for winning in the MAC is pretty easy.
“Trust your eyes on most guys, but get five or six guys per class who were wanted by BCS schools,” Golden said. “To win in the MAC, you’ve got to have BCS-level talent at the key positions.”
When Temple ripped off that long winning streak in 2009 (stopped when Bernard Pierce got injured), I felt for the most part I was watching a BCS team play in a FCS league.
With Temple’s recruiting advantages over the other MAC schools, that’s the way it’s got to be going forward.
Addazio seems to have gotten a lot of guys wanted by the Old Dominions and the Akrons, but is finally showing signs of getting guys wanted by the UConns.
Golden had a handful of guys offered (not just wanted) by BCS schools every year. Adrian Robinson was offered by Pitt. Kee-ayre Griffin was offered by Boston College. Kadeem Custis was offered by West Virginia. Evan Rodriguez actually played at West Virginia before transferring to Temple.
And those are just some examples.
Now Addazio has a marquee player offered by UConn.
By recruiting a quarterback who was wanted by Ohio State (which made an offer based on a visit) in Chris Coyer, Golden finally filled that key position and Temple fans finally saw the value of that scholarship this year.
Dobbs was wanted by UConn and signed with that school a year ago before going the prep school route.
Running back is a key position as well but, unlike quarterback, it is a position where impacts are made right away.
Montrell Dobbs has all the measurables to make an impact right away.
It should be a show worth watching.
“Get your popcorn ready. It’s gonna be a show.”
_T.O.
(ok, nuke the popcorn first and then come back and click on the video below.)
This is how you break all of Shady McCoy’s rushing records at Milford Academy.
Palmer would be flattered by Pierce comic book
The front and back covers of the Paul Palmer comic book.
This may or may not be a moot point, depending upon whether or not Bernard Pierce comes back for his senior year, but it’s something I had to ask the other great Temple running back.
“Would you mind if Temple used the same comic book campaign for Bernard Pierce than it used for you?” I wrote him.
I just got the reply this morning.
“I’d be flattered,” Paul Palmer said.
Heck, I know that Bernard has a tough call in the days ahead.
Not tough for me or Steve Addazio, but for him.
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| Paul Palmer (middle, between Vinny Testaverde and Brian Bosworth) at Heisman awards: “I’d be flattered” by a Bernard Pierce comic book. Notice all three are wearing Temple-colored ties. |
It’s Addazio’s opinion _ really, the general consensus out there _ that if you are not a sure-fired, stone-cold-lock for first-round pick in the draft, then you should come back and, in his words, “enjoy your senior year and get your degree.”
That’s reasonable. If there is money now (by comparison a paltry and not guaranteed amount), it only figures to double and triple next year and then it becomes guaranteed money as a No. 1.
I think, and Addazio seems to agree, that Bernard can raise his stock one or two rounds with another solid year at Temple.
And, who knows, if everything breaks right, catapult himself into a Heisman Trophy race.
These are things that are all weighing heavily on Bernard’s mind right now, so maybe a little comic relief is in order.
As in comic book relief.
I came out in favor of this comic book as early as Bernard’s sophomore year but Temple’s promotions people went all high-tech on me with a Facebook page and a Bernard for Heisman website.
Nice, but sometimes the old ideas are the best ones.
Simply replace every Palmer image and stats with those of Pierce and you got yourself a damn good Heisman campaign for 2012 right there. The template and story board is right there. Replacing Palmer’s life story and stats with Pierce’s should be a snap.
The only missing element would be someone to draw the illustrations.
If the illustrator for that is dead, there’s a sports anchor guy in Allentown named Troy Hein who wrote a children’s book and has the best illustrator around. Hire that gal (her name is Kathryn Roman).
Heck, Temple would be stealing its own terrific idea and Palmer benefited from it to the tune of a second-place finish in the Heisman Trophy balloting of 1986. The Owls’ promotion department send 1,050 comic books to 1,050 Heisman Trophy voters. It was the best $10,000 Temple spent on anything. It came back 10,000,000-fold (that’s 10 million) in terms of viewers who saw Temple associated with good football while watching the Heisman Trophy ceremony on CBS-TV that year.
That (and a 1,866-yard season) got Palmer a seat at the table in between Miami’s Vinny Testaverde (the eventual winner) and third-place finisher Brian Bosworth of Oklahoma.
It also might have helped Palmer get drafted in the first round.
I’ve watched every game of both careers and I happen to think Bernard is the better player (sorry, Paul). I usually (though not always) side with the older guys (nobody can tell me that Mo Wilkerson was better than either Joe or Dan Klecko), so that’s saying something.
If Bernard comes back, he should get that comic book and whatever help Temple can offer him along the path to a Heisman and a first-round pick.
Temple Football Forever 