Tag Archives: Jon Gruden

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

10.27.24
by

Temple should make a big splash with new hire

Jon Gruden wants to coach a G5 team and his familiarity with Philly and Temple would benefit both.

Good Temple showed up against Tulsa on Homecoming but “same old Temple” showed up on Saturday at East Carolina.

The same old Temple that we saw for the last six years under Rod Carey and Stan Drayton, that is.

Buffalo Bills’ running back Ray Davis called Gabe Infante the best coach on the Temple staff when he was here.

The good Temple comes out once or twice a year and that’s not enough.

Carey was fired after a 12-20 record and three years. Drayton is 8-24. If Temple is going to intellectually consistent, it also has to fire Drayton.

There’s no bigger Temple football fan than me–it’s my favorite sports team by far–yet I’m not going to another game this season. It breaks my heart too much to watch this train wreck.

So we’ve moved on and so should Temple. ECU moved on last week by firing Mike Houston. Rice moved on Sunday by firing Mike Blomgren.

If Temple wants to hire an assistant, Chris Wiesehan would be a great fit since he was successful here under two bowl coaches, Geoff Collins and Matt Rhule and knows what it takes to win here.

Got to wonder why Temple is sitting on its hands while other schools read and react. Maybe the administration is waiting for Drayton to change his first name to Mike.

Should Temple go big splash or local ties?

Better to do both.

After bringing in a successful head coach from the Midwest and an assistant coach from Texas, the priority should be to bring someone who has been a successful head coach here at some level.

Or at least understands the Philadelphia and Temple culture.

Geoff Collins wants to come back. Any coach who is 2-for-2 in winning seasons at Temple should be welcomed back like a Prodigal Son.

That means no more assistant coaches because hiring an assistant coach is a crapshoot and Temple needs a sure thing.

That’s why we’ve eliminated all assistant coaches from our list, including esteemed Fran Brown assistant head coach Elijah Robinson at Syracuse.

Brown was perfect for here, Robinson doesn’t have Brown’s effusive energy. They are two different personalities. One is extroverted. One is introverted. While they complement each other perfectly at Syracuse, only one type would succeed at Temple.

Temple needs an extrovert.

Do you go for a big splash like Jon Gruden, who knows Philadelphia and Temple from being here as a long-time assistant coach with the Eagles or do you go the Manny Diaz direction and pluck his Duke assistant head coach Gabe Infante, who was a big-time successful state champion head coach at nearby St. Joseph’s Prep?

To me, you can’t go wrong with either hire.

Temple has the I-95 and I-76 billboards ready just in case Gabe Infante says yes.

Infante isn’t going to make “learning on the job” mistakes like Drayton does nor is he going to be a “my way or the highway” guy like Carey was. Manny Diaz, with assistant head coach Infante’s help, is pulling at miracle at Duke this season.

Gruden said in a story published in August he was open to taking a Group of Five head football job and wanted to make that school a winner.

Temple is a G5 coaching job that Gruden is very familiar with.

Down the line, Geoff Collins also falls into the “sure thing” category for what Temple is looking for now because he knows how to win here, loves it here and his kids played hard for him.

Geoff Collins had the Owls practicing 365 days a year, including this one in the snow on 2/17/17. Stan Drayton took a two-week vacation in Houston the middle of this summer. Wonder why there are so many illegal formations, shifts and false starts? You can start with practice, practice, practice.

In Collins’ first season at Temple, he went 7-6 and won a bowl game. In his second, he went 8-5 and handed ranked Cincinnati an overtime loss. Collins has sent messages through back channels saying he wants to come back.

After three years of Carey and three years of Drayton, I will take the Capri pants and Mayhem every Saturday.

Hell, Troy football became real good for a couple of years when it hired Neal Brown’s assistant coach, Jon Sumrall, because Sumrall had the Neal Brown blueprint of success. If Temple is going to go the assistant coaching route, then Chris Wiesehan, who was a successful assistant here, has all of the Temple success secrets of both Collins and Matt Rhule.

Another possibility with head coaching experience include Sam Houston State’s K.C. Keeler, who knows Philadelphia and is a winner.

Me?

Go for Gruden and the big splash or get a guy like Gabe Infante who is a proven winning head coach and has all the local connections he needs to win here, just like he’s won everywhere.

Let Rice and ECU pick a running back guru for those jobs.

Temple should get a proven winning head coach.