Tag Archives: featured

10.05.25
by

Why I don’t care (much) about attendance

This is the Temple student second a dozen years ago. There is a shocking lack of a student section now. They went away with six straight losing seasons. They will hopefully return sooner than later.

“I’ve seen the light
And I’ve seen the flame
And I’ve been this way before
And I’m sure to be this way again … “

_ Neil Diamond, 1974

Log onto a message board to read Temple fans reacting to a joyous football win and, inevitably, some Debbie Downer will say something like this:

“Great win, but somebody has to do something about attendance.”

College football’s attendance problem includes not only Temple but UCLA and almost every American Conference school with the exception of ECU, Memphis, Army and Navy and scores of others across all conferences.

Invariably, said Mr. Downer will post this during a game thread from some place outside of the stadium while watching the game on TV. Many of them sitting on a couch and eating potato chips less than an hour’s drive from the stadium.

Translation: “I don’t like the problem, but I can’t be bothered to be part of the solution.”

Speaking as someone who has been to all three home games, I don’t have time for people like that. While I’ve been to all of the games, the slow erosion of the Temple fan base is completely understandable, and I don’t blame a single fellow fan for not attending. This fan base has been beaten down by consecutive 1-6, 3-9, 3-9, 3-9 and 3-9 seasons.

You can only do so much hoping for next year to improve before you say I’m out.

I never did, but a lot of my former tailgate buddies from the Halcyon Days of Al Golden and Matt Rhule who shall remain nameless did. One guy liked to go in an hour before the game because he “wanted to see the punting” and I found that humorous. I haven’t seen him in years and hopefully he’s still alive.

It took Al Golden a couple of years to go from crowds similar to the 12,131 who showed up for the UTSA game to at least a couple of times a year topping 30,000 and it will at least take K.C. Keeler that long to build it up.

When you spend six years tearing that down, it’s not going to take six weeks to build it up.

Maybe one or two years of winning. Maybe even three.

A sampling of Temple Homecoming Crowds

Six years of losing isn’t the only thing working against Temple attendance. The NIL and the transfer portal haven’t helped. When a fan base feels they are at an unfair disadvantage against foes they used to have a fair advantage against, that contributes to lack of interest in the product.

The problem is not specific to Temple. Look at UCLA which, like Temple, got a big win in a largely empty (larger than needed) stadium. The Bruins have lost for awhile but beat Penn State, 42-37. One of the reasons was because they were able to spend $3 million on a quarterback but that’s a P4 team with no fans.

A P4 team able to pay big-time money without fans.

Temple used to have a large and loud student section. It will be nice to see that come back.

The good news is that Homecoming looms and Temple regularly brings in 30,000 of its own fans for that one occasion. Many of them don’t even like football but love the university which gave them a great education and want to renew that experience at least once a year.

Temple, like Neil Diamond in that great song, has been this way before and it is sure to be that way once again. Interest has ebbed and flowed and been there in the past and will be there in the future again following some sustained winning.

Maybe if this biggest crowd of the year likes what the Owls are selling they will want to come back for one or two more games this season.

At least that’s the hope.

Maybe even Mr. Downer will put down the chips, get off the couch, stop complaining about the crowd and become a solution to the problem.

Friday: Navy Preview

06.26.25
by

Objectively, the best Temple recruiting month ever

The Owls already here hit the weight room on the hottest day in Philly since 2012.

A couple of famous names who signed on the dotted line illustrated what we’ve been thinking for a couple of weeks.

Objectively, this 2026 recruiting class is the best Temple one since 2007 and the credit must be given to a full court press the K.C. Keeler staff did this month.

Also objectively, this is the best recruiting month ever.

In an era where the G5 never beats the P5 (or P4 now), at least five recruits came down to two choices:

Temple and Syracuse.

Like the old Bill Cosby ad said, “they could have gone anywhere. They chose Temple.”

Now to the two famous names that haven’t been discussed in this space before:

Duane Johnson Jr. and Hanks.

Not Tom Hanks, but Alex Hanks, who is one of the Syracuse flips as a 6-1, 195-pound safety. The recruiting site 247 has him turning down a ‘Cuse offer on June 20 to commit to Temple.

The other is Duane Johnson Jr., who is no relation to the “other” Dwayne Johnson Jr.–better known as The Rock–who played his high school football in Bethlehem, Pa. and college at Miami (where he played against Temple). This Duane Johnson Jr. is FROM Miami and, like the other Johnson, a 6-3, 190-pound linebacker at the high school level. The Rock bulked up to 6-3, 290 and became a DE at Miami before becoming a superstar in wrestling and movies.

Temple’s Duane Johnson turned down offers from his hometown FIU and Bowling Green to come to 10th and Diamond.

Temple’s 2026 recruiting company as of 6/26/25.

Another player we haven’t mentioned here previously is Josh Nengite of Susquehanna Township (Pa.), and the attached announcement here gives a clue as to why he–and the other 23 June commits–picked Temple: “The goals for the program and how we are going to accomplish them.”

Keeler and his staffed are locked in with that message.

For all of this excitement about Temple’s 2026 recruiting class, 247 still has the Owls–with 24 commits–rated as No. 76 nationally. Historically, that ranks behind Al Golden’s second class at Temple (2007), which ranked No. 1 in the MAC and No. 52 in both the Rivals.com and Scout.com national rankings. That translated to a 2009 appearance in the Eagle Bank Bowl against a UCLA team that had a No. 3 recruiting ranking in 2007.

Bad, because only 64 teams play in the so-called Power 5. Good, because of the other 66 teams in FBS, Temple is rated No. 12.

Good, because Keeler’s 2026 class is rated ahead of Nebraska, Auburn, Virginia, Missouri and Virginia Tech.

The other consideration here is that Temple’s Fab Five that turned down ‘Cuse turned down a very good staff with a great history of recruiting for a staff with a vision for the future. It’s one thing that new head coach K.C. Keeler already has a proven eye for talent. It’s validation when an entirely different staff sees the same thing. So maybe that 76 is closer to 66 because no other G5 program is grabbing that many P4 offers, at least thumbing through the other AAC offer sheets.

No one knows if our Duane Johnson will approach the fame of the other Dwayne Johnson or our Hanks will make a football impact that Tom Hanks made on the world stage.

What we do know is that they will join a group of guys who have been vetted by dozens of eyeballs on two highly paid and well-respected staffs 500 miles apart and now will be playing before a lot more eyeballs in the largest stadium in the AAC.

Chances are pretty good those Lincoln Financial Field eyeballs will like what they see.

Monday: Immediate vs. Future

06.22.25
by

The foreign element: Temple has a Pope, too

Darius Pope makes key touchdown catch in Delaware’s state championship 3A game.

Since May 8, Villanova has used having a Pope as a trump card on Temple and really everyone else.

Both schools have a Brunson basketball player as a famous graduate and but on that day Villanova added a Pope.

All recruiting roads lead to Temple

No more because Temple has a Pope, too, and he’ll probably do more for the Temple football program than the real Pope will do for his alma mater.

Darius Pope of Delaware became the latest of three players to turn down a solid Syracuse offer for a Temple one and it’s an, err, blessing.

That’s because for all of Fran Brown’s documented prowess as a recruiter, there’s a buzz around the Temple recruiting this June that hasn’t existed here in a long time and even a great recruiter like Brown seems powerless to stop the momentum.

Delaware isn’t a foreign country but one of the other gets who spurned ‘Cuse for Temple, Jude Okeleke, a Top 75 in the nation defensive tackle from Nigeria. The fact that he’s from Nigeria gives Temple a real solid shot to keep him from transferring to a P4 school because foreign students are not eligible for NIL money.

Yet.

No one knows what the future holds but Brown was a dynamite recruiter here, at Rutgers, Georgia and now Syracuse and whatever recruiting magic he has couldn’t keep three solid Syracuse offers under his spell.

The other Syracuse offer who opted for Temple was Antwan Rogers, a 6-5, 290-pound defensive end from Salem, N.J.

College Football Talk Daily rates Temple as doing one of the best three recruiting jobs in the nation with UCLA and Florida. That’s pretty heady company. CFB Talk has more than 40,000 followers on twitter/x so it carries some clout.

That’s not to say that Temple’s recruiting rivals the quality of UCLA and Florida, but for its competition, Temple now stands out.

It might not show in the final recruiting rankings of the 2026 class, but there’s a lot of quality in it for the Owls and the fact that the Owls beat out P4 schools for commits bodes well for the long-term future.

Pope is one of many future Owls who will make their impacts in the 2026 season and beyond but, while new head coach K.C. Keeler was concentrating on the long-term this month, he hasn’t forgotten short-term needs.

Temple got a quality guy in running back/wide receiver Tylik Mitchell of Southern Nash in N.C., whose 10.78 in the 100-meter dash was .2 faster than that of Bernard Pierce in the PIAA state championship meet when he competed for Glen Mills. Pierce was a football player who excelled in track and was ready to go, becoming an instant starter for Al Golden at running back. His 268 yards and two touchdowns beat a 10-2 bowl-winning Navy team as a true freshman and, had he played in the second half against both Penn State and UCLA, the Owls of 2009 might have won both of those games. As it was, Pierce became a third-round draft choice in the NFL

Many feel that Mitchell has the kinds of moves and speed that could make him an instant starter at Temple, either at WR or RB–but probably at WR because there is a greater need there.

That’s a lot to ask of a true freshman but he seems to have the talent and will arrive in a month. That’s the same kind of time frame it took Pierce to get noticed.

Having a Pope helps in 2026 but a Mitchell does the same thing now.

Keeler and his staff are cooking in recruiting and others outside of Temple are liking the smell from the 10th and Diamond kitchen.

Friday: Temple’s Next Famous Names:

Monday: Short vs. Long-Term

04.03.25
by

Cherry and White: Another casualty of the madness

About the same time the best golfers in the world will be teeing up in Georgia for the penultimate round of that sport’s best tournament, two colors will be teeing it off at 10th and Diamond.

The Cherry and The White.

Jim Nance likes to call the former thing: “A Tradition Like Any Other.”

That’s why anyone mulling over whether or not they should attend this year should go.

The Masters will go on for many years to come.

The Cherry and White game will probably not.

Another casualty of the madness–and the sickness–that plagues college sports in general and college football in particular.

New Temple head coach K.C. Keeler floated the idea that this might be the last Cherry and White game ever and if he decides to end it, I agree with him.

What a great tradition, though.

Maybe golf fanatic Nance is right, but do you know a sports tradition that has–within the last 20 years or so–been played in at least six places and been part of a transition from bottom to (nearly) top as Temple football’s Cherry and White game?

I didn’t think so.

In the last 20 years, Temple’s Cherry and White football game has been played in 1) The Old Temple Stadium (2004), 2) Ambler (2006), 3) Cardinal O’Hara (2008), 4) Lincoln Financial Field (2010), 5) the soccer/field hockey complex (three times recently) and the 6) Edberg-Olson Football Complex (five times)?

Find me a moveable tradition like that and we can start the conversation about any other traditions.

It’s OK, too.

Accessible by train from anywhere in the Philly region

This year (April 12) the game will be played at the E-O. It’s also been played at Broad and Master, a $22 million “minor sports” site.

About 4-5,000 people will be attending the Cherry and White football festivities.

It’ll be different this year and in a bad way because of all the nostalgia.

Old-timers like me remember when it was a “real game” with tackling and a final score. Keeler has promised that much because “this is really important to Temple alumni that we play it as a game and we will.”

The last three years were glorified drills like hitting a running back with a tackling dummy. That sense of urgency carried over to the games in the fall.

Game used to be broadcast by Philly radio legends Bill Campbell and Steve Fredericks.

This time, the simulation will be real and it will be a welcome change because we’ve seen the very same process during Cherry and White Days presided over by successful coaches like Wayne Hardin, Bruce Arians, Al Golden and Matt Rhule. Whatever we watched the past three seasons did not work.

Hate, hate, hate to do this but our subscription prices for Getty Images and WordPress hosting have gone up and we need to cover that or entertain a pause on this blog until the fall. If you can’t contribute, no problem. If you can, we will know that we have the audience to continue

All of the prior Temple guys believed that the fall process included meaningful business in front of the fans on Cherry and White Day.

The fact that the new guy believes that, too, is a good sign for the fall and makes attendance by serious Owl fans mandatory.

This is a damn good tradition that will, sadly, come to an end until any sanity is restored to college football and that day is so far off I can confidently say I won’t be here to see it with you.

In between, though, we need to do what we have to do to get Temple football to the other side and, if ending the showcasing of our players for other teams to steal is over I’m all for it.

Monday: What’s Happening Here

12.17.23
by

Wednesday’s Recruiting Show: Lipstick on a Pig

The hierarchy of talent in college football has been established over the past 50 or so years.

You don’t have to be Nick Saban to know where to get talent from in this age of the transfer portal.

One, P5. Two, G5, Three FCS, four Division I, five Division II and six Division III.

There is a seventh level of football talent below all of that and it’s called JUCO.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is worth a million. Here, Layton Jordan sacks future Owl quarterback Evan Simon. Jordan, under D.J. Eliot’s scheme, thrived, setting a Temple record with three defensive touchdowns and terrorizing opposing quarterbacks. Under Everett Withers, Jordan more often than not dropped back five yards into pass coverage in no-man’s land where he couldn’t use his talent to sack QBs or cause turnovers. Simon since this lost his job to a quarterback that led RU to a 103d offensive ranking out of 133 teams.

Guess where the bulk of Stan Drayton’s third recruiting class is coming from this year?

Well, you won’t have to guess because we already know it’s JUCO but some Wednesday night must-see TV viewing comes on ESPN+ at 7 p.m. That’s where the Temple football recruiting plan will be unveiled for Owl fans to see on the Temple football signing show.

Whatever Drayton says, and it will be a lot, he will be holding a figurative drawing of a pig in one hand and a roll of lipstick in the other hand and trying to make the most of an ugly situation.

Bring a hanky because we might be witnessing the end of a once-great (at least in the Wayne Hardin years, some of the Bruce Arians’ years and most of the Al Golden and Matt Rhule years) program. Get ready to dab a view tears because, even from the few FBS-level recruits we do know of, there is no indication that the Owls got better in key positions.

Don’t give me Temple can’t get players because of the NIL because a lot of teams in the same NIL boat (South Alabama, New Mexico State, Troy, Ohio and Toledo) are getting enough players to thrive.

Temple should be able to do the same.

Let’s start with the MOST key position: Quarterback.

Unless Holy Cross quarterback Matt Sluka (who is still unsigned) walks through that E-O door in the next two days, it appears the Owls DOWNGRADED when their No. 1 offseason priority was to UPGRADE over E.J. Warner.

“Our E.J” (Drayton’s very words three weeks ago) appears to have made a lateral move within the conference when he was reported on Sunday to sign with fellow AAC member Rice. This comes a year after former Temple linebacker Kobe Wilson made a lateral move to another conference member. Huge statement by both Temple Owls on how they viewed Drayton’s possibility of future success here.

The bottom line in the Simon/Warner swap is that anyone with 20/20 vision the last time those two quarterbacks faced one another will tell you Warner, in his first collegiate start, was the better of the two quarterbacks that day in a 16-14 loss to Rutgers.

Warner only put up more impressive numbers as he got his feet wet. Simon flatlined and lost his starting job to a starting quarterback who could lead the Knights to a 103d offensive ranking of out 133 teams in 2023.

So, bottom line, was a coach with the pedigree of Greg Schiano thought the 103d-ranked quarterback was better than the guy Temple got.

That guy starts against Oklahoma on Aug. 31.

Unless Drayton can find Sluka’s phone number in the next day or two. (Hint: It’s in the Worcester, Mass. phone book.)

Friday: The Post-Game Show