08.26.11
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The one red shirt I hate


What Temple fans MIGHT expect from Chris Coyer on Thursday.

One of the momentous decsions in the early Steve Addazio Era is in the process of being made right now.
And it all comes down to a red shirt.
More precisely, an orange shirt.
That’s what the Temple quarterbacks have been wearing since spring ball.
The shirt means these guys can’t be rushed, can’t be sacked, can’t be hit, in practice.
While I understand the reasoning, what I don’t understand is how this will make Addazio’s first all-important decision easier.
Remember, I’m talking from the perspective of having seen guys like Vaughn Chartlon and Mike McGann throw 11 straight completions in seven-on-seven drills.
Both looked like Peyton Manning that day.
When the orange shirt came off, in “real” games, both looked like Rex Grossman.
Not good.
Let’s hope that Addazio takes the game film into account before he makes this most important of decisions in the coming days.
I don’t care who starts, I just want the guy to be a gamer and a leader and a guy who makes plays with defenders hanging all over him.
I did not see that in Chester Stewart in any of the last three years.
I did see that in Mike Gerardi last year, at most times.
If Chris Coyer beats Mike Gerardi out, then that means Temple is that much better set for Thursday night’s game. It means that Coyer can make plays with his feet as well as his arm. I did not see Gerardi making plays with his feet last year.
I don’t think it is possible for Juice Granger to be ready.
Not quite yet.
Call it a gut feeling based on reports from insiders at camp, but I think Daz goes to the darkhorse guy in redshirt sophomore Coyer, an Ohio State recruit.
Your call, Daz.
May you make it wisely.

08.21.11
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Camp news: Nate Smith (L.J.’s bro) to fullback

Gotta love the personnel moves Steve Addazio has made so far in training camp and my personal favorite is moving the explosive Nate Smith (brother of former Eagles’ tight end L.J.) to fullback.
Daz announced that along with a few other interesting tidbits in the video above.
You remember the fullback position.
It’s been pretty much a non-factor at Temple since Shelley Poole blocked for Paul Palmer some 25 years ago.
Before that, a hard-charging guy named Mark Bright earned the MVP in the Garden State Bowl.
Smith was an explosive running back in high school and, in the backfield with Bernard Pierce, gives the defense something to think about before loading up to stop BP.
In other news on the video, Daz talks about moving George Washington High athlete Daquan Cooper to corner and says he’s going to work Cooper in on special teams, which I interpret to mean returning punts and kickoffs.
He doesn’t have a timetable for naming a starting quarterback but says “that’s not where we’re headed” when asked a question about playing more than one quarterback. At the same time, Daz indicates that he is working on a limited package with Juice Granger and Granger could have a role in the Villanova game.

08.16.11
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Practice? We’re talking about practice


Steve Addazio talkin’ about practice. Note the young man with the heavily marked up depth chart holding the tape recorder to the left. Kudos to him for coming to the interview prepared.


There’s nothing like holding a newspaper in your hands and flipping through the sports section.
I thought about that on Sunday when I was able to grab a copy of the Pocono Record, which is one of my local papers in the summertime.
Reading through Page 3 of the sports section, the top two stories above the fold were about various football practices.
In one of them, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly talked of the quarterback duel between Dayne Crist and Tommy  Rees and said the position was “too close to call at this point.”
The story to the right of that talked about Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin “being unhappy with the Steelers’ lifeless play.”
That got me to thinking about Steve Addazio saying pretty much the same thing over the past week as the Temple camp unfolded.
The quarterback position is too close to call and he was relatively unhappy with the first couple of practices.
I feel a little better now.
If Addazio lets the QB position play out, that will give him a better read before pulling the trigger on the starter. If he’s unhappy with the practice tempo now, the Owls will rachet that up for him before long.
It’s all part of the process at this point and nothing specific to Temple.
So talking about practice makes me a little uneasy.
It’s a necessary, not evil, but means to my end and that’s the fun of the games themselves.

Adam DiMichele and…
I want a demanding perfectionist as my head coach and Addazio’s comments were the first hints to me that we have one.

I don’t remember Al Golden saying  the same thing at this time last season.
Also, I’ve been through what seems to be a hundred years of Temple players performing well in practices but not so well in the games.
I watched as a quarterback named Mike McGann lit it up in practice after practice one year, only to lead the nation in interceptions (with 22) a few months later.
I watched as Vaughn Charlton, wearing an orange jersey (for no contact) complete 11 for 11 in a seven-on-seven drill in practice and reminded me a lot of Peyton Manning that day.

… Hunter Pence … separated at birth.

When he got into games and the rush came near him, he reminded me of Mike McGann.
I saw a guy named Adam DiMichele (who looks a LOT like the Phillies Hunter Pence) SOMETIMES struggle in practice but shine when the bright lights went on during the games. He welcomed the rush. That’s when he made big play after big play, by ducking out of it and completing third-down passes and running for 9 yards on seemingly every third-and-8.
I watched practice the last couple of years when Chester Stewart seemed to separate himself from the rest of the pack, only to hold the ball like a loaf of bread during games when he looked like Randall Cunningham but ran like Sonny Jurgesen. I then watched the Penn State game when he threw three interceptions right into the hands of Penn State players who were not even near the intended Temple receivers. I watched Chester drop back to see a Rod Streater (who beat a Northern Illinois defender by 15 yards) only to overthrow him by 25 yards. By then, I had it up to here with Chester. It took a pick 6 for a TD by a Bowling Green defender for Al Golden to feel the same way.
So, if Chester wins the job outright during practice the next couple of weeks it might cheer Addazio but it will be Groundhog Day for me.
A lot of the Steve Addazio supporters will say he knows better than I and I will agree with that but it won’t make me more comfortable with him out there.
I know people like Mike Gerardi, Rod Streater, Joey Jones, Bernard Pierce, Evan Rodriguez, Alex Jackson and Matty Brown can move the sticks pretty regularly against anyone. That mix works for me. If you can work in Chester, Juice Granger and Chris Coyer after that (not necessarily in that order), more power to them.
And us.
That’s the mix I’m hoping to see on 9/1.
But Addazio only has practice to go on before he makes that decision.
Hopefully, his gut will steer him in the right direction.

08.12.11
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Jarrett’s pick for the Eagles and more on Owls

Jarrett with the big pick last night ….and as an Owl (below)

I know a lot of Temple fans who hate the Eagles.
I’m not one of them.
I look forward to every Eagles’ game since they don’t conflict with those of my favorite football team, the Temple Owls. Plus, I’ve been running the too often concurrent sentence of being a fan of both all of my life.

I must admit, though, I looked at last night’s Eagles’ game a little different than most.
I was looking for No. 26, Jaiquawn Jarrett.
When the ball went up in the air in the first quarter and landed in his hands, I couldn’t be more happier.
It was one step closer to legitimizing Temple football and some ill-informed comments about it.

Jim Gardner, the Action News’ anchor, tweeted on the night of the draft: “The Eagles might have made a reach in the second round by picking the Temple guy” I tweeted him back: “No reach. Mel Kiper and others thought he was the best SS in the draft.”
I hope Gardner knows that SS stands for strong safety, but I doubt it.
With each interception, JJ quiets that kind of ignorance so I was happy for him, Temple, the Eagles and the city.
As far as the Owls go, a couple of developments in practice have me intrigued.

  • The loss of kickoff returner extraordinare James Nixon. I don’t know why he and the program departed ways and, quite frankly at this point, I don’t care. All I know is that it is a huge loss because you can’t teach 4.3 speed or the vision and moves he had on the field to go with it. He was a threat to take it the house on every kickoff. I don’t see Matty Brown, Joey Jones or anybody else being the same kind of threat. Vaughn Carraway, yes. Carraway was one of the greatest punt returners I’ve ever seen in high school and I’ve covered high school sports for 30 years. Like Nixon, he’s has the “it” factor for returning kicks. I hope Daz gives him a shot.
  • Daz seems to be moving from the feeling that “it’s just asking him to kick” to he needs to find someone to relieve the punting duties from NFL kicker Brandon McManus (yes, he’s an NFL kicker getting a four-year education). If he sends McManus out there to punt and he breaks his leg on a roughing-the-punter penalty, I will scream bloody murder. If he’s going to break his leg, I’d rather it be AFTER the 54-yard, game-winning, field goal against Penn State.
  • The movement of running back Ahkeem Smith to linebacker. Temple has a returning starter, Stephen Johnson, back there but Smith brings a significant skill set to the backup position. I hope he does well there.
  • Carraway. Defensive coordinator Chuck Heater said he had a “terrible spring” at safety and “even he would admit it.”  Then he added, “he’s doing much better now. That’s all I can say.” Hmm. Doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement to me. How about trading Carraway back to the offense for Smith, then, putting the former four-star WR recruit back into the mix there and as an explosive replacement for the dynamic Nixon?
Even though Chester Stewart currently is running with the first team, head coach Steve Addazio still calls that position a work in progress and I hope he gives all four quarterbacks an equal shot in the next two weeks.
No need to name a starter now.
08.04.11
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Some depth chart thoughts

Morkeith Brown’s leadership skills are on display from this video taken last year at this time. Go to the 4:01 mark on the time display.

My movie viewing habits can be best described as spotty.
I haven’t seen a movie in an actual theater in about 22 years.
I usually write down a list of movies in the back of my black book (the one I used to use for dates when I was young and handsome … well, young) and eventually get around to them in the summertime when they come on my Blue Ridge Cable under the $2.95 movies.
One of them was Invincible and I finally got around to it tonight.
It was a real tear-jerker, probably moreso because they used Temple play-by-play man Harry Donahue instead of the Hall of Famer Merrill Reese (a real Temple grad, who probably would have done the part). After nearly 20 long years of listing to Harry the D do Temple games, I kept thinking he would blurt out: “Papale makes the tackle. There’s a fumble. Eagles recover! No check that, the Giants recovered.”  Or: “Morton throws the ball and it’s INTERCEPTED! No, dropped.”
Then I realized that the movie was scripted and therefore Harry couldn’t make the kind of mistakes we’re all too familiar with and ones that Merrill just doesn’t make.
There was a scene in the movie where Dick Vermeil is down to cutting “either Papale or Sampson” and passes it around the table to his assistant coaches.
They all say keep Sampson and Vermeil takes that under advisement and keeps Papale.
I thought a lot about that while pouring over the Temple football depth chart tonight.



Morkeith Brown attracts a crowd at the bowl party.

  Having seen a lot of these guys in “real games” and not on the practice field, I don’t get a couple of things on that depth chart so Steve Addazio doesn’t have to take my thoughts under advisement but I’ll offer them anyway.
To me, he nailed the offensive line. Left tackle Pat Boyle (6-5, 320), left guard Derek Dennis (6-5, 328), center John Palumbo (6-3, 206), right guard Wayne Tribue (6-4, 324) and right tackle Martin Wallace (6-6, 340) have talent and more importantly nastiness to match their sizes.
What has me scratching my head is the “XWR” position that has Deon Miller starting and C.J. Hammond backing up.
To me, if you want explosive plays downfield, like Addazio promised, simply move James Nixon or Joey Jones over to that side to complement Rod Streater, the “ZWR” starter on the other side.
I didn’t see a whole lot of explosiveness in Miller or Hammond last year.
Nixon, Jones and Streater have enough explosiveness to blow up the Lincoln Financial Field scoreboard. Add a healthy RB like Bernard Pierce into the mix and they have enough C4 to bring down the place.
At quarterback, Chester Stewart “or” Mike Gerardi are listed as the co-starters, but that whole position is a work in progress.
I’m not concerned.
If there wasn’t talent in those first five guys, I’d be concerned.
I’ll take the five Temple QBs over the Villanova starter any day of the week.
Practice starts Friday.
My guess is that some positions will be tweaked by Sept. 1.
We’ll get to the defense soon enough, but suffice it to say that I’m happy to see Morkeith Brown as the starter at LE.
To me, he’s a born leader and, as such, he needs to be out there motivating the troops.

07.21.11
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Thumbs up to the Media Guide Cover

For the most updated depth chart (until the eve of the Villanova game) click on the headline above

This cover speaks to the meaning of Temple TUFF.

The date was Dec. 30, 2009 and I was in the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C.
After filing my report from the Eagle Bank Bowl for this website from the desk of my hotel room, I debated about whether or not I should watch the replay on ESPN2.
I was hurting so much that night I could not sleep, so I turned on the TV.
To a lot of people, a close loss to UCLA was acceptable.
Not to me.

What impressed me most was how loud the 20,000 Temple fans were and how that noise translated to HDTV. I knew they were loud from being there, but I didn’t know how it translated.
Standing in the minus 11-degree wind chill, I heard the stadium literally shake with a LET’S GO TEM-PLE cheer after the Owls scored the second touchdown but I wondered if the ESPN audience got the message.
They did.
The announcers praised the Temple fans and the energy they brought to the chilly night.
Then, with a half-time interview of Al Golden, the term “Temple TUFF” was born.
Wearing only a dress shirt and a Cherry-colored tie, the announcer asked Golden if he was crazy.
“No, that’s Temple TUFF … T. U. F. F.,” Golden said.
The term stuck and new coach Steve Addazio embraced it as the cornerstone of his program.
You can tell by the cover of the Media Guide released this week.
All I can say is that there are a bunch of TEMPLE TUFF guys on that cover at the train station in the middle of one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country.
Hopefully, the toughness will carry over onto the football field this fall.
For a complete depth chart, put your cursor directly over the thumbs up headline and click once.

07.13.11
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Steve Addazio needs $2 million in two weeks

Addazio poses with the greatest helmet
in the history of college football.

One of the disappointing things about not being in a position to be a big-dollar donor to the Temple University football program is that I don’t get a lot of the correspondence asking for money.
That might seem odd t to you but, as I’ve said before many times, if I had disposable income (like millions), I’d spend a good portion of it on the Temple football Owls.
Sadly, I don’t so I didn’t get the latest letter Steve Addazio penned a variety of big-ticket donors.

In it, he reportedly said that the uni was in the process of raising $8.5 million for expansion to the E-O and needed “$2 million in contributions by Aug. 1 to greenlight the project.”
Knowing Temple fans like I do, that deadline, to be kind, seems a tad ambitious.
You don’t go through 30 years of losing and post two winning seasons and expect $2 million in contributions in a month of the offseason.
Just doesn’t happen. The belief system is just not in place.
Yet.
I do my part in small ways, like this blog.
I had a haircut in Center City Philadelphia last Wednesday and proudly wore my “Temple Owls Football” T-Shirt and had a few thousand people take notice of it as I walked 20 blocks from the Inquirer building to the Barber Shop.


Temple vs. PSU single-game tickets
on sale now:



Hopefully, the advertising was subliminal.

Today, I stopped at the Lehighton Walmart wearing the same shirt (washed, of course) and a guy came up to me and said, “Temple. Go Owls.”
He was wearing full Phillies gear.
Lehighton is in the middle of Penn State territory (actually, anyplace north of Allentown is).
“This is the year we finally beat Penn State,” I said.
“God, I hope so,” the man said.
That’s what it will take to raise $2 million in less than one month, not a letter from a popular new head coach.
I hope I’m wrong, but 30 years of observing this fan base tells me otherwise.
If you have an extra $2 million or even $2,000 to contribute, please contact bill.bradshaw@temple.edu and I’m sure he will be able to give you further info on this project or direct you to someone who will.
If you do have $2 million, please make the payment contingent upon Addazio keeping the TEMPLE helmet.

06.28.11
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Recruits: TU heading to the Big East

Over the last month or so, the biggest news surrounding Temple football has not been the verbal of three-star recruit Ben Onett or 11 other prospects, it’s the things the prospects and their families have been saying about Temple.
More specifically, one thing.
One of the recruits flat-out said that the Temple coaches have told him that the school is going to be playing in the Big East soon and another recruit’s father, Tavon Young, offered this interesting nugget yesterday:

“Tavon has committed to Temple,” said Mr. Young. “First and foremost is the academics and they pass with flying colors. He has always loved the staff that came up from Florida. He likes the defensive scheme. It is close to home and he will be a part of the Big East in 2012.”
Tanner Kearns, a tight end targeted early by Addazio, said this two weeks ago:
“I got to meet their coach and like him. I know they play in Eagle Stadium (Lincoln Financial Field) and plan on moving to the Big East soon.”

Huh?
That’s news to me, but not news to at least two recruits.
There are only a couple of conclusions to make from this:
1) Our coaching staff is blowing smoke up recruits’ butts in order to get the verbal;
2) Where there is smoke there is fire.

“Tavon has committed to Temple …it is close to home and he will be a part of the Big East in 2012.”
_ Tavon Young, Sr.


I’m hopefully going with No. 2 here because, while head coach Steve Addazio has a fabulous reputation as a recruiter, I don’t see him making stuff up to get a commitment.  His reputation for integrity, minus a possible UConn dalliance, is impeccable.

And I don’t see two recruits independently making up this Big East angle.
Maybe Addazio has had private conversations with athletic director Bill Bradshaw that indicated this move is imminent. Maybe not. Now that Villanova’s bid to get a spot has fallen through, TV sees Temple as the only real shot to get the largest available ratings’ market and has told the Big East to pursue Temple or no new TV contract.
Maybe not.
When recruits and their fathers routinely throw in the Big East angle as a reason for commiting, something has got to be up.
Where there is smoke, fire follows.
The question now is when does this become a fully-involved four-alarmer?

06.23.11
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Their perception versus our reality


Steve Addazio talks Temple football on ESPN Wednesday.

Perception versus reality.
You hear the concept all the time.
I like to read what other people think about Temple football, both the experts in the field and those with lesser knowledge in the stands.
If one theme has carried the day for the past six months or so, it’s this:
“Temple has lost Al Golden. The Owls will take a step back.”
That’s THEIR perception and the perception of most of the country.
Whoa, Nellie, as that great college football philosopher Keith Jackson used to say.
OUR reality, at least those enough close to the program with knowledge to comment is this:
“Temple has 19 starters back from teams that went 9-3 and 8-4. The Owls have potential legendary caliber coordinators in Chuck Heater and Scot Loeffler. They have a motivator in CEO Steve Addazio who would put even Al Golden’s considerable ability in that area to shame. The Owls are not taking a step back.”
I’m a lot more comfortable in the second statement than the first.
Father forgive that first group because they do not know of what they speak.
They will find out soon enough.
Addazio went on ESPN today and tried to break down the perception and I think he did a pretty good job of that.

“We really feel that Temple can be the Boise of the East…”
_Steve Addazio

People will believe what they want to believe but facts are facts.
The Temple media guide will list 13 returning starters but when you break down the game sheet, ESPN got it right. Nineteen (that’s right, 19) guys who started at least six games return.


Going to http://www.owlstix.com/ is the only
way to guarantee seats for the PSU game.


Add in the fact that guys like Bernard Pierce will play more (please, God) then they did last year and this is a formidable group that Addazio and a battle-tested SEC and national championship staff go to war with on Sept. 1.
As one father of an offensive lineman told me on Cherry and White Day:
“Mike, these guys are from the SEC. My kid told me, ‘Dad, these guys really know what they are doing.’ When these MAC coaches try to go up against them, their heads will be spinning. They won’t be able to deal with it.”
I have a lot of respect for Villanova coach Andy Talley, but I feel sorry for him (just him, not Villanova) on Sept. 1.
It should be fun to watch beginning in just 72 nights. Hopefully, that night will be the beginning of a dozen dates that change the perception of Temple football everywhere.

06.08.11
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TU recruiting: Nothing to get excited about (yet)

Ben Onett’s recruiting video is impressive.

I usually don’t write about Temple football recruiting for a couple of reasons:
1) The NCAA rules involved in what is considered a college “booster” or “supporter” are pretty vague and it’s just good judgment for me not to be involved in the process.
2) The NCAA rules about “verbals” and “soft verbals” are screwed up. Al Golden had a great idea about an “early signing period” meaning that the kids who commit within a certain time frame (say, the ones who already committed) cannot be contacted by other schools without a major penalty involved. That would reward hard-working staffs, like Golden’s and presumably Addazio’s, for making solid early calls and protect them against a BCS team swooping in and taking their recruits.
So I wait until the signatures are signed on the dotted line to talk about the kids.
Generally speaking, I think Temple University (or really any other) football recruiting is really nothing to get excited about until the first Wednesday of every February.
It’s good to see that new head coach Steve Addazio is targeting what he feels is a quarterback with the “it” factor in Benjamin Onett of St. John’s (D.C). He recently added a couple of defensive backs, Archbishop Wood running back Brandon Peoples, a punter and a backup placekicker.
All good, solid kids.
I’m playing the waiting game with Addazio, though, because, quite frankly, I was underwhelmed with his first class. Compared to the hastily recruited first class of Bruce Arians (Heisman Trophy runner up Paul Palmer, NFL pro bowler Tre Johnson, among others) it falls even short for a guy who had a month to put together a group.
I’ll give Steve the benefit of the doubt, but I don’t think we’ll get a Heisman Trophy runner up or an NFL pro bowler from this past February’s group. Just a hunch.
We had a three-time first-time all-state running back (Owen J. Roberts’ Ryan Brumfield) who WANTED to come to Temple passed over and a RB schollie given to a guy who is about the same size and a full tenth of a second slower in the 40 (Spencer Reid) who was an unimpressive honorable mention third-team All Central League player.
That was a WTF moment for me.
Everything I’ve heard, though, is that this guy is a great recruiter.
I hope the best is yet to come and, on signing day, we’re talking about a guy who is down to Alabama or Temple. Or Penn State or Temple.
Then he pulls out the Penn State hat, replaces it with a TU hat and says: “I’ve decided to take my talents to Temple University.”
I fully expect given everything I’ve heard, such a moment will happen soon with Steve Addazio.
At least that’s a fervent hope.
Congrats to all of the kids who have so far had the wisdom to pick the Owls, but I’m not excited about TU recruiting.
Yet.