12.19.24
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Keeler’s bowl presence mattered and here’s why

This is about as good a preview to what Temple’s offense and defense will look like in 2025.

Anyone who saw Sam Houston’s State’s 31-26 bowl win on Thursday night over Georgia Southern also saw that K.C. Keeler was in attendance when the ESPN2 broadcast cut away to him.

Not coaching but supporting his kids.

That matters to Temple for a couple of reasons.

One, and probably most importantly, Keeler probably was there to recruit a few key Sam Houston State players to Philadelphia.

There’s a quarterback, a running back and a few defensive backs that certainly could seriously upgrade the Owls although, in my humble opinion, Evan Simon–if he stays here–beats out any other quarterback for the job.

(Hell, he probably did the same under the old staff but they were too blind to see.)

Simon says (pun intended) that he loves Temple and I know we Temple fans love him. Keeler is too good of a football coach to see things any other way once the balls start flying in a few weeks at 10th and Diamond.

Two, Keeler’s presence at a SHS bowl game will show the Temple kids that he will care about them in the same way he cared about the Bearkats. Imagine this: Temple goes to a bowl game in two years and Keeler gets the Ohio State job. (Hey, if you think OSU won’t give the job to a 67-year-old UNC just hired a 72-year-old to replace a 73-year-old.) He won’t be working for Ohio State, but he will be there to support the Temple kids.

Sold his soul for $7.4 million and didn’t even support the Temple kids in the bowl game. Contrast that to Keeler and Temple has a gem.

That’s just the kind of guy Keeler showed that he was on Thursday night.

My feeling and this could be naive is that Keeler is too Philly a guy to leave even if a P4 program tries to lure him but we won’t know until we know.

Contrast that to this: Matt Rhule, in the same week he was preparing Temple for the AAC championship game, said there was no amount of money that could take him away from his Temple players.

Evidently, $7.4 million from Baylor was enough for Rhule to skip the Military Bowl where Temple was going for a school-record 11th win.

Instead, Rhule was out recruiting for Baylor and not supporting the Temple kids.

Now, Keeler was supporting the Sam Houston kids and, at the same time, probably recruiting for Temple.

At least we hope so.

In his first big character test as Temple coach, Keeler passed it with flying colors.

A little Orange and White but way more Cherry and White.

Monday: The Offensive Staff

12.16.24
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TFF and Temple football: Back in business

Brian Smith’s loss was felt by every Rice fan, unlike Everett Withers’ loss at TU (felt by only one).

Every once in a while, you get an unexpected expense.

Today’s was $145.44 because a bad Acer adapter sucked all of the life out of my battery, putting the laptop out of commission.

I only found out because I went to write Monday’s regular post and no numbers or punctuation marks were showing and then the screen went black.

Brian Smith’s defense held Navy’s Blake Horvath to 10-for-21, 121 yards and two interceptions in a 24-10 win this year. Everett Withers’ defense held Horvath and company to 38 points.

Having zero technical skills, I took it to an expert and he figured it out.

New charger and new battery put us back in business.

So, too, can the same be said of Temple football.

Having zero football skills, both new President John Fry and old AD Arthur Johnson found an expert who already is showing signs of recharging the program.

Unlike the last time, they got a pro and not some apprentice learning from another pro.

This pro, K.C. Keeler, already is making an impact with the Owls by hiring defensive coordinator Brian Smith from the Rice Owls.

Go to the Rice message boards and there is much gnashing of teeth over Smith’s loss. Smith, unlike the last Temple defensive coordinator, Everett Withers, is a proven point-stopper. We only know one Temple fan who felt the loss of Withers, OwlsDaily editor Shawn Pastor, who called him “a great asset to the program.”

The “trade” of Brian Smith for Everett Withers could go down as the second-best football swap in Philadelphia this year (the Eagles letting D’Andre Swift go to the Bears and acquiring Saquon Barkley was probably the best).

Since Withers’ primary job was a DC, and since Withers gave up 39.7 ppgs per game as a DC at FIU in 2021 and 38.7 and 35.7 the last two years at Temple, I’ll pass on that so-called asset.

Basically, he got both Butch Davis and Stan Drayton fired. (Drayton probably deserved more blame than Davis because he hired Withers after the FIU disaster.)

“You had one job!”

Some asset.

Keeler went for the best guy available, not the best friend he felt more comfortable with and Smith has the numbers to back it up.

Smith’s defense finished ninth in the nation in passing defense, 36th in total defense and held opponents to just 25.4 points per game, more than 10 points per game lower than Withers’ best figure this decade. Smith, unlike Withers, was nominated for the Frank Broyles Award as best assistant coach in the nation.

Smith held a very good Navy offense to just 10 points in a 24-10 Rice victory and his 3-4 defense is particularly effective against triple-option teams like Army and Navy because it puts a nose guard over the A gap (to stop the fullback) and emphasizes speed from sideline to string out the option.

An additional benefit of that scheme is that it’s harder to recruit big interior linemen like defensive tackles and nose guards and easier to find linebackers and that’s probably why Keeler is going to keep what he did at Sam Houston State.

When your football team is broken, got to put it a bag and take to an expert and then plug it back in the AAC outlet.

So far, the additional expense of buying out Drayton and Keeler (at SHS) and paying Keeler on top of that portends that the Owls will be back in the business of winning sooner than later.

Friday: The Letter

12.12.24
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The reviews are in and they are all good

The reviews are in on the new Temple head football coach and let’s just say they are a lot better than the reviews a certain McDonald’s in Altoona received this week.

Validation is always a good thing, and the Temple brass received plenty of it in the 10 or so days since hiring K.C. Keeler away from Sam Houston State.

That got me to thinking about the reaction to past Temple hires. I can’t remember a single time there was this much positive reaction to a Temple football head coaching hire since Wayne Hardin. Places like The New York Times raved about Temple hiring Hardin, who had Navy as the No. 2 team in the country in the 1962 season and won a pro championship later with the Philadelphia Bulldogs of the Continental League in 1966.

We all know what happened when Hardin decided to return to Philadelphia four years later.

Hardin became the winningest coach in Temple history, had four-straight winning seasons, won Temple’s first bowl game ever and was a mere 16 points from an unbeaten season in 1979 which would have almost assuredly gave Temple and Philadelphia a mythical national football championship.

In a way, Keeler decided to return to Philadelphia earlier this month and that’s a comparison that bodes well for Temple.

Keeler knows those bullet points all too well since his only disappointment in that 1979 season came at the hands of Temple. Keeler was a linebacker whose only loss in a 13-1 year was a 31-14 one to Hardin’s Temple team.

This is not a Temple fan. It is a WVU fan who was thrilled by the hiring of Rich Rodriguez.

That Delaware team didn’t have a “mythical” national championship then. It had a real one at the next level down from Temple and the national powers (now FCS).

Keeler, more than anyone else, knows how great Temple can be in this sport.

After hiring Keeler, Temple fans need to reflect on what they’ve seen over the last three years of the Stan Drayton Regime. Plenty of sub-level G5 talent, plus numerous games where the head-scratching moments came when Temple was either offsides, had false starts, illegal formations and linemen downfield.

Sam Houston fans never saw that kind of stuff and that’s why Temple hired K.C. Keeler nearly a dozen days ago.

Since then, Keeler has gotten to work revamping the coaching staff and making strides to do the same with the roster. Temple is the only team mentioned for a backup Ohio State linebacker who returned a pick six for a touchdown three months ago against Akron.

That’s the kind of player Temple needs. That’s the kind of player we’ve been preaching that Temple go after the last two years, guys who can play at the P4 level but are stuck behind other NFL players.

What did the previous staff do?

Go after JUCO players. The past staff was stuck in the 1980s, where the only way they knew how to fill immediate needs was to get JUCO players.

When you do that, you get JUCO results.

If you want to get big-time results, you’ve got to go after big-time players and Keeler understands that. Winning the portal means as much as winning the NFL draft and Keeler was so good at that a year ago that he lost only one player in the portal on the way to a 9-3 season.

There are plenty of big-time players in the portal, and plenty of guys who are looking for an opportunity to show themselves over a NIL payday. Temple needs to go after that type of hungry player and nobody more than Keeler understands that reality.

Others are noticing and that cannot be a bad thing and we haven’t had that happen in a half century.

Monday: The Letter

12.08.24
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One era begins, another one ends

EDITOR’S NOTE: Despite what you see to the left, the article below was written by Kevin Fitzpatrick, a long-time member of the Temple chain gang who is hanging up the poles (really handing them off, deciding to retire) after 38 years on the job. Thanks for your service, Kevin.

By Kevin Fitzpatrick

For the love of the game, I’ve been involved in Temple for 38 years on the chain crew.

No more.

My final game was two Saturdays ago.

First off I’d like to shout out to the many guys that have been on the crew over those
years. The current group is about half Philadelphia Catholic league grads (St Joe’s
Prep, North Catholic and Father Judge) and half South Jersey guys. A little less than
half are Temple grads (me included). I was invited on the crew by a co-worker whose
father, also on the crew, was going to miss time with a knee replacement. It was during
the Bruce Arains, Paul Palmer years. A great time to start. We played all the big time
Eastern programs, which at that time were much more relevant nationally too.

The venues were Veterans Stadium, Franklin Field and Lincoln Financial Field. The turf at the Vet
was really rough; my knees and back hurt from just standing on it for three and a half
hours. I can’t imagine being driven into the turf or sliding on it.
I was just happy to be close to the action. That’s why I titled this for the love of the
game. It is a different game up close. The speed is incredible. I got rolled up by a
player in my first game but never again, although there were many close calls.

The teams I saw included some of the best players of that era: Bruce Smith, Donovan
McNabb, Michael Vick, Matt Ryan and too many Penn State and Miami players to
mention. We were always at a disadvantage against those teams but played them
tougher than I’ve seen us play lesser teams the last few years. I don’t remember giving
up 50 or more points until the Bobby Wallace years. After we turned it around in the Al
Golden years and kept it going for a decade, I never thought I would see that garbage
again.

Our current situation with a new coach coming in makes me think of other coaches
I’ve seen and their approach to the game. Two that impressed me were Andy Talley of
Villanova and Joe Paterno of PSU. Both were CEO types that could watch the game
and pick apart a weakness in-game. They didn’t wait until halftime to make

adjustments.

They just turned around and told their coordinator or position coach what
they saw or what would work against that look. Talley had a knack for calling runs on
obvious passing downs and passes on running downs and making it work. Joe Paterno
could look at the opposing team and see who was just a yard or two from where they
should be and what would work against them. They also generally respected the refs
and would plant seeds about a missed call rather than berate the refs. That’s not the
norm. The language can get pretty bad on the field. One of our coaches, Steve
Addazio, called the refs every name in the book. But most of our coaches did not
berate the refs. Again the speed of the game makes it really difficult for the refs but
they usually do a great job. This year was an exception with many head scratching
calls.


Our last two coaches show that different approaches don’t always give different
results. Coach Carey was a screamer and was hard on the players hard creating a very tense
team. Coach Drayton was more positive, and player focused yet they got the same
results.


The tendency when something goes wrong is to blame the coach but remember they
are working with 18-23 year olds. What were you like at that age?

All in all I loved my time on the chain crew and will end with some of the lasting
memories from my time on the field.

Best play: Michael Vick weaved through our entire defense back and forth at the Vet for
a 70-80 yard touchdown run.
Fastest get off at the snap: Dan Klecko, who left O linemen grasping at air.
Couldn’t believe he got up: Walter Washington was lifted into the air and slammed to the
turf with the defender placing all his weight on him, yet the QB got up slowly and didn’t
leave the field.
Most impressive game and best offensive player I saw for the Owls: Paul Palmer and
his then record 300+ rushing yards vs ECU

Best defensive Owl: tie between Lance Johnstone and Tyler Matakevich
Best game ( as if there is any doubt) : beating Penn State at the Linc, with the Notre
Dame game a close second.


Here’s hoping Coach Keeler can make some similar memories for future chain crews.

12.05.24
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A primer for new head coach K.C. Keeler

An open letter to K.C. Keeler:

Dear K.C.,

First of let me congratulate you on getting the job.

You were on my “wish list” for Temple head coaches. For the record, not the first, but certainly high up there.

I’m not here to give you any recommendations on the football side. You’ve got that part locked up.

The Temple side, to me, and a lot of fans, is just as important. Getting a lay of the land and the Edberg-Olson facility, the people and the traditions of Temple, are nearly as important.

K.C. Keeler now has the best administrative assistant in the country. Just ask Bruce Arians, Al Golden, Matt Rhule and Geoff Collins.

One, the people:

Getting to know and love Nadia Harvin, your administrative assistant, who has been with every coach since Bruce Arians. She’s a legend. She’s in the Temple Hall of Fame. Pick up the phone and call Bruce and ask about Nadia. Pick up the phone and call Matt Rhule. Pick up the phone and call Geoff Collins.

Also, it might not hurt to call the people who might have hurt you back in 1979 if you get a chance. Mike Curcio, who, like you, was a linebacker in the 1979 Temple-Delaware game, would be a good start. Like you, Mike Curcio played with the Philadelphia Eagles for awhile. Steve Conjar, the all-time leading tackler who played in that same 1979 game, also hosts the biggest tailgate in Lot K.

As far as the players, I would make a special effort to keep quarterback Evan Simon and running back Torrez Worthy. Simon, who said last week “I love Temple” probably needs only someone important to tell him they love him. I will say this: He’s got the most moxie I’ve seen in a Temple quarterback since Adam DiMichele. He knows how to get rid of the ball and when to get rid of it. Watch his tape vs. Utah State. Kid made 10 great throws under hellacious pressure, five for touchdowns, to win the game 45-29.

Dave Gerson, from a younger generation, is also a Temple treasure. Get to know him. No greater Temple fan. Nobody loves Temple football more. Nobody will be able to introduce you to people who love Temple quicker than Dave.

Two, the coaches:

I know you know Adam Scheier. To me, he’s one of the best special teams coaches in the country. I would keep him. The kids love him and the Temple special teams have been one of the few highlights over the last three seasons.

Chris Wiesehan, the offensive line coach, had great offensive lines under Rhule and Geoff Collins. He didn’t have a great offensive line under Stan Drayton but, like Bill Parcells used to say, he didn’t shop for the groceries under Drayton. Stan got him Aldi’s stuff. Rhule and Collins took him to Whole Foods.

Please stay away from Everett Withers and Danny Langsdorf.

This is the way a Temple team SHOULD celebrate a win.

Three, the traditions:

The “tradition” at Temple is that, after every Temple win, the team stands and sings the Alma Mater respectfully and then goes crazy singing “T for Temple U.” For reasons only Drayton knows, they stood respectfully with the band and sung the Alma Mater but broke ranks and went to the locker room before “T for Temple U.” That’s a no-no. “T for Temple U” is the main course. The Alma Mater is the appetizer.

Single Digit

The single digit tradition has been disrespected for at least the last three years, maybe more. Too many single digit Owls have left for other schools, causing something like this to happen when another team’s game is broadcast: “You know he’s tough because, when he was at Temple, he was a single digit.” That makes every Temple fan ill. You know the cure: No more single digits until your last year of eligibility at Temple.

Mark Bright was one of the best players on a team that gave K.C. Keeler his only loss in 1979.

Four, bring back the running game via the fullback:

In the 1979 Temple-Delaware game, the best player was fullback Mark Bright, from William Tennent High. The Temple tradition has always been to establish the running game with a fullback, then make explosive downfield plays in the passing game off play-action. The Hallmark of the last five years 1-6, 3-9, 3-9, 3-9 and 3-9 has been no running game. The reason is that all of those recent coaches have tried to establish a short-passing game first. All that has done is make Temple one of the worst rushing teams in the country and keep its defense on the field.

Five, The Community:

I don’t have to tell you that the Philadelphia Catholic League is the best high school football league in the country. People like Rich Gannon (St. Joe’s Prep, Delaware, NFL MVP), Frank Wycheck, Al Atkinson, Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti, Anthony Becht, the Pawlowski twins (Ken and Jim), Marvin Harrison Jr., John Runyon Jr., D’Andre Swift, etc. all played in the Catholic League. Hire someone like Father Judge’s Frank McArdle to keep that pipleline alive.

OK, I lied.

Maybe the coaches part and the running game part came under the substance of a football subject.

Everything else is solid advice.

Good luck, and welcome home.

Mike Gibson

Editor and Publisher, Temple Football Forever

Monday: The Temple Chain Gang

Friday: The Reaction

Monday: The Letter

12.03.24
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Temple football has a winner in town

Former FSU All-American QB Danny Kanell nods his head in agreement as Chip, Tom and Bud Elliott compliment Temple on the choice of K.C. Keeler to coach the Owls.

One day after being named one of CBS Sports’ “Coaches of the Week” for Week 14 in college football for a Texas team, K.C. Keeler was standing at a podium 1,000 miles away in Philadelphia talking about leading a Pennsylvania team.

Things move fast when you beat other teams to the hiring punch as Temple seems to have done.

Keeler didn’t open his press conference like Buddy Ryan did with the Eagles in 1986 by saying “you’ve got a winner in town.” He didn’t have to because, as a real winner (Bill Parcells) once said, “you are what your record says you are.”

Unlike 1986, Philadelphia–and most importantly Temple–has a winner in town.

Keeler’s wife, Janice was back in Texas selling their house in Huntsville. They already have another house 40 minutes from Philadelphia that they’ve maintained since leaving for Texas.

Keeler’s opening press conference brought something even the press conferences of Al Golden, Matt Rhule, Steve Addazio, Geoff Collins and Rod Carey never did.

A winning pedigree in post-season football.

Ryan was 0-3 in playoff games as Eagles’ coach. Carey was 0-7 in bowl games both at Northern Illinois and Temple.

Keeler’s post-season exploits are chronicled elsewhere in this post. You don’t have to google him. He’ll get you to the postseason and he will win his fair share there.

That’s kind of where Temple is at now.

K.C. Keeler under the goal post where the best field goal kicker in the nation this year practiced his craft every single day.

The arms’ race is such in college football that really the best the Owls can hope for–barring putting the NIL genie back in the bottle–is playing in great bowl games and winning in the postseason. Maybe grabbing an AAC title every five years, tops.

A great school like Temple should expect to be in the top 80 of college football teams every year when only 134 teams are playing at the FBS level. The Owls should expect to win their share of postseason bowl games.

Do that and the fans come back, especially after four-straight 3-9 seasons. Making Lincoln Financial Field a happening place again requires only consistent winning. Al Golden proved that. So did Matt Rhule.

K.C. Keeler’s postseason record screams winner.

Keeler has a history of doing that, too, even against teams with greater resources. With no NIL, Keeler’s Sam Houston State destroyed a Rice team that beat Navy. That was the same Navy team that beat Temple, 38-11.

He has a history of turning loaves into fishes and he’s going to have to take that approach with Temple.

Keeler’s familiarity with Temple will help as he talked about playing three games in his college career and losing twice to the Owls, including in Delaware’s national championship 13-1 season (1979).

“Then lens through I look at it is Temple was a great program at one time,” Keeler said. “This is a great university. It can even be greater.”

It got greater on a very cold December Tuesday morning in Philadelphia. Now all that remains is to determine how great.

Friday: The Letter Keepers

Monday: The Reaction

12.01.24
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Keeler: A pick Temple fans can get behind

Wherever he’s been, K.C. Keeler has developed great relationships with his players and Temple should be no different. I defy anyone to find a similar photo of Rod Carey or Stan Drayton celebrating like this on the field with their players.

After a couple of head-scratching decisions on its last two football CEOs, Temple University finally went in a more logical direction by picking K.C. Keeler to lead the Owls’ football fortunes today.

More like a head-nodding decision than a head-scratching one.

It’s about time and maybe just in time.

That’s because the last two guys were hired by ADs tied to their picks: Pat Kraft played football at around the same time at Indiana that Rod Carey did–they missed each other by one year but both played the same position at Indiana (center).

Arthur Johnson’s first high-profile pick at Temple was to hire a guy he saw walking around the University of Texas football building every day: Running backs’ coach Stan Drayton.

One was a head coach. The other was an assistant.

Hard to believe that you claim to conduct a national search for a head coach and end up with a guy who worked in the same building you did and that’s exactly what happened with the Johnson/Drayton relationship.

Carey had success in the Midwest with little knowledge of Temple and Philadelphia. Drayton hadn’t coached in Philadelphia since the 1980s but for Penn and Villanova. Neither is Temple or even close. Drayton had to learn to be a head coach while on Temple’s dime and Temple’s time and that rarely works out.

This time, Johnson hired a guy he didn’t know personally but a winner at every place he’s been. That’s important because, before Keeler, no one ever proved they could win at Rowan. At Sam Houston and Delaware, he benefitted from following legends in Willie Fritz and Tubby Raymond. Keeler can take all of those lessons learned to a place where multiple men have proven they can win: Wayne Hardin, Bruce Arians, Al Golden, Matt Rhule and, to a lesser extent, Steve Addazio and Geoff Collins.

The blueprint for winning at Temple is simple: Establish relationships within a great recruiting base (46 percent of the nation’s population is within a five-hour drive of Philadelphia) and recruit the hell out of that base. Establish the run and have explosive plays in the downfield passing game off play/action fakes.

The last three years we’ve pulled our hair out watching Temple teams try to establish the short passing game first. That’s not Temple TUFF. It never was. It never will be. As a result, Temple couldn’t generate anything on the ground or keep its defense off the field.

Temple needs some big offensive linemen who were recruited and developed by P4 schools but find themselves as backups through no fault of their own. It also needs to scour the ranks of FCS schools and get players who should have been recruited at a higher level.

In the transfer portal and NIL era, that means getting disaffected guys who went off for riches at P4 schools only to find themselves riding the pine elsewhere. All of those kids have a chip on their shoulders and Temple football in the past has thrived when giving kids a chance to play against good competition.

Let’s face it: Temple isn’t going win an NIL bidding war for players, but it does offer an opportunity to play right away and, in Keeler, is picking a guy who thrived despite having the lowest NIL in the nation at Sam Houston State.

At Temple, a lot of the rich grads who could have supported football either tragically died in a plane crash (Lew Katz) or got involved in legal troubles (Bill Cosby) or had a dispute with his fellow pop legend (John Oates). Oates likes Temple football, Darryl Hall doesn’t.

Not a whole lot of deep pockets in an alumni base that had to scrouge to find SEPTA tokens to get to school every day.

Keeler is free to concentrate on a quick rebuild at Temple right now.

After beating Liberty last week, Keeler needed only Western Kentucky to lose to earn a spot in the CUSA title game. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for Temple, Western Kentucky won and Keeler can hop on the recruiting trail for Temple.

Already, a number of top Drayton recruits have reaffirmed their commitments to the new staff to play for Temple. There seems to be a renewed enthusiasm in the Edberg-Olson Center. Now all that remains is for Keeler to convince top returning players like Evan Simon and Torrez Worthy to remain on board. Once Keeler grabs Simon at the press conference and tell him he’s going to give him an offensive line that would keep him upright, Simon might stay.

Keeler knows how to navigate the portal without an infusion of NIL money, and while some Saudi billionaire hopping on board would be nice, Temple had to find a guy like that to bridge the gap. Keeler has won with guys who haven’t made money and there’s no reason to expect he can’t do the same in the future.

Keeler would do well to keep certain members of this staff, including OL coach Chris Wiesehan, running backs coach Tyree Foreman and linebackers coach Chris Woods. Wiesehan and Foreman were here with other staffs while Temple was winning and can offer helpful hints to Keeler how things were done then vs. how things have been done over the last three seasons.

Plus, Keeler is very familiar with the Temple brand. He was a linebacker on the 1979 Delaware team that lost to Temple, 31-14. That was the Blue Hens only loss on the way to the Division II (now FCS) championship. Those Owls he lost to were just 16 points from a 12-0 season and a possible mythical national championship of their own.

Keeler can share old war stories with his fellow linebackers of that era on the other side of the ball, Steve Conjar and Mike Curcio and possibly get them on board to drum up alumni NIL support.

After beating Liberty, Keeler went on national TV for an interview and his Philadelphia accent sounded more genuine than the really good one Tina Fey used to mimic on SNL.

This guy knows Philly. He knows Temple. More importantly, he knows how to win.

Temple hasn’t had a guy like that in a long time.

Welcome home.

Wednesday: The Press Conference

11.30.24
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The most painful error of TU football is over

When the history of Temple football is written, the period between 2021 and 2024 will be forever known as “The 3-9 Era.”

You can’t go from 9 bowl games in 10 years to four-straight 3-9 seasons. That’s unacceptable, even in the NIL/transfer portal era.

That’s because in the long and often painful history of the sport at Temple there is arguably no worse era. You can’t go 3-9 four years in a row after teasing your fans with nine bowl games between 2009-2019.

Here’s my argument: I suffered through a 20-game losing streak and 30 years between bowl games only to see that losing streak end when Adam DiMichele threw a flea-flicker touchdown pass to Travis Sheldon to beat Bowling Green. Sheldon was the hero that day, also taking a kickoff return to the house.

After a rough first start against Layton Jordan and Temple for Rutgers in 2022, Evan Simon has proven to be if not a great Temple Owl a very good one. I would be happy if this kid is K.C. Keeler’s starting quarterback next year.

The coach that day, Al Golden, got an ice bucket bath.

It was onward and upward after that.

Three years later, Temple was in its first bowl game in 30 years.

Two years after that, Temple won its first bowl game in 32 years.

Four years after that, Temple was the major story in the nation with a Prime Time Game on ABC-TV that broke all kinds of ratings records. To this day, that was the No. 1-rated college football TV game in the nation’s fourth-largest market.

Any college football game. Ever, including Penn State-Notre Dame games, college football championship games. From the time Philo Farnsworth invented the TV set in the 1930s until 2024 and probably way beyond.

Unless Temple gets a prime-time game again, I doubt that record will ever be broken. (For the record, I doubt Temple will ever have a prime-time game again. Unless a Saudi billionaire wants to make a statement by backing the Temple NIL fund. Shoutout to MBS, who reads this website occasionally.)

Did I think Temple could sustain that kind of success?

Hell no. (I was just happy I lived long enough to see it.)

Did I think Temple could be a regular visitor to great bowl games and win its share?

Hell yes.

What happened?

Two buddy hires (Pat Kraft/Rod Carey and Arthur Johnson/Stan Drayton) poisoned the well of success we’ve been drinking from. Kraft and Johnson were responsible, but so was the BOT which should have provided oversight.

Today’s 24-17 loss to North Texas was bad, but proved the kids never quit and that is important.

They were down, 24-3, and had enough pride in themselves, the school and their teammates to compete.

The second half was 0-0 against a bowl team.

IF … and that’s a big IF .. the next coach can keep the core base of talent (I’m thinking QB Evan Simon, RBs Torrez Worthy, and some guys on defense) here and supplement them with P4 backup talent and FCS stars (not JUCOs), Temple has a chance at a winning season.

Not far in advance like the old days. Next year.

It also has to have a good coach who understands that the way to beat offenses is an attacking defense (which means sacks and strip fumbles in the backfield or forced interceptions) and an offense that supplements its base philosophy with surprises (i.e. halfback passes, double reverses, shovel passes and jump passes ot the tight end).

The last three years we saw nothing of that at Temple.

Disappointing but not surprising that this offensive staff played backup QB Tyler Douglas at RB on several downs but never realized they had a RB who could throw a halfback pass. North Texas might have been fooled by that but we will never know because Temple never tried to fool the opposition.

Wayne Hardin, who fooled Temple’s opposition for many years, was probably turning over in his grave.

The next four years we should see plenty of fooling the opposition or there will not be four years after that. Pain should be followed by gain, but we will see.

After four years of the most painful Temple football watching in history, no fans deserve that kind of future more.

Monday: Season Review

11.28.24
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North Texas at Temple: No “D” in Owls

There is both humor and truth to this. Nothing would end all this transfer portal and NIL nonsense faster than for a Saudi man to invest $10 billion in Temple football’s NIL fund. Watch how fast the rest of the college world shuts down the NIL if Temple wins three national championships in a row. The Saudi man would get a good laugh out of it, though.

Any thoughts of an upset for Temple in the high noon season finale (ESPN+) at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday probably went out the window a week ago.

That’s when the Owls gave up 51 points.

The last coach who called the Temple game his Super Bowl was the Utah State coach this year. He lost, 45-29.

To have a chance to win in college football a respectable defense is a must and the Owls haven’t been respectable since holding Tulsa to 10 points in a 20-10 win.

That was back on Oct. 19, a long time ago. We wrote in this space on that beautiful 70-degree day that “we all be freezing our asses off a month from now at the North Texas game.”

And we will as the temperatures won’t escape the 30s.

Since then, Temple has given up 56 (ECU), 52 (Tulane) and 51 (UTSA).

The lone outlier was the 15 points given up against FAU.

There is no “D” in Temple and even no “D” in Owls. That’s something the next coach is going to have to fix because to have a chance to win at football or even break even, you can’t be giving up the 35+ points per game Everett Withers has in his two years as DC.

There was some hope that a change in the DC to Chris Woods last week would have stopped some of the bleeding but it was apparent that it was the Jimmy and Joe’s as much as the X’s and O’s because the Owls could not sustain a pass rush.

North Texas has called this game its “Super Bowl” and there is a good reason why. The Mean Green have lost five in a row after a hot start and needs the win for a 6-6 record and a bowl game.

Of course, the last coach who proclaimed the Temple game as his team’s Super Bowl was Utah State’s and Temple won that one, 45-29. So there’s that. If it’s a Super Bowl, it will probably be the least-attended one in history as no more than 5-10K fans are expected to rattle around in a 70K stadium.

Still, the incentives seem to be all on North Texas’ side here.

All Temple has to play for is a 4-7 season after three-straight 3-9 ones (one Rod Carey 3-9 followed by two Stan Drayton 3-9s). That’s not what Drayton promised when he was hired and that’s why he was fired.

Now the Owls are faced with an almost impossible task of stopping a team that played Army and Tulane a lot tougher than Temple did.

The football is odd-shaped and can take a lot of funny bounces but for Temple to even be competitive in this one would require a defense that has shown the capability to stop someone.

The Owls aren’t going to get that until a new coach comes in and, with him, a lot of Jimmy and Joe’s who can strike fear into an offense and put a quarterback on his ass.

Late Saturday Night: Game Analysis

Monday: Season Analysis