The handwriting is OFF the E-O Wall

Every coach who has walked through the halls of the $17 million Edberg-Olson Football Complex at Temple has put contributed something to both the architecture and the feel of the place.

Al Golden had the office extended so he could get a good view of the practice field. Steve Addazio put the pool tables in the new wing. Matt Rhule put the study halls next to the cafeteria. Geoff Collins put up legacy posters and fatheads as tributes to guys like Tyler Matakevich and P.J. Walker.

Rod Carey,  from what I’m hearing,  is taking a different approach.

He’s scrubbing the place clean.

All the tributes to the ex-players–except for the Matakevich and P.J. fatheads–have been taken down from the walls.

Not everyone is liking it. A room highlighting Haason Riddick’s ascent from Temple walk-on to first-round NFL draft choice has been removed. A collage featuring a dozen ex-Temple greats, including Heisman Trophy runner-up Paul Palmer and leading tackler for 30 years, linebacker Steve Conjar, is also gone.

One individual who is in and out often said this, one the condition of anonymity: “Everything was taken Down at EO except for the PJ and Tyler things on the windows. Walls are empty, (and they) took down Hassan NFL draft thing too.”

Palmer was less anonymous and expressed his displeasure with it on Facebook recently, more because he was miffed his Temple brothers from all eras were removed than for himself.

We thought it was a story good enough to write about and ask questions about and reached out to Temple beat writer, Marc Narducci, with it. Marc said he would ask Carey privately about it.

I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, but I sure would like to hear Carey’s thinking behind it.

My feeling is as long as he doesn’t put up fatheads of Northern Illinois guys like Jordan Lynch and Garrett Wolfe, he can do pretty much whatever he wants but we would have liked to see those Temple legacy items remain.

Saturday: Camp Opens

Monday: 5 Things to Accomplish

Saturday: UConn Fans React

Monday (8/12): What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Sunday, Sept. 1: Return to the in-season Sunday-Wed-Friday in season schedule