Recruiting Season Begins This Weekend

Logan Marchi’s style reminds me of a one-time Texas A&M quarterback.

There are three seasons in college football, the real one in the fall, spring practice and recruiting season.

At Temple, without a bowl, the Owls are in recruiting season in earnest. A few Owls are set to visit today and this weekend including a couple of guys from Timber Creek, lineman Greg Webb and defensive back Kareem Ali.

Then there is the story of Connecticut quarterback Logan Marchi. He is here to visit and sign or both, but the headline writer and story writer for 247.com sports were really confusing on this one. One says Logan will sign; the other says he will visit.

Visit or sign? Headline says one thing; first sentence in story says another.

Visit or sign? Headline says one thing; first sentence in story says another.

I guess we will know for sure by Dec. 17, the early signing date.

One thing that is for sure is that the Owls could sure use him. While he probably will not unseat P.J. Walker as the Owls’ starting quarterback in the fall, there is a good chance for significant playing time because he has more mobility than the other quarterback the Owls brought in last year, Frank Nutile. Anyone who has seen the Owls’ offensive line this past season knows mobility is a must.

Nevada OC Nick Rolovich checking in? We can only hope.

Nevada OC Nick Rolovich checking in? We can only hope.

Since the Owls need more protection for the quarterback than they have given him, on the wish list should be a blocking fullback to provide additional dropback protection. Both Kenny Harper and Marc Tyson will graduate, so maybe the Owls can get that type of player out of the JUCO ranks.

Then they will have to commit to using him or risk seeing whoever plays that position running for his life next year.

Kareem Ali Really Temple Made

Colin Thompson and Kareem Ali are the newest Owls.

Colin Thompson and Kareem Ali are the newest Owls.

Any time I get off the SEPTA Regional rail at Temple University station, which is quite often, I get to see an anonymous person with a painted Cherry and White face with glasses staring at me with the words “Temple Made” above his head.

Temple football now boasts of  ultimate “Temple Made” person soon to be on its roster, Kareem Ali. According to this great story by Matt Vender, Ali was conceived at Temple. He’s the first documented person to be literally Temple Made–though I’m sure there are a few undocumented ones.

Now he’s going to do his part to make Temple football a Made Man in the college football world.

When Al Golden was at Temple, he had a binder on how to build a program from the ground up and one of the chapters in it was recruiting. “Trust the film,” Golden would always say.

Golden was not bashful about his philosophy of recruiting. He believed that the key of going from the worst program in major college football to winning a non-BCS conference title like the MAC was getting a whole bunch of team leaders, captains of their high school teams from winning programs, then reaching up and grabbing as many as five guys every year who were offered by BCS programs. Golden never got a chance to win the MAC, but I believe he was only a year or two away when he left to go to Miami (Fla.)

Golden had a great school to sell, Temple, and he was a great salesman who was able to lure guys like Kee-Ayre Griffin away from Boston College and Adrian Robinson away from Pitt. Those guys helped fuel three consecutive winning seasons at Temple. When I dashed off an email congratulating Al on his first recruiting class, Al dashed one back: “Mike, we’re not done yet. We’re waiting on a guy from St. Peter’s Prep who could be our best recruit. Wish us luck.”

Griffin was that guy, the last recruit of Golden’s first-ever class and the first of five good recruiting chapters.

It now appears that Matt Rhule has memorized that chapter.

One day after getting Kareem Ali to de-commit from Maryland (Big 10), he got Colin Thompson to transfer from Florida (SEC).

I had been somewhat concerned last week that the Owls offered a guy who had only been offered by Duquesne, Coastal Carolina and St. Francis of Loretto but the recent additions of Ali and Thompson put the Owls back on the right recruiting track. You are going to need a lot of guys like Ali and Thompson to win an AAC title and, if they can convince guys like Shareef Miller to come on board, it won’t be long before the Owls are hoisting a trophy soon.

Mix those three guys with a couple more similar players, stir in a few high school captains from winning programs, trust the film, always call a quarterback sneak on fourth and three inches, bake and watch a championship team rise. At least that’s the fervent hope.