By Mike Gibson
One of the coolest things about new Temple football recruit Deonte Parker is that he once played for a team called the Lakeland (Fla.) Dreadnaughts.
Dreadnaughts, of British warship fame in World War I.
Another cool thing is that he once was a star at Lakeland when it was ranked No. 1 in the USA Today’s Super 25 high school teams. Here is an account of a win over Cape Corral (Fla.) that year.
That’s not the coolest thing about the 5-foot-11, 175-pound defensive back, though.
The coolest thing is that he was sitting behind a desk in classroom at Temple University on Tuesday, enrolled as a Temple student.

The only known
photo of Deonte Parker

That means he gets to kick butt not only in the classroom but on the practice field in a few weeks when spring practice begins at the Edberg-Olson Football Complex.
According to various reports yesterday and today on OwlsDaily.com, Parker is one of three new Temple players enrolled in the school and eligible for spring practice.
The other two are defensive end Alex Jackson (also from Florida) and defensive back Maurice Jones, last a cornerback at Hargrave Military Academy. Those are just the confirmed guys. We’re scouring the Temple class list for names of other probable Temple verbals already enrolled. Once we confirm some other names are enrolled and taking classes, we’ll include them here.
So far, only three guys in the current JUCO group.
They’ll join at least 22 high school guys when the official class is announced early in Feb.
All big-time guys.
All could have gone anywhere.
All chose Temple.

By Mike Gibson
You can say that the Temple pass rush plans for next season are definitely Hush-Hush.
But you’d be only half right.
If, as expected, Piscataway (N.J.) High School’s Aaron Hush earns a spot in the defensive end rotation he’ll be half of the collapsing pocket from one side.
Two of the keys to winning in college football, minus turnovers, are putting the other guy’s quarterback on his backside and keeping your quarterback off his backside.

Coming soon … Jason Hendricks?
“(Temple) beat Tennessee in a really good game and the atmosphere was just awesome. The fans were just really loud and crazy. … right now I’m leaning very heavily toward committing to Temple.”
_Hudson (N.J.) Catholic tailback Jason Hendricks, Dec. 16, 2008, in an interview with Scout.com

Temple has addressed its needs along the offensive line for the past two seasons and should be in good shape from a protection standpoint in 2009.
Now, with some of the final slots left in this 25-man recruiting class, the Owls are coming at the problem from the other side.
Hush, the Home News Tribune Defensive Player of the Year, is one of the solutions. Hush gave a solid verbal to the Owls today.
He’s quick, he’s big (6-3, 240) and he’ll likely get in the face of Temple opposing quarterbacks all next year.
For sure, the Owls have some other pieces of the pass rush in place next year and Hush is just one more huge piece of the puzzle.
In fact, Hush might be the final word on what figures to be a very loud and nasty Owl defensive front.

This post was first published a few days after Al Golden’s first sit-down interview as a Temple head coach and it was Channel 3 Sports Director Beasley Reece who pulled off the coup. … in the middle of this recruiting stretch drive, it bears repeating today …
By Mike Gibson
A former big-time college and later NFL player, Beasley Reece has seen his share of pitches from the best recruiters.
So Reece, the sports director at KYW-TV Channel 3, knew what questions to ask and what answers a prospective recruit would want to hear during a Christmas Night interview with new Temple football coach Al Golden.
Reece asked, then listened.
When it was over, he took a deep breath and said
“wow.”
That spoke volumes.
What he did next in front of millions of potential viewers spoke even more.
“Coach, you sold me,” Reece said, reaching out to shake Golden’s hand. “Where do I sign?”
Golden broke out into a big smile.
“We’d love to have you.”
Sold.
One member of the crusty, mostly anti-Temple-football, Philadelphia media.
Selling the kids should be easy by comparison.
There are plenty of good reasons for a potential football recruit to attend Temple.
Here are just 10:
10. Facilities. Without question, the top facilities
for a prospective football athlete in the Mid-American Conference. A chance to play
in the best stadium in America, the $521 million
Lincoln Financial Field. A chance to practice in a
relatively new Edberg-Olson Complex, a $7 million
facility that includes weight rooms, locker rooms,
football offices and a brand new $500,000 spongy sprinturf field.
9. City. Philadelphia has been called the “next great
American city” by National Geographic Magazine. That
is particularly true for college-age kids. The city is
alive with nightlife, particularly in hotbed areas
like South Street and Manyunk. Philadelphia, along
with other great college towns like San Diego, Calif.,
and Austin, Texas, is so hot that it was chosen as a
Mecca for a Real World series on MTV. The young, hip producers MTV employs are paid a lot of money to pick the right towns for this series and they don’t make mistakes. As Paris Hilton
would say, that’s hot. So is Philly.
8. Campus. Over a $1 billion in investment in
buildings and infrastructure on the main Temple campus in the last 10 years alone. Peter J. Liacouras’ dream of a “Temple Town” is becoming a reality. There’s the
elegant Conwell Inn on campus, offering the amenities of a great hotel. There’s a terrific campus bar and restaurant in the Draught Horse. There’s an understated bar in Max’s on Liacouras Walk. And there are 10,000 students living on campus, making it
come alive at night with excitement.
7. Academics. Temple has a solid reputation
academically and from that standpoint alone is the most prestigious university in the Mid-American Conference. Its Fox Business School is ranked in the top 10 in the nation in several categories and its School of Communications and Theater is ranked in the
top 10 in America. Temple is the 6th largest educator
of professionals in the United States. Its School of
Dentistry is considered the best in the East. U.S. News and World Report in its December, 2005 issue rated Temple University as the “most desirable destination school” among any urban school in the nation, beating out such high-profile schools as Boston College, UCLA and USC. It said Temple’s location so close to downtown Philadelphia was one of its greatest appeals to “regular” students. It cited 2004 figures showing Temple had the most applications of any school in the nation from suburban students seeking a city experience. According, the report added, Temple had a higher rate of applications to available spots than any non-Ivy League school in the nation. Heady stuff, no pun intended.
6. Networking. With over 250,000 mostly professional
alumni living within short driving distance of the
school, there are numerous opportunities to network
with alumni already working in the student’s chosen
field.
5. Fourth-largest media market offers a successful
Temple team opportunity for national recognition. A
winning Temple football team could easily become the
national “feel good” story of the year, much like the
recent “feel good” story that St. Joseph’s University
basketball has become. Chance for local media recognition.
4. Youthful, enthused, coaching staff. It is a coaching staff that relates well and communicates well with kids, excited about its new journey from the bottom of the world to the top.
3. Beautiful women and girls. Lots of them at any school with over 30,000 full-time students, especially at Temple, where 55 percent of the student, err, body is women. They could have gone anywhere; they chose Temple. Great college town experience, somewhat like Boston. Plenty of women not only at Temple, but at Penn, Drexel, Villanova, St. Joseph’s, LaSalle and Phladelphia University.
2. Television coverage. Most of the games will be on
TV and many of the MAC games will be on ESPN. Believe it or not, notwithstanding the last 15 years, Temple football has had a great tradition with long stretches of success and any current recruits would be the foundation for restoring that greatness. There is a fan base of 250,000 current Temple University alumni living in the metropolitian area, plus 30,000 full-time students dying for a reason to support their football team again. Winning would give them that reason. Watch how fast the Linc fills up if it happens. You can book it.
1. Transportation hub. A short drive from anywhere on the population-rich East Coast. Easy to get to by train, bus or plane. Easy for family and friends to watch any Owl home game. Philadelphia is a great
place to visit, an easy place to get to and there is
no more fan-friendly stadium than Lincoln Financial
Field.
Temple. It just makes more and more sense to become an Owl.

Al Golden looks very happy to be at Temple these days.
By Mike Gibson
We were promised a statement from coach Al Golden on the rumors of his being involved with the Syracuse job.
Instead, all we got from the Temple media relations department was this lousy two-line statement from athletic director Bill Bradshaw.
We’re still waiting for elaboration from Golden, but it’s crystal clear from the statement that Al Golden only has eyes for TU.
We hope.

What we wish Al said …
“I’m never leaving Temple,” Golden said in a prepared statement. “Temple football is my life. I will not be satisfied until I win a national championship here and fill Lincoln Financial Field with happy Owl fans on a regular basis who can, to paraphrase Michelle Obama, for the first time in their adult lives be proud of their university’s football team. One man can make a difference for an entire university. I want to be that man for this university. That fuels my fire. I’m stoked about the possibilities next season can bring for this great school, city and the fans.”

We can only imagine what that statement would have said so we have formulated what we wanted to hear Al say and put it in the box to the left.
It’s time for Al to concentrate on the considerable tasks at hand.
There are signs that he’s doing just that, signing a big-time kicker, Brendan McManus, who was wanted by several BCS schools. It’s easy to see why McManus was so sought-after. Of his 70 kickoffs, 58 went through the end zone.
I don’t remember one Temple kickoff going through the end zone this season.
Since the Owls could be down to two serviceable quarterbacks, Vaughn Charlton and Chester Stewart, we’re hoping a big target (or two) will be mobile JUCO quarterbacks who can throw on the run.
We’ll see.

By Mike Gibson
Without a doubt, the best video short of the season.
Gotta love the blocking on Marcellus Griggs’ two touchdown runs and the misdirection the Owls used on his second touchdown (vintage Delaware Wing-T).
Also, great catch by Jason Harper, who has really embraced his role as the team’s next Bruce Francis. Notice he landed on the 2, but the MAC refs _ in all their infinite wisdom _ marked the ball on the 4.
Great interception by Kevin Kroboth, the surprise of this year’s recruiting class. I’ve got to believe that even Kevin, though, might be second-guessing his path to the goal on the interception because a fat guy, Akron’s No. 71, shows up in the picture late. Had Kevin cut it toward the fat guy, he would have been gone.
Love the scoreboard opening and the mugging of the seniors for the camera in it.
All in all, a very good day and a great job by video czar Mike Adkins.

This video is only 12 seconds long but pretty much tells the story of how Temple’s offense clicked Saturday against EMU in a 55-52 win. As you can see, Adam DiMichele had to run around to make a play before getting hit. He did that on five of his six touchdown throws. The offensive line didn’t give him a whole lot of time to throw.

By Mike Gibson
I had a glimpse today of what kind of sports fan I would have been had I lived 2,000 years ago.
At the Temple game in the late stages of a 55-52 win over Eastern Michigan, I friend of mine who claims he has been “entertained” all year by the football Owls, turned to me and said:
“C’mon, tell me you weren’t entertained by this?”
“No,” I said.
Pausing only for a second, I added:
“I would have been entertained by a 55-3 win, but I’m not entertained when I know we can do better than this.”
“We’re not there yet,” my friend said of that kind of dominance.
Well, then, I’ll take 55-14.

Don’t get me wrong.
I loved the win. I loved how my favorite Owl, No. 82, Bruce Francis, abused the Eagles’ secondary for four touchdowns. I love the seven touchdowns by my second favorite Owl, Adam DiMichele, six by passes, and one by run.
I was the one guy in the stands yelling for them to throw it to No. 82 on a fairly consistent basis.
(It’s not rocket science.)
I love the intimidation factor of our special teams and returner Travis Shelton.
But to be completely entertained, I would have liked to see our No. 1 unit coming into the season play at least to their potential.
Had I lived in the days of the Roman Coliseum and knowing how much I love animals, I might have been entertained by the Lions who killed every murderer, rapist or traitor on a given Roman Holiday.
I probably wouldn’t have been as entertained had the bad guys killed a few animals.
That’s pretty much how I feel about Temple football these days. I want blood. Bad-guy blood. To me, any team who doesn’t wear Cherry and White are the bad guys.
The Owls came into the season with the returning No. 1 defense in the MAC intact.
I expected, no demanded, that they at least repeat that same standard this season as well. Instead, they were ranked No. 6 coming into the game. I know there are some injuries back there, but not for this kind of drop off.

“Adam, disregard Rhule’s play call and throw it to No. 82!”
Darryl Rule photo

I did not understand why the No. 1 defense in the MAC was able to give up 41 points to a Kent State team every other MAC team pretty much handled, but I got a clue by watching our defense today.
We weren’t attacking. We were reacting.
I come from the school that says the best pass defense is putting a quarterback on his backside.
If you can’t get that done with a conventional 4-3 or 5-2 front, then it’s time to send a linebacker as well. If you can’t get pressure on the quarterback with a conventional front and a linebacker, then send two linebackers. If you still can’t get pressure, send linebackers and safeties. Send more than they can block and send them from every conceivable angle.
If you don’t know what that looks like, grab a Eagles-Steelers DVD off the NFL network from earlier this season.
Or at least look at how Mark D’Onofrio’s defense played last season.
Keep getting in the quarterback’s face, put him on the ground and make him feel pain. Or at least make him uncomfortable enough to throw the ball away earlier than he wants to.
I saw none of that against Eastern Michigan quarterback Andy Schmitt, who put the ball up 76 times. Except for the time linebacker John Haley got to him on a blindside blitz, I didn’t see Schmitt uncomfortable at all.
“We’ve need to straighten some things out on defense,” Temple head coach Al Golden said late Saturday afternoon. “We’re not playing the way we’re capable on defense.”
Last year, the Owls were an attacking defense, getting in the face of every quarterback they played on a pretty consistent basis.
If Golden is looking at what he can do in five days to improve things, getting back to that core philosophy might be a good place to start.

By Mike Gibson
When a bunch of old guys get together to compare players from past eras with the current ones, almost without fail the young guys can’t compare.
That’s been pretty much true with me over the years, but not this year.

I’ve been to every Temple home game for the past 37 years and I will go on record right now that there are three players on the current Owl squad who are every bit as good at their position than any former Owl and one guy, Bruce Francis, who is flat-out the best Temple receiver I’ve ever seen.
Yes, that includes Gerald “Sweet Feet” Lucear and Steve Watson and Pete Righi and Randy Grossman.
This season is sad for a lot of reasons, but none include these wonderful representatives of Temple University.
They deserved a better fate.
They deserve at the minimum to win their last two games. They really deserve to go to a bowl.
The tale of the tape:
ALEX DERENTHAL, center _ Because of the Rimington Watch List hype, I’ve made it a hobby to point the binoculars at No. 59 as much as I could and go back and watch the tape of the TV games. Alex is good, real good. There’s a reason you don’t see guys coming right up the middle at Adam DiMichele and his name is Alex Derenthal. He’s real good at picking off the loose defender, who might otherwise kill the QB. Donny Klein of the 2002 team was a great leader as a center and my favorite Owl of that year and so was Dick Beck, the captain of the 1990 team, but Derenthal is in the conversation with those guys and just as good.
ADAM DIMICHELE, quarterback _ The 3-7 record is not his fault. He’s a 7-3 quarterback playing on a 3-7 team. Look at it this way: When it was his turn to make a big play at Navy, he did, hitting an incredibly clutch 3d and 6 pass on the dead run for a first down. He was the guy who delivered the bomb right into Travis Shelton’s hands that would have made it a 13-3 game against UConn. He was the guy who drove the Owls down the field with 38 seconds left for what should have been the winning touchdown at Buffalo. In my mind, he’s better than that “second tier” of Owl quarterbacks that included Tim Riordan, Henry Burris and Matty Baker, three terrific quarterbacks. He might not be as good as Steve Joachim, Brian Broomell or Marty Ginestra but that even could be debated. Joachim, another guy who transferred from Penn State, was named National College Player of the Year by the Maxwell Club for quarterbacking the Owls to a 9-1 record. For my money, though, DiMichele is every bit the leader Steve Joachim was and that’s not taking a thing away from Steve. Broomell and Joachim were more talented, but this kid’s heart is just as strong.
BRUCE FRANCIS, wide receiver _ I’m willing to bet a significant amount of my inheritance to anyone who shows up at the tailgate Saturday that Bruce Francis will be on an NFL roster next year. As I have written many times this season, I don’t remember ever seeing a Temple receiver who NOBODY … and I mean NOBODY _ can cover. That includes players like Steve Watson (Denver Broncos), Leslie Shepard (Washington Redskins) and Randy Grossman (Pittsburgh Steelers). Nobody can cover Bruce Francis. If I was the Owls’ offensive coordinator, I would play everything off BF. Pitch and catch to BF until the defense puts two guys on him. Chances are Bruce shakes the first guy and scores anyway. Then drop back, pump fake to BF and run the underneath draw to Kee-Ayre Griffin. Roll right, look across the field to BF and hit the tight end over the middle. Or drop back, pump fake to BF and throw across the field to James Nixon. Then reset the whole thing and come back to BF again. The thing that separates him from “Sweet Feet” Lucear was that you could, at times, cover Gerald. This Francis kid is running free through some pretty good seconardies on a consistent basis. Get him the ball.
Despite the fact that Bruce Francis set records this year, he was underutilized. I believed that all season. I believe it now. He would have made the offense so much more effective had everything been run through him.
There are plenty of reasons not to attend the last two games. A lot of fans are disappointed, especially me. But I will be proud to go to support Nos. 59, 82 and 13 for leaving everything they had on the field for this program, the school and the fans.

Chickie and Pete’s will host a large Cherry and White contingent tonight in South Philly.

By Mike Gibson
Finding the right bar in which to watch Temple football is an art form.
That’s because there’s a sizeable segment of the population in Philly who thinks you, me and the few thousand other Owl fans are nutjobs for getting all worked up over Temple football.
In every bar in Philadelphia where I can convince the bartender to put the Temple game on, I’m met with derisive yells like: “Florida (vs.) Georgia is on so why are we watching the Temple game?”
That was actually yelled at me several times by an extremely drunk gentleman during the Navy game at a place called Graham’s Pub in Roxborough.
“Excuse me,” I said, “are Florida and Georgia located in Philadelphia?”
“Let the man watch his Temple game,” another drunk gentleman said.

I’ve had to deal with this stuff all my life, that’s why it burns me up when a stupid move like not punting costs us a game, any game.
Tonight will be the first Wednesday night Temple football game in history, but it will be hard to find on your home television (or even computer) if you get either service through the Comcast monopoly. That’s because Comcast and ESPN have a major feud going on that only Comcast and ESPN executives can really understand.
The loser in all of this isn’t Comcast or ESPN.
It’s you and me, the consumer.
That’s why we have to go on a Safari now just to find a TV that has a Temple game.
I’ve found at least one television that has the Kent State game on and it’s in South Philly. The one (maybe only) place to be is Chickie and Pete’s on Pattison Avenue near the stadium complex.
That’s because they’ll be a sizeable contigent of Owl fans like you and me.
A support group for addiction, like AA.
Except in this one, drinking is advised.

By Mike Gibson
There are very few people who understood my love of Temple football more than my Dad.
He was a guy who grew up a big Penn fan, went to Roman Catholic High and graduated from Villanova.
As a kid, around 10, he’d always send me off every Saturday with a couple of tokens so I could catch a couple of buses, a train, whatever, to Penn, Temple and Villanova football games.
I was a fan of all three teams but settled on Temple because I thought this was a school trying to do something the other two schools weren’t: Bring a big-time college football atmosophere and winning team to Philadelphia.
The Owls had a name coach, Wayne Hardin, a guy who took Navy to No. 2 in the country in the early 1960s.
Soon, Hardin would make Temple a big-time and respected name and I was hooked.
I became a Temple fan for life.
I made a point of turning town a scholarship to a smaller school so I could attend Temple, get a journalism degree, and experience the atmosphere as a student, too.
I would always tell my dad I was a Temple fan because I wanted Philadelphia, Temple alumni and Temple students to experience the things other towns and other fans get to experience all the time _ a big-time football team playing in a big-time atmosphere.
It seems like everybody else gets to experience that except Temple fans and this led to a lot of weekends, mostly after graduating, coming home after particularly bitter losses.
After every loss, he’d seen my sour demeanor and feel my pain. Just like nobody can cover Bruce Francis, nobody takes a Temple loss harder than me. I become almost comatose.
“Mike, why do you put yourself through this?” my dad would say.
Then I’d tell him Temple fans deserve what Alabama fans and Texas fans and Penn State fans have.
Just once.

“Mike, why do you put yourself through this?” my dad would say.
Then I’d tell him Temple fans deserve what Alabama fans and Texas fans and Penn State fans have.
Just once.

“Some day,” I told my dad. “Some day our stadium will be full and our fans will be smiling. Some day.”
I was convinced. I am convinced it will happen.
Some day.
He’d always nod and understand my pain and why I put myself through this.
Today, I experienced his.
This morning, at 9:07 a.m., my dad died.
If you don’t see any posts on this site for awhile, and you probably won’t, it’s because I’m helping handle things until he gets buried.
Hopefully, I’ll feel a little better by next Wednesday, but I don’t think so.