06.30.15
by

Reaching for the Stars or Just Reaching?

Darian Bryant

Darian Bryant

Ronald Reagan once helped win The Cold War with a simple phrase: “Trust, but verify.” When it comes to college football recruiting, that’s as good a mantra for any fan base to follow.

It looks like Matt Rhule’s first couple of classes were the result of some pretty solid legwork, based on the fact that many of his Temple recruits were also offered by Power 5 schools. That is not so much the case this season so far.

So far,  at least for the “trust but verify” crowd, the favorite recruit of the Temple football class of 2016 has to be Darian Bryant. The offensive lineman out of Chestnut Hill Academy committed to the Owls early. He holds a unique distinction among the several early Temple commits. He turned down a Pitt offer.

I’m sure the rest of the guys are nice guys and good players, but it is comforting to know that another big-time staff saw in Bryant what Temple’s staff saw in him.

Al Golden build a solid MAC team with a simple recruiting formula: Trust the film, but also reach up and get a few guys who were wanted by the Power 5 schools. The first player he brought to Temple who fit that later criteria was a defensive back named Kee-Ayre Griffin, whose interception against Penn State would have won the 2011 game had not Mike Gerardi—unrecruited by anyone else—returned the favor with an interception of his own.

Golden also got big Mo Wilkerson, who was a two-star recruit, but for every Wilkerson he got an Adrian Robinson, who also turned down a Pitt offer.

Golden, who could sell ice cream to the Eskimos, also made some serious mistakes tied to offers made at his camp. He was saw a workout warrior, Vaughn Charlton, complete 21-straight passes in a 7-on-7 drill and offered him a scholarship on the spot. Several Southern Chester County League head coaches, who saw Charlton play against a rush, said, “say whaaaat?” when they heard Charlton got the offer. In that case, the SCCL coaches were right and Golden was wrong. Adam DiMichele, nowhere near as good in 7-on-7 as Charlton, but way better against the rush, was a much better investment of a scholarship.

Golden learned to be much more prudent in offering camp scholarships after that lesson.

Got to have a good mix of both in order to beat the big schools.  Hopefully, the Owls will pick up a few Adrian Robinson and Kee-Ayre Griffins along with these (err, also hopefully) Mo Wilkersons:

Recruit Position Height/Weight Other Offers
Kimere Brown WR/DB 5-11, 166 None
Dan Archibong DE 6-5, 245 Army, Villanova, UConn, Delaware, UMass, Stony Brook, Western Michigan
Darian Bryant OL 6-6, 295 UConn, ODU, UMass, Pitt, Towson, UConn
Kareem Gaulden DB 6-0, 187 Monmouth
D’Andre Dill DT 6-3, 295 None
Branden Mack ATH 6-5, 190 Delaware State
06.26.15
by

Temple Putting the Cart Before the Horse With Rhule Extension

This had to be the reaction of a lot of Temple fans reading the news of Matt Rhule's contract extension this morning.

This had to be the reaction of a lot of Temple fans reading the news of Matt Rhule’s contract extension this morning.

The way it works in the business world is that a promotion or contract extension usually goes to the guy or gal who has proven to be an asset to the company with a history of proven results.

Anything else is called putting the cart before the horse. That’s why it’s extremely puzzling that the university would give a contract extension to a guy who has coached two years and has yet to produce a winning season or even secure one of the 76 bowl bids that go to the 126 FBS teams.

Temple could afford to wait for two important reasons. First, we do not know if this fine young man possesses the game day decision-making acumen that leads to winning football games. You do not give promotions and contract extensions to people for just being nice guys. If that were the case, a lot of guys pushing carts in super market lots would be CEOs of Shop Rite and Acme. Second, a contract extension buys Temple no security.

Unless the buyout is $8 million or more—and there is no reason to believe it is—any Power 5 team can break Temple’s contract with Rhule without a sweat.

Temple could afford to wait. The uni’s highly paid publicity staff tried to put lipstick on this pig with a slickly-worded press release yesterday but, if they were really honest, this is what they would have penned:

PHILADELPHIA (6/25/15) – Temple University announced today that it has extended the contract of head coach Matt Rhule for four years, which might or might not keep him as leader of the team through the 2021.

Rhule was hired to become the Owls’ 26th head coach on December 17, 2012, succeeding Steve Addazio and inheriting a team that went 4-7 in 2012. Despite returning 16 starters from a four-win team, Rhule turned that into a two-win team, which included arguably the three worst losses in Temple history—to an FCS team, Fordham, the worst FBS team in 25 years, Idaho, and to an 0-9 UConn team. Fordham would later get blown out by Lafayette.

That did not engender a whole lot of confidence for Owl fans for the 2014 season but the Owls finished the season with a 6-6 record, still not good enough to secure one of the 76 bowl berths that go to the 126 FBS teams.  Despite a four-win improvement in one year, Rhule had the Owls in the bottom third of FBS teams. The Owls often called a puzzling parade of time outs in the opening portion of each half which left  them without valuable timeouts at the end of each game.

In 2014, thanks to a Hurricane-like storm that took the sails out of an ECU Pirate ship that shot a full volley of 70 points into North Carolina, Rhule led the Owls to their first win over a ranked opponent since 1988. Still, Temple suffered a puzzling loss to a Navy team that got hammered by Western Kentucky for the second-straight year. The Owls were able to muster only two field goals against a Cincinnati team that gave 448 yards per game (102d nationally) and ranked 66th in the nation in scoring defense (27 ppg). That was a game the Owls had to win and a game in which the offense suffered a 60-minute malaise. 

The Owls’ offense was ineffective, largely because the coaching staff gave sophomore quarterback P.J. Walker empty backfields on numerous third-down situations, making him a sitting duck for blitzing linebackers. Not surprisingly, the Owls finished last in the FBS in third-down efficiency (23.8 percent) and last in the AAC in rushing. Running the football historically been a Temple strongpoint with players like Paul Palmer, Brian Slade, Harold Harmon, Zach Dixon, Stacy Mack, Jason McKie, Bernard Pierce, Matty Brown and Montel Harris following the blocks of lead fullbacks through the hole (Shelley Poole, Nelson Herrera, Henry Hynoski, Mark Bright, Wyatt Benson and Kenny Harper).

With the addition of a fullback as an additional blocker at the point of attack to jump-start the running game (and give P.J. some needed pocket protection) and the recent reacquistion of wide receiver Robbie Anderson, the BOT is confident Matt can fix last year’s problems on offense and decided to jump the gun and give him a contract extension.

06.19.15
by

TU’s Next-Toughest Foe: Cost of Attendance

NEW ORLEANS, LA - OCTOBER 31: Detailed view of the American conference logo on the field prior to a game between the Tulane Green Wave and the Cincinnati Bearcats at Yulman Stadium on October 31, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

The calendar says Temple’s next foe is Penn State on Sept. 5, but the toughest foe over the long haul could prove to be something called Cost of Attendance.

As many as 13 years ago, the schools from the larger conferences decided that there were too many schools in what was then known as Division I-A. They pushed through a NCAA rule in 2002 that required a 15,000 annual average attendance for three consecutive years to remain at that level. While some schools dropped their programs, more upgraded and that rule did not significantly change the landscape.

Failure to cull the herd of teams wanting to be part of the now Football Bowl Series (FBS), the Power 5 essentially separated itself from the rest of the teams now known as the Group of Five. Simply put, all of the championship bowl criteria are slanted to the P5 teams, the teams from the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big 10 and PAC-12.

Now a new means of separating the haves from the have-nots is something called cost of attendance, a stipend per athlete that should drive the wedge further between the P5 and the G5 schools and that threatens the very foundation of college football. That goes into effect this season.

Get used to seeing just all of the teams from the Power 5 conferences on TV even more and get used to rarely seeing the other teams. Athletes who previously were open in their recruitment to all the schools now will limit their focus to Power 5 teams and that is terrible news for any fan of fair play. It was exciting to see Utah, once a non-P5 team, win the Sugar Bowl or even Hawaii appear in one. As recently as 1998 Tulane went unbeaten but forget that ever happening again.

Temple now is in the same boat as the Tulanes and Hawaiis of the world in terms of competing, without a built-in weather advantage. The BOT hasn’t released a COA for Temple athletes, but for the Owls to compete, it must be in line with at least their fellow American Athletic Conference foes. ECU announced in April that its COA will be $4,025. Memphis will be $4,467. Figures were not released on other AAC schools, but Temple fans have reason to be concerned because BOT Chairman Patrick J. O’Connor–a Villanova grad–has said repeatedly in the past that Temple would not get caught up in a college football arm’s race. COAs are to college football what ICBMs were once to the Cold War.

The big five conferences collected a combined $311 million last year just from bowl games and NCAA tournament payouts and now have used that muscle to obtain a separate set of rules that has allowed them to pay players a so-called full cost of attendance.

The SEC is leading the way with three of the top four COAs. Penn State leads the Big 10 by giving its athletes $4,788 to play while a similar in-state institution, Pitt, can afford only $3,300. Forget a player ever picking Pitt over Penn State in that scenario or even a fellow Big 10 institution like Rutgers, which has set its COA at $2,921.

The schools that feel the larger pinch will be those at even lower levels, like the Kent States of the MAC or the Marshalls of CUSA. Marshall was a feel-good story of a year ago, challenging for a BCS bowl game until an upset loss to Western Kentucky at the end of last year.

College football needs those kind of stories more than it needs these COAs and that’s why college presidents who value education over football should put their foot down and end this unhealthy play-to-play trend. Only the presidents can change this and getting rid of this unequal system would be a statement that they are more serious about education than sports.

schedule

06.09.15
by

TU Football Could Benefit From New Hoop Rule

Click on the depressed fans to see why.

Click on the depressed fans to see why. In the Houston game, the horrendous play–going 5 wides after getting a first-and-goal at the 1–was addressed by coach Rhule in the offseason (he said that play made his “heart ache”), who said his inclination now is to go back to Temple Tuff football there–tailback following fullback to the hole. We can only pray he follows through with that promise.

05.24.15
by

Kicking Stadium Can Down the Road Not a Good Sign

UAB's proposed stadium, since tabled along with its program, was much farther along than Temple's when this plan was proposed in 2011.

UAB’s proposed stadium, since tabled along with its program, was much farther along than Temple’s when this plan was proposed in 2011.

A couple of years ago, a member of the Temple University Board of Trustees whispered something to an ardent Temple fan at the Temple vs. North Carolina State basketball game.

“The stadium is a done deal,” the BOT member said.

That was in March. Not March, 2015. Not March, 2014. If you guessed March, 2013, you would be right.

If it was a done deal then, it has to be the strangest done deal in the history of done deals. Recently, the TU BOT had a chance to talk about the stadium issue in its May, 12, 2015 meeting. It said the stadium  would not be discussed, if there ever really was  a stadium issue. If that sounds familiar, consider the content of this story:

source

Versus this story:

stadiumdead

The “strike one” part of this story pretty much says the exact same thing in the story above about Temple’s BOT meeting.

There was a rumor that there would be some announcement by March 1 and March 1 came and went and there was no announcement. Then there was a rumor that there would be an announcement by Cherry and White Day, April 25, and there was no announcement.

The latest rumor is the hold up is the university is trying to raise $25 million of what could be anything from a $90 million stadium to a $300 million stadium from “Temple boosters”‘ before making an announcement. If that is true, expect the announcement to come, say, in about May of 2068.

opm

Then there was the rumor that the thing would be discussed May 12 and it wasn’t discussed May 12. The next meeting is scheduled for July 14 and that’s the kind of kicking the can down the road that Temple really doesn’t have time to do. Even then, we do not know if the issue—again, if there is an issue—will be discussed at the July 14 meeting.

The current stadium lease for Lincoln Financial runs out at the end of the 2017 season. For a stadium to be built by the start of the 2018 season, it would appear that something has to be decided by July at the latest.  By something, the university really only has two choices—extend the Lincoln Financial Field lease beyond 2017 or close a deal that was rumored to be done two years ago. Any discussion of Franklin Field or PPL Park even as a temporary home does not border on lunacy, it is lunacy.

Bleep or get off the pot, as it were.

Or what happened at UAB could happen here.

uabstory2

05.17.15
by

TU Football Family Heartbroken

Arob with two of the best Temple football video ever, OVO (Scott Hartkorn) and Fran Duffy.

Arob with two of the best Temple football video guys ever, OVO (Scott Hartkorn) and Fran Duffy.

Of all the unbearable things that there are in life, I cannot imagine the pain of a parent having to bury a child but that’s what Adrian Robinson Sr. will have to do for Adrian Robinson Jr. in the next few days.

The Temple football family has lost another icon, a good man and friend in ARob, and it is hard to come to grips with that today for all of us who have had the pleasure of knowing him.

One of the benefits of doing something like this is that people who I otherwise would never meet come up to me out of the blue and say hello.

ARob beating Fiesta Bowl-bound UConn all by himself.

ARob beating Fiesta Bowl-bound UConn all by himself.

The blue happened after Adrian Robinson’s spectacular freshman year at Temple and while I was walking back to the parking lot at halftime of that year’s Cherry and White Game. Back then, Robinson was my favorite Owl on the defensive side of the ball because of the relentless way he played the game. The Franchise (Bernard Pierce) was my favorite offensive Owl. Wearing my game-worn Temple football jersey—this one with Papreps on the back—I heard a booming voice.

“PAPREPS!”

I looked for where the sound was coming from and it was from a very large man, who I later would learn was amicable, jovial and gentle.

“PAPREPS, I’m Adrian Robinson’s dad and I want to thank you for all of the good things you’ve written about Adrian.”

That led to a short walk, a long talk and a game day friendship that has lasted almost eight years now. They were there at every home game and most road games and I was right there with them almost every time.

Adrian Robinson Sr.

Adrian Robinson Sr.

That day Adrian Robinson welcomed me into his family at tailgates and games and we talked about everything from Adrian to Averee to life in general and football in particular.  I told Adrian I thought his son was playing out of position at Temple—I thought he should have been an OLB, not a DE—but I understood why Al Golden had to play him there. Adrian and Averee would stop by the tailgates afterward and it was just a great time.

One story in particular that Adrian told hit home. He said that during his first day as a Denver Bronco the first player to come over to his locker stuck out his hand.

“Hello, I’m Peyton,” Peyton Manning said, “welcome to the team.”

Wow. Adrian was shaking his head in disbelief when he told the story. How many of us will ever have a chance to tell a story like that?

I will never forget the photo of Adrian crying on the field after the UCLA loss, the cry of a man who put everything he had into making a win happen that night. I will never forget him ripping the ball out of Jordan Todman’s hands and scoring a touchdown that was more Temple Made than any touchdown I have ever seen. That determination and sheer will in that play won that game for Temple.

Thank you, Nadia Harvin, for passing along this important information.

Thank you, Nadia Harvin, for passing along this important information.

Adrian was taking classes at Temple and recently signed to play in the CFL, hopefully following in the footsteps of another former Owl, Henry Burris, who became a star there.

Now this, another loss in the Temple family to join too many departures in the last year. Whatever happened isn’t as important as that he will never, ever be forgotten.

Related:

Robinson Stole the Ball:

https://templefootballforever.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/penn-state-week-robinson-stole-the-ball/

Owl Outlook’s Great Interview with Adrian Robinson:

http://templefootballforever.blogspot.com/2010/08/owl-outlooks-great-interview-with.html

Adrian’s Memorial Fund:

http://www.gofundme.com/uskbr6p

Alex Joseph”s tribute to his teammate (extremely well-done and heartfelt, IMHO):