08.14.25
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Behind The Lines: NYP Finds Value in Temple

One of the themes first-year Temple head coach K.C. Keeler keeps bringing up at team meetings is to shoot for the top and not settle for incremental goals like winning one or two more games than last year’s team.

Keeler has repeatedly mentioned going for the championship this year and now he has a nice slideshow to drive home that point in the next team meeting because someone well outside of the E-O has mentioned Temple and the AAC title in the same breath.

On Thursday, the New York Post floated the possibility of Temple winning the AAC title.

In football.

This year, not some fictious year three or five years down the road.

My response: Why not?

College football can change from year to year.

Carl Hardin shares his surname with the greatest Temple head coach of all time, Wayne. He’s been sensational both in the spring and summer practices as Temple’s placekicker.

No greater example of that than Southern Mississippi. Pretty much the entire Marshall team which won the title in its league transferred to Southern Mississippi, which plays in the same league, following their head coach, Charles Huff.

That’s the way of the world in this transfer portal era. My feeling is that team will go from worst to first because of the coaching decision that university made.

Temple going from third worst to first due to the same reason might be mildly surprising, but not out of thr realm of possibility.

Keeler brought only the best running back on the Sam Houston State team, Jay Ducker, with him to Temple on the player level. On the staff level, he brought the architect of that 9-3 roster, General Manager Clayton Barnes.

Barnes and Keeler upgraded the Owls in every single area where they needed starter or depth.

They have two high-level AAC quarterbacks in Evan Simon and Gevani McCoy, a defensive line that goes 9-10 deep (Keeler’s words) and two star receivers (Colin Chase and JoJo Bermudez) to replace the Owls’ best wide receiver of the last three years, the oft-injured Dante Wright.

Are there areas of concern for Temple?

Sure.

The offensive line is pretty much the one that had Simon running for his life all last fall but with a new strength coach, a better offensive line coach and a better overall scheme, that one perceived weakness can be masked.

We will see.

Everywhere else–with the possible exception of placekicking–Temple has improved significantly. Even there, current Indianapolis Colts’ kicker Maddux Trijillo called his replacement, Carl Hardin, the second-best kicker in the AAC last year.

That, combined with the fact that the league is nowhere near as good as it was a year ago, means there is a lane for Temple to shock the world. It’s a small lane but, with Keeler in charge, there is a way Temple can squeeze through.

People are noticing, even a guy who writes for a paper 90 miles away.

Let’s hope we can call him a genius come December.

Monday: Some Interesting First Years

Friday (8/22): First Things First

Monday (8/25): Game Week

08.10.25
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Temple Depth Chart: Punching Back

Two heavyweight champions and Temple fans, boxer Tex Cobb (left) and Ted DeLapp.

About this time last week, being a summer-lover like I am, started getting a little depressed about entering the last month of–at least in my mind–the best three months of the year.

Also, while the stats for Temple Football Forever were higher than any previous summer, the money coming into the website never matched the money going out.

Then came home to this post from in my mind the greatest single Temple football fan I’ve ever known: Ted DeLapp:

Nothing to pick up your spirits like knowing someone is reading this blog and appreciating it. Around the same time, we got our first three donations in over a month so our readers were putting their money where their mouths were.

Really appreciate it and it will make a difference going forward.

Ourlads’ Guide’s view of Temple’s offense. I would put Luke Watson as first-team LT (now that Kevin Terry is injured), Colin Chase and JoJo Bermudez as WRs (John Adams is gone) and Worthy second team. Also note that McCoy should be at No. 2 at QB and moving up. Wouldn’t be surprised if Worthy/and or McCoy start at UMass, those positions are that close.

Better days are yet to come.

We hit a low ebb in Temple fandom at the end of the 2004 season when Ted, me, heavyweight fighter Randall “Tex” Cobb, Rick Gabe, Fred the Owl Club President, and a couple of other Temple fans were the last remaining tailgaters in an empty Lot K. While there were more Miami fans than Temple ones that day, always felt that if we were unfortunate enough to get in a fight with them, Cobb could take on five or six by himself. Punching back was something the team wasn’t doing, but the few fans left always were.

Pretty good summary of the defense, but would flip Badmus and Poteat and we understand Ordonez is moving up the depth chart fast.

That’s it. About five fans tailgating before being spanked by the Fake Miami, 41-10.

The pre-game conversation was a debate whether we wanted an up-and-comer like Al Golden or some big name out of a job at that point like Rick Neuheisel.

Fortunately, Temple made the right choice then and we certainly feel Temple has made the right choice now. Then, Golden was the man of the moment for Temple. Now, K.C. Keeler is that guy.

Keeler has assembled a roster that includes a defensive line that he called “the deepest I’ve ever had” and DC Brian Smith added that it is a deeper defense than any of his seven previous ones at Rice. The last few days have been dedicated to shuffling all that talent and putting it into some form.

That’s what depth charts are for.

Offensively, Temple has two good quarterbacks for the first time since the Matt Rhule Era (Evan Simon, Gevani McCoy) and three running backs who made the Doak Walker Watch list for best RB in the country–Terrez Worthy, Jay Ducker and Joquez Smith–the most in Temple history.

Ourlads’ Guide is one of the few websites outside of Temple that takes a stab at the current depth chart.

Defensively, they did a pretty good job but we won’t know until the official depth chart is released the week of Aug. 25.

Offensively, they need to update a few things but keeping track of 136 depth charts is an almost impossible task.

Yes, the summer is coming to an end but watching a competitive Temple football team for the first time in six years would be a pretty good consolation prize.

Finally, after being a punching bag for the last six years, Temple is showing signs of punching back. If Tex Cobb is still watching the Owls, our guess is that he will be smiling.

Friday: Behind The Lines

08.07.25
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New digs: Temple should start planning now

An artist rendering of what the new domed Eagles’ Stadium will look like.

For anyone who was around when Jeffrey Lurie tried to stiff Temple out of playing at Lincoln Financial Field way back when it opened in 2003, his latest plans should be viewed as a Five Alarm Fire.

Temple BOT chair Mitchell Morgan could be the key for getting November and December games at the Bank for the Owls.

Lurie only relented and allowed Temple in when the state of Pennsylvania reminded him that as part of the city and state’s funding of the Linc was the stipulation that Temple, one of three state schools (along with Pitt and Penn State) be allowed to play there. Lurie paid a third of the $521 million tab, while the City and State paid two thirds.

The state and the city threatened to take Lurie to court to allow Temple to play there and Lurie didn’t have the stomach to fight on two fronts.

That won’t be the case with Lurie’s current plans.

What are they?

Lurie floated the idea last month of building a new “Eagles Stadium” at a place yet-to-be-determined. Unless it is in Center City or North Philly, the Owls have virtually no chance of playing there.

Since Governor Josh Shapiro has ruled out state funding and the city has empty pockets, this new project will be funded entirely by the Eagles.

For anyone who remotely entertains the idea that Lurie would welcome Temple as a tenant, we have some condo space to sell in a Florida flood zone.

In other words, it ain’t happening.

Temple has to find another place to play or at least start the planning process now.

My preference has always been an on-campus stadium. A student body that has 12,500 students living on campus should have a football stadium on campus. LFF, which is a fantastic stadium, is way too big for Temple’s purposes. Creating a demand for tickets should be a priority and it’s just logical that the demand for tickets in a 35K stadium would be double the demand for tickets in a 70K stadium.

That ship, though, has sailed in a corrupt city that will always allow a Councilman to veto a project in his district. (My feeling is Temple has just as much right to build anything it wants on its own property as a school in any other city. Look at Georgia Tech’s stadium below. It also is in the middle of a residential neighborhood but was welcomed by the neighbors when it was built a century ago.)

If Georgia Tech can have this in Atlanta, Temple should have the same in Philadelphia.

So Temple has to explore other options.

With Temple Board of Trustees chair Mitchell Morgan as a part owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, some combination of Citizens Bank Park and another stadium should be explored. Temple should explore scheduling September games at the Bank but not October ones as those are baseball playoff dates.

Failing that play, say, two games at Franklin Field in September and October and two games at the soccer stadium in Chester in those same months and play the final two home games at Citizens Bank Park.

Slot CBP for any possible AAC title game in December.

Temple should start planning now because once Lurie comes out with the announcement it will almost definitely not include the Owls.

Monday: Depth Chart Clues

Friday (8/15): Behind The Lines

08.03.25
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An ECU fan and a WVU fan walk into a bar …

Colby Dant and Ryan McIntyre break down Temple’s season.

An ECU fan and a WVU fan walk into a bar and ….

…. decided that Temple is going to be better than the Vegas Line predicted this season.

No joke.

One of them, Colby Dant, the lead broadcaster for The College Football Experience, even floated the possibility of six wins and a bowl bid. Dant is an ECU fan and his cohost, Moneyline Mac (Ryan McIntyre), was the video coordinator for Bobby Huggins at West Virginia.

If all Temple players and fans had the enthusiasm of this guy, the Owls would be in the CFB playoff this year.

That’s important because those guys never wore Cherry and White-colored glasses and can take a step back and view the upcoming season from a more objective standpoint than those of us who do.

That’s what we always tried to do here.

Proof is in the pudding, though.

Last year, knowing that Stan Drayton was the head coach and Everett Withers the DC, we predicted that the Owls would finish 2-10. Those expectations were so low because we had seen enough of those two over the prior years to come to that conclusion way back on May 19, 2024. Another factor was that one of our main themes was to replace E.J. Warner with a big-time newcomer at that position–even floating the names of Holy Cross starter Matt Sluka and Miami backup Reese Poffenbarger–but Drayton didn’t get it done. (Miami outbid Temple for Poffenbarger because, well, Miami but Sluka was promised more than TU could come up with yet was lied to and stiffed by UNLV.)

Instead, he completely botched the quarterback position not only by sitting on his hands but by misidentifying the talent on his own team by trotting Forrest Brock out as the starter over the clearly superior Evan Simon.

Who knows how many games that cost the Owls last year?

This year, new head coach K.C. Keeler not only brought in a big-time quarterback–Oregon State starter Gevani McCoy–but also was able to talk Simon into staying, where he currently leads a close battle for the starting quarterback position. Keeler also sprinkled in talented transfers all over the place to compete with the holdovers.

Others outside of Temple have noticed.

Dant isn’t saying the Owls make the college football playoff (see inset where the Owls beat Penn State in the opening round) nor are we.

Our game-by-game prediction last year had Temple at 2-10 and the Owls bettered that by one game. Our game-by-game prediction was/is six wins this year and it was posted in this space way back on May 23.

If the Owls prove us wrong and win one more game this year like they did last year, we will be toasting Colby Dant and Moneyline Mac from a bowl location in December.

Friday: New Digs

Monday: Depth chart clues

08.01.25
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Keeler and Berndt: TU football’s Lincoln and Kennedy

Jerry Berndt outside McGonigle Hall the day he got hired by Temple.

Very few things cause a human brain to short-circuit but the comparisons between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy after the latter was tragically assassinated boggled the mind of any student of history.

Here were just a few (there were many more):


Both Lincoln and Kennedy were second children, both boat captains, both elected to Congress in ’47 (18 for Lincoln, 19 for Kennedy) and both VP runners-up in a year ending with 56. Each was elected POTUS in a year ending with 60. Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln and Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy. Both Kennedy and Lincoln each contain seven letters.

Temple is probably safe from any Keeler vs. Berndt comparisons.



Each President in his 30s married a socially prominent 24-year-old woman who spoke French fluently.

While in the White House, each President had a family of three children, and both lost a child through death.

Temple football has a more modest comparison between new head coach K.C. Keeler and the architect of the 1990 turnaround, Jerry Berndt.

Temple hired both from a school based near Houston, as Berndt was hired after a head coaching stint at Rice and Keeler after a head coaching stint at Sam Houston State. Both Berndt and Keeler each contain, like Kennedy and Lincoln, the same amount of letters.

Our critique of the Diaz hire on Day One (of 18 days).

Both had success in the Philadelphia area prior to moving to Texas with Berndt winning an Ivy League football title at Penn and Keeler winning titles at Rowan and Delaware.

But if Temple fans even entertain the thought that Keeler will be a redux of Berndt, they should think again.

History supports Keeler in this comparison.

Temple hired Berndt coming off an 0-11 season at Rice. Temple hired Keeler off a 9-3 season at Sam Houston. That Berndt hiring existed long before this blog started but I mentioned to several fellow Temple fans at the time that hiring a guy coming off an 0-11 season was not only a major red flag, but pretty damn stupid.

Unfortunately, I was proven correct–as I was years later in my assessment of both the Manny Diaz and Stan Drayton hirings.

Terrez Worthy might beat out Jay Ducker for Temple’s featured back this season.

Both were negative gut feelings but Keeler has always been a positive one.

That should disabuse any Temple fan of a thought that the Keeler regime will include just one winning season and a lot of losing ones.

That, plus the fact that Keeler won everywhere he went and Berndt didn’t should bode well for the future.

Sometimes being a student of history pays off at the college football betting windows and this is probably one of those times.

We won’t find out until we cash the ticket in December but history is both our guide and our prognosticator and proven to repeat itself.

Monday: ECU and WVU break down Temple’s season

Friday: New Digs New Look

Monday (8/11): Will We Get a Depth Chart?

07.28.25
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Temple hopes for a 1990-type repeat

Temple won at Pitt, 28-18, for one its seven wins in 1990 after a 1-10 season in 1989.

One of the things Temple head coach K.C. Keeler brought up at the American Conference Media Day was that he doesn’t want his team to be “realistic” (his word) about achieving incremental goals, like one or two more wins than last year.

After a loss in front of 93,865 fans at Tennessee, Temple won its last three games to finish 7-4 in 1990.

What he does want is the team to be talking about getting to bowl games and winning them and even doing the same when talking about getting to the conference championship game and winning it.

What would that look like?

Temple would have to win at least six more games this year than it did last to even entertain getting to the championship game.

While that might seem impossible, it has been done before.

At Temple.

Back in 1990, another coach with local ties who won at Penn–Jerry Berndt–was able to turn the Owls around from a 1-10 season in 1989 to a seven-win season in 1990. In that season, the Owls won on the road against Barry Alvarez’s Wisconsin team and won at Pitt’s on-campus stadium, 28-18. (Temple led 28-10 before Pitt added a cosmetic touchdown with 0:08 left on the fourth-quarter clock.)

Temple’s 1990 season represented the biggest single-season turnaround in program history. If the 2025 Owls just duplicate that, they will be in league championship game.

Berndt then, like Keeler now, said the same thing before the season that Keeler is saying now. “Our 1-10 season is in the past,” Berndt said. “I know we have winners on this team and we want to have a winning season. That’s all we’re talking about right now.”

Because there weren’t nearly as many bowl games back then, Maryland beat out Temple for an Independence Bowl bid when both teams were being considered as the “Eastern” representative.

Still, Berndt proved then what Keeler hopes to prove now–that a dramatic turnaround is possible at Temple.

In reality, it should be easier now than it was then because the Temple football of 1990 didn’t have a transfer portal to add key “ready to play” pieces like Keeler already has done. Keeler already improved the quarterback position with the addition of Gevani McCoy, meaning at the very least if Evan Simon goes down, the team won’t look as lost as it did in the years that E.J. Warner was injured.

Also, they upgraded the running back room by not only keeping Terrez Worthy but by adding the leading rusher from Sam Houston, Jay Ducker, and the leader rusher two years ago from Louisiana Monroe, Hunter Smith.

Those are just a few examples, although you can say key pieces were added for both lines and especially linebacker and defensive back.

None of those resources were available to the 1990 Owls but they still found a way to get it done.

Knowing that the 1990 Owls refused to be defined by their 1989 season should give the 2025 Owls a valuable point of reference.

Friday: Misconceptions

07.25.25
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Biggest takeaway from Media Day: Depth Chart

A couple of things were pretty apparent from the last two hours of the first day of American Conference Media Day.

One, summer is coming to a way-too-fast end. (But we sort of knew that with the shorter days and the fact that the Eagles started camp two days ago.)

Two, at least some depth chart moves are made.

On July 24, Evan Simon appears to be The Man for Temple. It’s his job to keep and he will get all he can handle in a battle for the job with Gevani McCoy. (Photo credit: Temple Football)

Sekou Kromah wouldn’t be there if he wasn’t a first-team defensive lineman and the same can be said for quarterback Evan Simon.

That wasn’t clear a couple of weeks ago.

It was pretty clear on Thursday. Kromah was mostly second team DL in 2024 but for new head coach K.C. Keeler to bring him to media day, it must be an indication that he’s moved up the food chain.

There was a school of thought that Temple would not have brought in Gevani McCoy if he wasn’t going to be the starting quarterback. That thinking was fueled by the fact that McCoy was THE starter at Oregon State and he better fits the scheme designed by new offensive coordinator Tyler Walker.

College Football Nation caught up with both Kromah and Keeler on the first day of festivities and did a great job interviewing them. Give those guys a like and a subscription on YouTube.

However, Simon was the guy who Keeler brought to Charlotte and that says more than any scheme or fit. It says Simon has done enough to impress Keeler, particularly in the area of how hard the workouts are.

“I’d be thinking twice before the runs,” Kromah said. “We do stuff that’s worse than that (stadium runs).”

Kromah on Keeler:

“He’s a man of his word. Since he’s came in a lot of things have changed. Coach K.C., I love that he loves to win. He takes care of his players.”

The thing that makes Kromah stand apart from the rest of the D-Line is that he can play nose tackle, tackle, and end.

Ourlads’ Guide already moved Sekou Kromah from second team DT to No. 1 based on Media Day. (This is a pretty talented defense, by the way.)

In fact, he’s even talked to Keeler about a goal-line offensive package.

“I can play anything. I want coach K.C. to give me a package.”

Kromah was asked what the fans should expect.

“What you all can expect is a lot of wins and a bowl game,” Kromah said. “Temple TUFF.”

Simon says:

“That was a really fun game that Utah State game,” he said. “We’re going to do it some more this year. … I’ve been in a situations where I was the backup and, I feel, with God’s plan here I am. It’s been awesome.

“Right away, within the first week he (Keeler) was there, he met with every single player. Right away, you know there’s something about him. We’re ready to win some ballgames. No more of this 3-9. We gotta start winning more games and there will be more fans.”

Then CFB Nation spoke with Keeler:

Keeler on the growth of the locker room: “We had a great recruiting class for 2026. One of the constant themes I hear from the parents and recruits is that they can tell this is a brotherhood. First thing I did I talked to every single player, 4 1/2 days. These kids love going to Temple. A lot of these guys are staying because they made a pact to get this fixed.

“Our recruiting philosophy is simple. Recruit the locker room first. We wanted to retain those best players. If you are just bringing in mercenaries, it’s hard to main a culture. We retained most of those guys.”

Keeler also established a relationship with the alumni:

“I got on a zoom with 130 football alums. You guys are always welcome. I’m just the guy who turns the lights out at night. You could tell how proud they were of the 10th and Diamond Culture, especially the Matt Rhule guys and the Al Golden guys.

“I thought this was going to be a good job. It’s a great job.”

On the season:

“It’s going to be a challenge,” he said. “I put together a great staff. It’s a real family atmosphere in our building.

“My talk with our players coming up. If you are realistic, you are playing for the wrong guy. When you work as hard as these guys have worked this summer, there’s a belief they start to get … I think that’s pressure is good. Let’s go win that bowl game. Let’s go win that conference championship.”

To fans:

“We want to go win that first game and get that thing rolling. It helps a lot more when you come out and support us.”

Monday: Biggest Turnarounds

Friday: Misconceptions

07.20.25
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This week: The AAC Discovers Keeler’s Plan

Plenty of “money quotes” in the above short six-minute interview where the AAC sent a media person into the Temple film room to interview K.C. Keeler.

To me, the big takeaway was that Keeler was so unlike his predecessor, Stan Drayton, that any objective observer has got to assume that the record is going to reflect that.

Drayton spent three years of spinning his wheels in the mud at Temple, going for the trifecta with the same record that got his predecessor, Rod Carey, fired: 3-9. Drayton never figured out a way push the bus out of the mud and get it moving forward.

I have that exact black jacket but it’s a pullover and not a full zipper. Would be sweet to find a full zipper in adult extra large.

Keeler spent six minutes detailing how he is going to put some straps around those Temple tires and have his new strength coach and big hogs up front pull this spinning vehicle out of the mud.

It’s sounds like a pretty good plan.

It’s a week of discovery for Temple football, not so much for the people inside the $17 million Edberg-Olson facility but for the AAC and maybe college football in general because they are going to hear Keeler’s plan to revive everything inside the building and at Lincoln Financial Field.

That’s because media day is in Charlotte on July 24th-25 and a lot of what Keeler said in the above interview will be on full display those two days. ESPN will cover the second day session but, by then, it should become apparent that Keeler’s approach is different than Drayton’s.

In the above interview, Keeler says that “we’re not going to be the kind of team on 4th and 1 where we’re going to bring five receivers in. We’re going to run the football.” Yet bringing five wide receivers in is what Drayton did on 3d and 1 at the 50-yard line in Year Two of his regime, throwing a pass with a lead against visiting ECU that turned out to be incomplete with 1:46 left in the game. He was forced to punt on fourth down and never saw the ball again in a 46-42 loss.

That wasn’t even Keeler’s best money quote of the week.

The money quote came not from the above interview but from Shawn Pastor’s excellent five-part series about Keeler, which just concluded on Sunday. (We recommend you subscribe to OwlsDaily.com to read all five parts. It’s well the few bucks a month it takes to subscribe.)

Here’s the Keeler Money quote:

“I didn’t come from Michigan. I came from Sam Houston, where we had very limited resources. So I see life a little bit different. I see this isn’t half-full here. This is overflowing in my mind. I think this is a gold mine.”

Compare that to what Drayton said on Nov. 10 on the same site after a 53-6 loss to Tulane: “Tulane has made the commitment to bring good players into the program. There’s definitely a gap there if we don’t catch up, no question about it. We have to level up.”

Two Temple coaches. Two very different opinions to what resources they have/had at their disposal.

One made Chicken Shit out of Chicken Salad.

The other is trying to make a Chicken Parmesan dinner, complete with Spaghetti and meatballs on the side out of the same base ingredients. He knows what he needs to put in the pot, even though his proven recipe is largely a secret. He’ll outline what the dinner will be this week, but not give away any KFC (or KCK) secret recipes.

When he gets back from Charlotte, he will be in the kitchen working on the first course to be served Aug. 30.

My educated guess is that it won’t taste like the same chicken bleep we fans have been eating as our post-game meal for the last four years.

Friday: Media Day Reactions

Monday: Biggest Turnarounds

07.17.25
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Keeler: An A in Marketing 101

Jon Gruden has always been a big-time supporter of Temple football.

Until somebody proves that this was someone else’s idea, I’m going to give new Temple head football coach K.C. Keeler his first grade in a known Temple University course.

Marketing 101, which used to exist in the Temple School of Communications when I was at 13th and Norris in the last century, would have handed him an A for his special project this week:

Sending a box of swag to Jon Gruden, who is now working for Barstool Sports.

If Keeler didn’t send that box, I’m almost certain he would have signed off on the deal and, to me, that’s as good as walking down to the post office, weighing the damn thing, and sending it off.

Since I was a Journalism major and not a Marketing one, did not see too much benefit in adding Marketing 101 to my electives. Instead, I took Economics 101, where I met and became great friends with one of the best Temple professors of all time, Sam Wilson.

Don’t know how I got an A in that class but maybe understanding what Wilson was telling me and being able to communicate those concepts in a paper made a difference.

Whatever, Keeler’s box of swag to Gruden deserves the same grade.

In fact, everything from the transfer portal to the recruiting of 2026 high school kids he deserves an A.

Keeler isn’t riding from the seat of his pants here. He’s done his homework, much like I did in the Wilson economics class.

Keeler has been a “home run” hire for Temple IMHO. The proof of the pudding will be on Saturdays in the fall. I don’t require that proof to be 12 wins but I do require that proof to be 4-6.

What he has done so far for Temple is to shock me in a positive manner and getting to that 6 or above would be par for this course.

That said, I never wrote here that Keeler was the “only” guy who could perform CPR on Temple football. In this space, after Stan Drayton was fired, we campaigned for Jon Gruden to get the job.

My point was that there was no one person who could do the job that both Drayton and Rod Carey were incapable of doing, but many persons.

Gruden was one.

Keeler is another.

Plenty of other guys could have done it, too.

If, after watching the video in this post, you can’t say Gruden would have done a great job on selling Temple to recruits, you are not paying attention.

That said, Keeler reaching out to him proves Keeler has the right stuff. In fact, everything he has done so far has proven the same thing. Maybe Keeler brings some things to the table that Gruden would not have. From this perspective, he’s passed the eye test in every single endeavor.

At this point, as a Temple fan, that’s all you can ask for.

Monday: The AAC Reacts

07.14.25
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Temple bucking a national trend in enrollment

Temple University and Iowa Wesleyan University couldn’t have been more different universities.

Both were founded two centuries ago. That’s where the similarities ended because the Owls have a robust athletic program and IWU did not.

Getting the students into the stadium like the “old days” should be a priority for the university.

One still exists, the other fell victim to declining enrollment and closed in 2023.

While declining enrollment still affects most universities across the nation, Temple will welcome its largest freshman class ever when the moving trucks pull up to the residence halls a little over a month from now.

KYW radio chronicled that development five days ago by saying that the 2029 graduating class will be the largest ever–well over 6,000 students. Amazing since Temple appears to be one of the few schools to buck that national trend.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), between 2010 and 2021, there was a 15 percent decline across the board in the number of new students.

That’s where the football team comes into play.

Getting those kids in the habit of going to the games will depend in large part on how the team itself does.

The university can do a few things to get the kids to the stadium–they already get free tickets and a free pre-game tailgate with all the food you can eat–but getting them in the stadium requires winning. A positive experience with Temple winning creates a bond between students, the school and the team and those bonds last forever.

One of the biggest problems with the students is way too many of them remained outside and tailgated in the surrounding lots without going into the stadium. Maybe four-straight years of 3-9 had something to do with that.

Maybe it did not but the late great Peter J. Liacouras said that Temple’s national perception is tied into winning sports teams, specifically football, and he has proven to be right over the years because the school exceeded 40,000 full-time students only once (2017) and that was a year after the football team won the AAC title.

If the Owls can break out of that losing funk and create a positive winning experience, the bond between students and school is formed early.

That makes it a lasting one and means Temple is less likely to go the way of IWU.

Friday: Grading Marketing 101

Monday: The AAC Looks at Temple