Tag Archives: movies

03.19.26
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Karma comes to Poteat, Kromah, and Badmas

K.C. Keeler trusted Sekou Kromah enough to take him to AAC Media Day with Evan Simon. Kromah stabbed Keeler in the back by entering the portal and now he is completely out of college football. Blame the white helmets. They are bad news both on and off the field. That’s the very definition of Karma.

Hard to believe three of Temple’s best defensive linemen in the 2025 season dipped their toes in the transfer portal.

One, Sultan Badmus, ended up in an objectively (not subjectively) worse place than Temple (Arkansas State).

The other two (Khalil Poteat and Kromah) are probably out of eligibility due to the courts clamping down on some previous lose eligibility requirements for JUCO players.

Hard to believe, Harry (Donahue) because the courts had been so inclined to give unlimited eligibility to a lot of players.

Had they remained at Temple, the fact that a staff led by the current winningest active Division I head coach (K.C. Keeler) going to bat for them might have convinced the court to grant their JUCO appeals and at least given Badmas a more high-profile landing spot than Arkansas State. Had Badmus landed at the real Arkansas (and not the State part) that would have been an upgrade from Temple.-

Even in a 5-7 rebuild, Temple would have probably beaten the 2025 version of Arkansas State (yeah, we know they made a bowl) but three touchdowns. They might beat the 2026 version by six touchdowns.

Pretty much oblivion for Badmus now when he could have gone out on a high note.

Sad, because a Badmus pressure in the UTSA game led to his tipped ball and a Temple interception deep in Owl territory of a 27-21 win. Sad, also because Poteat and Kromah generated the second-half pressures that made life miserable for UTSA quarterback Owen McCown.

Jadan Blue did all kinds of good things at Temple. He didn’t do anything at Virginia Tech.

Badmas was probably thinking Arkansas after he decided to go into the portal. Going from Temple to Arkansas State is a little like going from Syracuse to Buffalo.

Swing and a miss.

To drop down to a less prestigious G5 league than the American definitely was an impulsive move. He blew his chance to have a great game against Penn State at home before a split crowd of 70K fans and instead his NFL tape will rest on what he does at TCU, the same 70K fans all rooting for the bad (but not Badmus) guys. There is no way you can tell me Arkansas State is paying him more than Temple would have in the NIL. Say, for argument, that Temple was willing to pay $100,000 and Arky State $150,000. No way that should have been enough to move from the best G5 league to the third best.

So Karma is playing a part again for another player who left Temple.

We all know what happened to Jadan Blue. He went from being an NFL prospect at WR and the leading pass catcher in Temple history to transferring to Virginia Tech and catching only 10 passes the next season. He completely dropped off the NFL radar.

Karma again.

Stay at Temple, play for a great coach like Keeler, and put yourself on the NFL Draft radar.

Leave, seek riches elsewhere, and you could end up homeless.

It’s a cautionary tale for current Temple players and moreso for future ones.

Monday: The Replacements

08.03.25
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An ECU fan and a WVU fan walk into a bar …

Colby Dant and Ryan McIntyre break down Temple’s season.

An ECU fan and a WVU fan walk into a bar and ….

…. decided that Temple is going to be better than the Vegas Line predicted this season.

No joke.

One of them, Colby Dant, the lead broadcaster for The College Football Experience, even floated the possibility of six wins and a bowl bid. Dant is an ECU fan and his cohost, Moneyline Mac (Ryan McIntyre), was the video coordinator for Bobby Huggins at West Virginia.

If all Temple players and fans had the enthusiasm of this guy, the Owls would be in the CFB playoff this year.

That’s important because those guys never wore Cherry and White-colored glasses and can take a step back and view the upcoming season from a more objective standpoint than those of us who do.

That’s what we always tried to do here.

Proof is in the pudding, though.

Last year, knowing that Stan Drayton was the head coach and Everett Withers the DC, we predicted that the Owls would finish 2-10. Those expectations were so low because we had seen enough of those two over the prior years to come to that conclusion way back on May 19, 2024. Another factor was that one of our main themes was to replace E.J. Warner with a big-time newcomer at that position–even floating the names of Holy Cross starter Matt Sluka and Miami backup Reese Poffenbarger–but Drayton didn’t get it done. (Miami outbid Temple for Poffenbarger because, well, Miami but Sluka was promised more than TU could come up with yet was lied to and stiffed by UNLV.)

Instead, he completely botched the quarterback position not only by sitting on his hands but by misidentifying the talent on his own team by trotting Forrest Brock out as the starter over the clearly superior Evan Simon.

Who knows how many games that cost the Owls last year?

This year, new head coach K.C. Keeler not only brought in a big-time quarterback–Oregon State starter Gevani McCoy–but also was able to talk Simon into staying, where he currently leads a close battle for the starting quarterback position. Keeler also sprinkled in talented transfers all over the place to compete with the holdovers.

Others outside of Temple have noticed.

Dant isn’t saying the Owls make the college football playoff (see inset where the Owls beat Penn State in the opening round) nor are we.

Our game-by-game prediction last year had Temple at 2-10 and the Owls bettered that by one game. Our game-by-game prediction was/is six wins this year and it was posted in this space way back on May 23.

If the Owls prove us wrong and win one more game this year like they did last year, we will be toasting Colby Dant and Moneyline Mac from a bowl location in December.

Friday: New Digs

Monday: Depth chart clues

07.06.25
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TU football: After recruiting blitz and uni reveal, no rest for weary

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If the Owls get to a bowl game, the “Keeler Cheesesteak” will be Richie’s most popular.

The days of a Temple football coach heading to a far away state for a vacation in the middle of the summer are over.

Apparently.

While Stan Drayton spent the two weeks around July 4th last year at his home in Houston, Tx., this year’s new head coach K.C. Keeler is from here so he’s not going anywhere.

Keeler spent the day after July 4th catching a Cheesesteak at Richie’s on 12th Street. That “vacation” lasted about an hour and it was back to work.

Oklahoma fans are already making plans for being in Philadelphia.

I don’t know about you but it’s a refreshing change for this Temple fan.

Before Drayton’s jaunt to Texas, the prior coach, Rod Carey, spent the last two weeks of every July in Indiana with his family. Before that, Steve Addazio spent a week in Gainesville every June.

Drayton felt guilty enough about his Houston jaunt to mention on his own without prompting to Temple reporters that he wasn’t worried about not being in Philadelphia because he was “in constant contact” with his “senior leadership council” and that they were putting in the required work.

Can’t imagine how those phone calls went.

Drayton: “You guys lifting every day and getting in the sprints?”

Council: “Yeah, coach, we’re cool.”

Drayton: “What’s that music in the background? Are you guys having a party?”
Council: “No, coach, that’s music to lift by.”

Drayton: “OK, I’ll go back to watching my daughters at this gymnastics’ meet.”

Council: “Have fun coach.”

Drayton: “See you in two weeks.”

If anyone deserves a vacation, it’s Keeler. The month of June included a blitz of recruiting that saw the Owls sign the largest 2026 class in all of FBS ball. That was capped by a July 1 announcement of new uniforms.

Keeler apparently believes that whatever rest he can get is after the season because the preparation for 2025 begins now. The season includes a home date against Oklahoma and, while few Temple fans are expecting a win, it’s reasonable to expect that this won’t be another 51-3 game. After all, Oklahoma lost to a Navy team in 2024 coming off a 32-18 loss to Temple in 2023.

That you to the TFF community for a great month of June.

A lot can change in college football in a year, especially with the transfer portal.

The current Owls are undergoing rigorous drills in typically hot Philadelphia summer heat, supervised not by a “senior leadership council” but by a staff of proven winners, led by the winningest FCS head coach of all time.

Since college football is a 365-day-a-week job, it’s comforting to know that the people in charge realize that, too.

For now, a signature Cheesesteak and an hour away from the office will have to sub for a vacation.