Tag Archives: Jordan Magee

04.28.24
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Jordan Magee provides a much-needed splash

Just when the Group of Five schools in general and Temple football in particular needed a splash, both Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell and the Owls’ Jordan Magee were there to provide it.

First, Mitchell.

“You are one of the guys we were most passionate about.”

The Toledo corner was the first DB in the draft and went to the Philadelphia Eagles. GM Howie Roseman said they did their due diligence on Mitchell’s background and one of the reasons they were so excited about him was “because he remained loyal to Toledo” and didn’t take the NIL offer Alabama had on the table.

Temple players should be taking notes. The NFL–at least the Eagles–put a value on loyalty.

Closer to home, Magee displayed those same traits at Temple where he became a single-digit player two years ago and did not follow other Owls out the door.

We could not find any quotes from the Commanders saying anything about Magee’s Temple loyalty but that had to factor into him going higher than any of the projections we’ve seen.

Still, the Commanders were excited about Magee, who went just before the Eagles made a splash of their own by grabbing Jeremiah Trotter Jr. with the next pick. That sets up an interesting scenario to follow.

Will Magee have the more impactful career or will Trotter?

Since Washington passed up on Trotter to grab Magee at the same position, the Commanders seem to be convinced of the former.

Maybe if more G5 guys follow the path forged by Magee and Mitchell, it will help stop the bleeding to the P5 and keep schools like Toledo and Temple viable.

We can only hope.

Friday: The Monster Mash

11.06.23
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Last three games: Have fun and play loose

One of the greatest plays in Temple football history, courtesy of Al Golden and Matt Rhule

One day, if it’s not too late, Stan Drayton will stand up and tell his players to have fun and play loose and hard on both sides of the ball.

Maybe he already has.

The Temple football Owls seemed to be playing very tight for the five-straight games they were dominated but, for some reason, they swarmed to the football–particularly on defense–and seemed to have a whole lot of fun in a 32-18 win over Navy on Saturday.

That was fun to see.

Playing tight never seems to work so maybe the attitude will carry over into how the coaches approach the game as well.

I don’t think Temple can finish 6-6–a Memphis team that beat Boise State and hung right at the end with Missouri looks like it is going to come to Philadelphia bent on revenge for losing to both Rod Carey and Geoff Collins in its last two trips to Philadelphia. Beating the Tigers might be a bridge too far for this talent grouping.

I think, though, if Temple can play fast and loose the rest of this season that UAB and USF are beatable. USF and the Owls both beat Navy by two touchdowns and, virtually this same Temple team beat USF, 54-28 a year ago. I’m not taking about being loose with the football as the Owls have to do a much better job with ball security but some imagination in the play calling would not hurt.

That means more “imaginative” plays on offense and more run and pass blitzing on defense.

This season can remotely resemble the 2008 season when the Owls won two of their last three to finish 5-7. In that season, the Owls often showed imagination on offense as a young OC named Matt Rhule would toss in five-to-seven trick plays to keep the Owls interested in practice and the bad guys on their toes.

Maybe a fake kneel down like Adam DiMichele pulled off (top video) would work. Certainly, it would work better than the Owls wasting their offensive timeouts at the end of each half in so many of their games this year.

Speaking of DiMichele, E.J. Warner passed the former Temple and current Nebraska assistant on the all-time yardage list on Saturday. Warner’s flea-flicker touchdown to John Adams against UTSA was this year’s most imaginative Temple play.

More of that please.

If the coaches inserted a few fun plays into every game plan, who knows? Maybe the so-called trick plays open up a run game that had been under lockdown all year.

Anything to keep the bad guys honest and watching the good guys making plays and having fun would be the perfect way to close out the year.

Friday: USF Preview