Tag Archives: Matt Rhule

08.15.16
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The Next Big Red One

carry

Brendan McGowan has done everything at Temple except carry the ball; check that, he’s done that, too (above against Navy).

If at first you do not succeed, try, try again.

So it is with Temple’s most famous redhead this season, Brendan McGowan, taking the mantle from last year’s decorated redhead, Tyler Matakevich.

Call him The Big Red One, which is the nickname of the United States’ Army’s First Division. Clearing the way for all of the weapons on the Temple offense will be McGowan’s job, who is the first member of the offense to touch the ball at the center position.

toughguys

Phil Walker (left) and Haason Reddick.

The try, try, again reference is because Kyle Friend was on the Rimington Watch List but fell short of receiving the award that goes to the best center in the nation. Maybe McGowan will have better luck this season. McGowan is a somewhat surprising candidate, but not to Temple fans, who saw the Owls not drop off much, if at all, in the four games he started last year for the injured Friend. Surprising because the coaches on the Rimington committee figured that out, too as the current grad student at Temple, has been named to the Rimington Trophy Committee’s 2016 Spring Watch List, which includes the 50 best centers in the FBS.

McGowan is one of those guys who is a returning starter at not one but two positions and is a reason Owl fans can put the center position on auto pilot and be confident they are in good shape there. In addition to the four games he started at center for the injured Friend last season, he has started an additional 11 games as at right guard.

He’s bigger than Friend (6-3, 298 vs. 6-1, 280), who is now with the New York Jets.

In other news over the weekend, two more Owls received single digits and those are quarterback Phillip Walker (going from 11 to 8) and defensive end Haason Reddick, who is going from No. 58 to No. 7. Walker’s toughness is well-documented, playing most of last season with a separated shoulder after getting a cheap shot in the end zone in the opening game against Penn State. Reddick, a former outside linebacker, might be the fastest defensive end ever to play for Temple and proved his toughness in the weight room in the offseason, consistently posting best numbers in the tough guy competition.

Wednesday: Why Sam Shaffer Should Worry

07.20.16
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Owls: Recharging The Batteries

recharging

The team that toasts marshmallows together wins championships together. 

One of the fathers of the players mentioned to me a few years ago that being a Division I football player was a 365-day-a-week job.

As someone who took the Fox Chase Regional rail into Center City for many years past the 10th and Diamond complex, I nodded affirmatively. All of those years, mostly Al Golden ones, I marveled how the players worked out in the elements, be it snow in January, driving rain in April or 90-plus degree heat of July. In none of those months did the Temple Owls have a scheduled game.

I believe grind is the word we’re looking for here.

That same grind did not exist with Bobby Wallace, who lived in Gulph Shores, Alabama for two-plus months in his time at Temple coach. Not coincidentally, with Wallace gone and Golden here, the grind turned into winning and it was all worth it.

Even with a tough taskmaster like Golden, though, he understood that the grind needed to be interrupted by recharging the batteries from time to time. Golden did it on site with things like Youtube singing videos and having the team go over to the Student Pavilion for some full-court basketball. Golden had a Masters in Sports Psychology at Penn State, so he was applying what he learned.

Recently, though, Matt Rhule took it to another level when the Owls went upstate for some camping. How does this help the Owls beat, say, Penn State? Simple. The team that bonds together off the field sticks together on it.  From all reports, the Owls bonded nicely on the camping trip and extended the bonding to the numerous Community Service duties they have done since.

The grind is real, but mix in a little bonding with the grind, and that cannot hurt. As always, we will be able to tell for sure by December.

Friday: Temple Wins Internet

06.17.16
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Camp Rhule

grind

One of the tried and true methods of keeping young people out of trouble is getting to them young. There are all sorts of educational programs directed at young people and some of them really work. Heck, when I was a freshman in high school, we had a heroin addict come in and speak to us in the auditorium. His story was so scary that I never even had as much as a cigarette.

There is positive reinforcement, too, as an incentive for young people. In a football sense, Camp Matt Rhule—officially called the Matt Rhule Football Camp—is one of them.

Temple is lucky to have a guy like Rhule, who rolls up his sleeve and gets to the recruits while they are young and impressionable.

Rhule recently tweeted over 2,200 students and prospective athletes interested in Temple attended camps on campus this year. In between camps, Rhule has made trips to Virginia Tech and the Air Force Academy to pick the brains of the head coaches there.

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One of the drills at the MRFC.

Temple fans know Rhule is a workaholic, but the level of offseason commitment to the program should pay off during the regular season. Short term, the trip to AFA should help the Owls prepare for Army’s triple option on the night of Sept. 2. Long term, the camps are giving young people the idea that Temple’s campus, program and facilities are top notch and that should pay off dividends.

The Owls have come a long way from the time where Bobby Wallace would vacation three—some say more—months of the year in Gulf Shores, Alabama, all while collecting a Temple paycheck.

There is a direct correlation between winning in the offseason of winning in the real season, and Owl fans have to feel good about what their head coach is doing this offseason.

Monday: What Temple’s TV schedule means

Wednesday:  Differences Between Al and Daz

Friday: New Approach for Army

04.29.16
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Football Stadium Protesters Misguided

 

How cool would it be for one of these to show up at the next protest?

There aren’t many great sports fantasies left out there but, if I had one, the next time the Stadium Stompers had a rally against the proposed new stadium at Temple, a wicked dust devil would descend upon the crowd and all of the “No New Stadium” signs would be blown away.

In the above video, you can see a cow mascot pretty much oblivious to everything. I do not know if the Stadium Stompers have a mascot, but I would suggest a horse’s ass because that’s how oblivious they have been to the facts surrounding the stadium.

more

From the FAQ section of the Stadium  Stompers’ website. Since the new stadium “takes over” only Geasey Field, which Temple has had for the past 40 years, the word “more” is invalid. Wonder where these people were when Temple built the SAC, Morgan Hall and the Library? All are similarly inside campus-owned property.

Facts are pesky things and they often get in the way of emotions, but the stompers do not have much off a point.  They seem to have two main objections to the stadium. One is that the university will infringe on lands beyond its campus and another concern is that the money used for a stadium can be used on other projects, like a health clinic.  “No New Stadium” signs are popping all over campus even though polls by both the student newspaper and television station demonstrated overwhelming support for a stadium from the student body as a whole.

nonew

Got to wonder what  their problem is when the stadium will be entirely within the campus. That “students say no” sign is incorrect. Every single survey of students show widespread support of a new stadium.

When those two points are easily debunked—the land for a stadium exists entirely on the site of a turf complex, Geasey Field, all entirely inside the campus—the protesters do not want to hear it. Since the money for the stadium will be entirely raised by private donations from stadium supporters, that objection is also unfounded.  Imagine Temple fund-raisers going to deep-pocketed donors and saying, “Sorry, change of plans. You know that $15 million donation you gave to a stadium? Can we use that for a health clinic instead?” Phones would be hanging up all over the Philadelphia area. It’s not an either/or proposition; the money will go to a stadium or there would be no money. At least that’s the way things are supposed to work in a free marketplace. Big donors will give big money to projects they support and, generally speaking, it is easier to raise money for a stadium than a health clinic.

When Temple head coach Matt Rhule was wooed by Missouri at the end of last year, the university convinced him to stay with a hefty pay raise and a commitment to “improved facilities” and that meant a stadium.  The new contract did not say anything about improved facilities unless a lot of protesters objected.

This is what Temple will have to deal with until a stadium is built and probably beyond, but while protesters might have an issue they feel is worthwhile, sometimes a little research would save both shoe leather and needless stress.

Sunday: Draft Aftermath For Temple

04.27.16
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Frank Nutile: Only One Play Away

Hopefully, the Owls can get Frank some mop-up duty in a 49-14 win at Penn State.

On the list of things a head coach has to worry about between the time that spring football ends and summer camp begins is backup quarterback but when the subject is Temple football and the head coach is Matt Rhule that item has to be thumbtacked at the top of the list.

It appears as though Frank Nutile, a former star at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, has won the job but that should not stop Rhule from biting his fingernails until August. Nutile clearly looked better than the other backup hopeful, Logan Marchi, but facts are facts and the facts are that neither quarterback has any experience to speak of playing in a real game.

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Frank on his signing day.

The stats show Nutile (pronounced NEW TILE) completed one pass for four yards in a 49-14 win over visiting Tulane. Since it was a rollout designed to get him away from pressure, there was not much to tell from that appearance. More telling was the fact that the coaching staff kept starter P.J. Walker in for 99.9 percent of the other plays in a 14-game season, an indication that the staff was addicted to the comfort level a four-year starter like Walker provides.  Remember, Walker played four games with a separated left shoulder and that would not have been possible had the cheap shot hit in the PSU game come on his right shoulder.

Walker has been someone the Owls could count on the last four years but that, like everything in college football, is subject to change.

The Owls are going to have to wean themselves off that formula this year and one way is for the staff to work more playing time in for Nutile in the opener against Army and the second game against Stony Brook. If things go as expected, the Owls should have a comfortable lead in the first game and a larger one than that in the second game, and having a guy like Nutile shake off the rust in those games can only increase the comfort level in later ones.

The closest the Owls could get to real football was the spring game when redshirt sophomore Nutile threw a touchdown pass. It should have been enough to get him some more time in the fall. If not, the Owls will be forced to burn the redshirt of three-star recruit Anthony Russo and they do not want to do that.

If they have to, though, they should and they will.

Friday: Stadium Stompers and Dust Devils

Sunday: What The NFL Draft Means for Temple

 

 

04.19.16
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5 Things Learned From Spring Practice

Connecticut v Temple

Sharif Finch #56, Tavon Young #1, Jahad Thomas #5, and Dion Dawkins #66 of the Temple Owls celebrate with the American Conference East Division trophy. Most of the guys in this photo return.  (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

The outside perception of Temple football is that the Owls lost so much senior leadership that they cannot possibly repeat as AAC East champions, let alone contend for the title.

Temple fans know differently, though, because the tradition of single-digit numbers dictates the Owls have plenty of battle-tested leadership returning. Teammates vote single digits to the nine toughest players on the team and five of those single-digit players from last year are returning this season. That’s a solid enough foundation of both leadership and toughness returning for the Owls to make a significant run at the overall title.

Other than the bombshell of three-year starting receiver Romond Deloatch being switched to defense, the Owls had a number of surprising developments coming out of the annual Cherry and White game on Saturday. These five stood out most for head coach Matt Rhule’s team.

Connecticut v Temple

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

5. Jahad Thomas Could Be Switched To Slot

Thomas was named first-team All-AAC tailback with 17 rushing touchdowns and 1,287 rushing yards, but all six of his 100-yard games were in the first half of the season. To maximize his game-breaking talent and preserve his body, Rhule said Thomas could be split out and used as a slot receiver.

Temple v SMU

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

4. Ryquell Armstead Leads Tailback War

The war for starting tailback appears to be won by sophomore Ryquell Armstead, whose experience as a high school track star—he ran a New Jersey state-best 10.8 in the 100 meters as a senior—makes him a home run threat. Do not sell another sophomore, Jager Gardner, short. Against SMU, Gardner had the longest run from scrimmage, a 96-yard touchdown, in Temple history.

AAC Championship - Temple v Houston

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

3. Sean Chandler Moves To Safety

Only two players in the nation had multiple interception returns for touchdowns and one was Temple cornerback Sean Chandler. With the emergence of four-star recruit Kareem Ali Jr. at one corner, Chandler could take those break-on-the-ball instincts to the middle of the field and play safety.

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2. Linebackers Strength Of Defense

While Temple opponents can be comforted by the fact that All-American linebacker Tyler Matakevich has graduated, Temple fans know the real deal is that three starting linebackers—Avery Williams (2), Jarred Alwan (41) and Stephaun Marshall (6)—return with a total of 40 starts under their belts. “Our chemistry was ridiculous (in spring practice),” Alwan said. That meant ridiculously good, not ridiculously bad.

AAC Championship - Temple v Houston

  (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

  1. QB P.J. Walker Is Difference-Maker

While the focus is on Houston quarterback Greg Ward and USF quarterback Quenton Flowers, P.J. Walker could be the conference’s best quarterback this season. If he makes the same jump from junior to senior year as he did from sophomore to junior season, the Owls could take home the AAC title. Walker jumped from 13 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions as a sophomore to a 19 and eight as a junior. A similar jump should mean a title.

Thursday: Real Key To Season

04.17.16
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Deloatch Could Make Impact At Defensive End

Matt Rhule hits on some key points postgame.

The hard numbers coming out of Saturday’s Cherry and White Game were three touchdown passes by P.J. Walker in the White’s 35-25win over the Cherry.

That’s important, because Walker is going to have a big year and the Owls are going to crush Army and Stony Brook in their first two games. With a four-year starter like Walker at quarterback, I also like their chances against anybody Penn State uses at quarterback in the third, which leads us to the rest of the story (as Paul Harvey likes to say).

Putting pressure on that PSU quarterback is going be more important and a guy like Romond Deloatch could hold that key.

Romond Deloatch, Temple football,

When we last saw Romond Deloatch, he was walking off the field in disgust following the Toledo game.

Three years ago, Matt Rhule dipped into Charlie Strong’s playbook when he decided to discipline wide receiver Romond Deloatch for missing a team meeting. As a punishment, Rhule put Deloatch on defense.

The only punishing done that day, though, was by Deloatch, who had what is believed to be a team-high seven sacks in a scrimmage. The move was reminiscent of Strong, then the Louisville head coach, who punished a quarterback named Marcus Smith by putting him at defensive end in a practice four years ago.

sked

The difference, though, was Strong kept Smith at end and he became a first-round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles.  Rhule, having made his point, put Deloatch back at starting wide receiver for Temple. Rhule and the defensive coaches filed away that sophomore performance and now Deloatch is back at defensive end in Saturday’s annual spring game. Quarterback P.J. Walker’s White team beat Deloatch’s Cherry team, 35-25, but the score in these games are never has important as the personnel moves and Deloatch’s is certainly one of the most unusual in Temple history.

At times, Deloatch appeared unblockable, but because the quarterback was not “live” there were no stats kept on sacks. Like Smith, though, Deloatch’s long arms, leaping ability, first step to the quarterback and lean frame (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), make him an intriguing weapon at defensive end. At the very least, the experiment will continue into the fall and Deloatch could be a specialty pass rusher in third-and-long situations. Either way, if Deloatch is able to disrupt things there are a whole lot of talented guys on that DL that can contribute to collapsing the pocket, too.

If he gets seven sacks in the opener against Army, and seven more against Stony Brook, the PSU quarterback—whoever he is—might be wise to take out an insurance policy.

Tuesday: 5 Things We’ve Learned This Spring

Thursday: The Real Key to the Season

Saturday: Opponents Spring Games

04.09.16
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Who Is Marshall Ellick?

 

Evidently, Marshall was a QB in high school but catches some passes at the 3-minute mark.

Every morning the local Allentown television station, WFMZ, throws a question in with its weather report and the one Tuesday morning was: Philadelphia is a one-day drive from what percent of the United States’ population?

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Marshall Ellick last year.

The answer was 40 percent and the weather guy, Matt Broderick, made clear he did not mean one of those kind of 18-hour drives where you have to stick toothpicks in your eyes to keep from driving off the road, just a leisurely eight-hour or less one. It is one of those reasons Temple is in a prime position to be a football power, so close to so much talent and located in a transportation hub and world-class city like Philadelphia.

With so much of the population so close, it goes to figure that Temple will get its share of not only top talent inside that circle, but guys who are overlooked.

Redshirt sophomore Marshall Ellick might be one of those guys.

The same day Philadelphia was the answer to a trivia question on TV, Temple football head coach Matt Rhule noted that one of those guys within that drive, Marshall Ellick, from Richmond, Va., came out of nowhere to be a candidate for a starting wide receiver job.

Marshall Ellick?

There are not very many things that surprise me about Temple football, but I have to admit Marshall Ellick’s name being a candidate to start at wide receiver is one of the biggest camp surprises in recent years. According to the participation charts, Ellick, who wears No. 84 now (and wore No. 14 in last year’s spring game and No. 24 last fall), was in a few games on special teams and caught no passes.

This was surprising not just because of Ellick’s lack of recent playing time, but because there are so many other guys who apparently have a head start on him. Guys like Ventell Bryant, Romond Deloatch and Cortrelle Simpson.

He is 6-2, 205, ran a 4.5-40 in high school (maybe he’s faster now) and is a walk-on who has a chance, some say very good, to start. As far as stories go this spring, it’s hard to beat that and just a reminder to print out a program before you leave the house on April 16.

Monday: First Game Week of 2016

Wednesday: Practice Concerns

Friday: Good Guys vs. Good Guys

Sunday (4/17): Post C and W Thoughts

Tuesday: Only a Play Away

04.03.16
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First Scrimmage: ‘We’re Not Very Good’

 

Sometimes you have to read between the lines when you listen to some of these early football interviews.

The biggest takeaway from the first scrimmage interview with Temple head coach Matt Rhule—which Morgyn Siegfried does very well—is that “we’re not a very good football team right now.”

Taken on its face value, that’s not good.unfinished

Listen more, though, and Rhule will say that Jahad Thomas didn’t play and Jager Gardner was banged up, but Ryquell Armstead was healthy and making plays all over the place. Those three guys are the keys to making the run game work and it takes just one to make it work. If the run game works, then the rest of the offense works because P.J. Walker’s fakes into the belly of any running back make passing plays much more effective.

 

If the run game is working, then Walker’s fakes to, say, Jager Gardner, bring the linebackers and the safeties closer to the line of scrimmage and the seams in the passing game become that much more open for guys like Adonis Jennings, Ventell Bryant, Cortrelle Simpson, Romond Deloatch, Kip Patton and Colin Thompson. If Jahad is still banged up, more reason to split him out and make him an explosive stretch-the-field receiver where he will be less banged up. It’s not like the Owls are thin on game-breaking running backs.

Small gains in the run game lead to explosive plays in the passing game.

Then, listen to the defensive coaches interview and a whole different viewpoint emerges. “Our chemistry is ridiculous,” was one comment Jared Alwan made of the linebackers and he meant ridiculously good, not ridiculously bad.

The truth is somewhere in between “we’re not a very good football team right now” and “we’re going to be very good by April 16.”

And, hopefully, better by September. It’s all coachspeak right now until then. In my mind, this is a 10-11 win team and nothing anyone says other than an injury to Walker changes that paradigm.

Tuesday: Temple’s 99 percent

Thursday: 5 Questions That Need To Be Asked

03.22.16
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Promise Keepers

Matt Rhule talks assistants and Logan Marchi in this video among other topics.

Chances are former Colorado head football coach Bill McCartney will not be looking to recruit Matt Rhule to the religion he founded called Promise Keepers.

One of the tenants of that religion is the “three strikes and you are out” rule, meaning three promises broken, find another religion.

Rhule already is oh-for-two in the Temple football promise department but many think—this writer included—that he has a very good chance of making good on both promises this year.

Matt Rhule, Temple football,

Matt Rhule’s promise of giving Nick Sharga the ball may be no BS this season.

The first promise came a few days after he was hired as Temple head coach in December of 2012. Speaking to a “crowd” of about 4,500 at a basketball game, Rhule promised that he would “win league championships at Temple.” Close, but an AAC East trophy does not count.

The second promise came before a smaller group of people, those holding notepads and tape recorders before Temple’s game with UConn. Talking about fullback Nick Sharga, he went on and on praising the guy and then said, “we are going to give him the ball some time this year, I promise you that.”

UConn came and went and no Sharga carries, as did the Houston game and the bowl game.

No worries because one of the most interesting items coming out of an early spring practice was that Rhule stated that Sharga will be a full-time fullback this fall. That is great news for a couple of reasons. On several of Jahad Thomas’ 17 touchdown runs, there is clear evidence of Thomas following a terrific lead block by Sharga. Thomas will be the first to tell you that Sharga’s blocks helped make the running game go. So Thomas or Jager Gardner or Ryquell Armstead or David Hood following a road-grader like Sharga through the hole means the running game will be going in the right direction this season.

The second great news part of this is that the defensive coaches must have confidence in the returning linebackers, single-digit guys like Stephaun Marshall and Avery Williams and Jared Alwan and redshirt freshman Chap Russell are coming along quite nicely. Sharga played much of last spring at linebacker and Temple football alum will tell you he was the second-most impressive linebacker on the team, behind only Tyler Matakevich.

New run game coordinator George DeLeone has been around the block to know the effectiveness of the fullback kick-out block in a team’s overall run game, so maybe when Rhule forgets the promise to give Sharga the ball, DeLeone will remind him with a friendly nudge.

Who knows? Maybe keeping the second promise at least a couple of times will make  the first promise just a tad easier to attain.

Tomorrow: Thoughts On The One and Only Doc Chodoff