Tag Archives: nfl

02.16.26
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Tribute to a couple of loyal Temple football Owls

When he had a choice of representing Temple or Washington, Tre always picked the Owls.

They say no news is good news so it shouldn’t be surprising when there is news on a couple of Owls, it wasn’t good.

First and most important, Tre Johnson–a great offensive lineman from the Jerry Berndt/Ron Dickerson Era–passed away suddenly on a family trip at the all-too-young age of 54.

No cause of death and it’s none of our business but it’s incredibly sad when someone that young passes.

Second and less important was the fact that Shaun Bradley hung up the cleats after five years in the NFL as a linebacker and special teams player. Ironically, Bradley wore number 54 with the Philadelphia Eagles and No. 23 at Temple before being awarded a single digit (5) before his junior season.

Both had something in common in that they spent their entire college careers as Temple Owls, something that will be less and less common as the years go on, unfortunately.

Both were leaders.

Johnson was drafted No. 31 overall–that would make him a first-round pick today–in 1994 but, then, it was high second-round. The pick turned out to be a good one for the then Washington Redskin as he made the pro bowl in 1999. Johnson actually spanned three eras as he was in the last recruiting class of Bruce Arians and played three years for Berndt and finished up with Dickerson.

Bradley was a sixth-round pick of the hometown Philadelphia Eagles and was one of the best special team players as a rookie.

In 2019, Bradley help bridge the transition between Geoff Collins and Rod Carey and was captain of the team in his senior year. The Owls won seven games in Shaun’s junior year and eight games in his senior season and Carey gave him credit for keeping the team together after Collins left for Georgia Tech.

Bradley had two key stops in a goal-line stand in a 20-17 win over 21st-ranked Maryland, which beat No. 23-ranked Syracuse, 56-21, the week before they lost to the Owls. In fact, for two straight years Bradley was Maryland’s worst nightmare as he helped win the 2018 game at Maryland, 35-14, with a Pick 6.

The second time he beat Maryland was one of the most exciting goal line stands in Temple history The Terrapins had a first-and-goal from the 2 and ended the series back on the 5, going for it on fourth down.

Bradley also had the key play to end Cincinnati’s unbeaten season at Temple’s Homecoming, an interception that ended the game.

As he went out of bounds on the Cincy sideline, he waved goodbye to that team.

Bradley said he’s “excited for the future” and we’re sure that Temple education will bring him good things ahead. His life is just beginning so, while it’s sad he’s leaving football, the worst news of the days was we won’t get to see Tre Johnson anymore.

Johnson made an incredible impact in his 54 years and will be remembered as one of the team’s best offensive linemen in history.

Friday: A Significant Difference

02.12.26
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Interpreting the Tyler Douglas departure

In this day and age, checking the Temple football roster on a daily basis is an unfortunate task for close fans of the team.

A simple check a few days ago by OwlsDaily.com’s Shawn Pastor came up with this gem.

Last year’s third-string quarterback–and the second-string quarterback two years ago–is not on the team.

Tyler Douglas.

When will this madness end?

I hate having to check the roster every few days, let alone every day but this is the college football world we live in right now.

Pastor said he reached out to Temple and the program has no comment on the situation.

This is where we are, though.

Douglas was a much-heralded recruit from the same school (Ocean Township, N.J.) that former Temple commit (and NFL quarterback) Kenny Pickett came from.

Much was expected, but little was gained.

Douglas was famous for two plays in his entire career at Temple, both bad.

One was a fourth-and-goal fumble on a tush push at the goal-line that would have given Temple a “sure” win at bowl-bound UConn in 2024 and the other was a botched up fake reverse pass at Army last year in a 14-13 loss. (The UConn thing was not my call. Mine was a Sam Cunningham-style leap with Terrez Worthy that would have worked but I wasn’t OC that day. As far as the Army call, I would have made it with Kajiya Hollawayne on the first play of the game. The reasoning was simple: Hollawayne was a 4* UCLA QB recruit and Douglas wasn’t.)

Two plays.

Two disasters.

Yet, by all accounts, he was/is a good guy so when Temple head coach K.C. Keeler told him he was no longer in his quarterback plans, if he entered the transfer portal, he would get a waiver to come back if nothing happened.

Nothing happened so Douglas ostensibly accepted Keeler’s offer to come back and compete for a wide receiver’s job.

Ostensibly, because one day Douglas was here and the next day he’s gone.

What does that mean for the 2026 Owls? To me, Keeler was being a nice guy allowing Douglas to return but, unlike him, I didn’t see too much playing time for Douglas at WR.

Maybe the Douglas camp came to the same conclusion.

Our stats are skyrocketing right now. Thanks to the fans of this website.

If so, that means Temple can upgrade the roster with a “real” receiver if it wants or save that scholarship for a bigger need, like pass rusher on the defensive side.

According to Feb. 6 data, Missouri edge rusher Damon Wilson–who had 3 1/2 sacks at Georgia–is still available, as is Ohio QB Parker Navarro and San Jose State QB Walker Eget and both quarterbacks have more receipts than Douglas.

Hell, they have more receipts than any of the six quarterbacks currently on the Temple roster.

My interpretation of both the Douglas situation and what Keeler has done so far indicates that they may be done at QB, but open to any other impact player.

Wilson would be that kind of guy who overshot his self worth parachute and pulled the backup parachute plug and could end up at Temple.

Hopefully, Keeler and Clayton Barnes are looking to the sky right now.

02.09.26
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One way to spice up the 2026 Temple season: Trickeration

The original “Philly Special” that inspired the next Philly Special.

Believe it or not, “trickeration” is a word.

The Oxford Dictionary lists it as meaning “deception” and indicates the word is used “less than 0.01” percent of the time in the English language with almost all of those references in U.S. English.

With Temple football recently, the word is used less than that.

Maybe 0.00.

If K.C. Keeler and Stan Drayton have one thing in common, it’s that they haven’t really pulled out a successful trick play over the last two seasons. Keeler was asked about that by Shawn Pastor and said: “I don’t like to use them when we’re not playing well.”

To that, I say: There is always the first play of the game.

Keeler tried one at Army late in the game with third-string quarterback Tyler Douglas throwing a reverse pass that was blown up when the Cadets’ leader on defense yelled out “hey, watch 14 with the pass. He’s their backup quarterback.”

For the past two years we were screaming for 4* UCLA quarterback recruit Kaija Hollawayne to put that arm to use but those calls fell on deaf ears. To me, the key part of the trick there is that we know he was a UCLA QB recruit and the Temple coaches know, but the bad guys don’t.

The bad guys certainly knew Douglas was a quarterback and that’s why that play didn’t work.

Deception is the key and, to me, trick plays might not help Temple but they certainly couldn’t hurt.

P.J. “You want to do North Philly, North Philly?” Matt” “Yeah, let’s do it.”

Almost all of the time Matt Rhule used one it worked out.

One year we casually reminded Matt that Jalen Fitzpatrick was the starting QB for the Big 33 game and he hadn’t thrown a pass while playing wide receiver at Temple.

“Don’t be surprised if you see him throw one this year,” Matt told both me and John Belli at the season-ticket holder party. Midway through the season, Fitzpatrick threw a 95-yard touchdown off a double-reverse at SMU, which remains the longest pass completion in Temple history.

ESPN did a show on the “Philly Special” on Friday night where Doug Pederson said “he saw first saw the play in a college game” and then saw the Bears use it in the regular season.

The college game?

Penn State at Temple, 2015. A wide receiver reverse to a high school quarterback named John Christopher, who hit QB P.J. Walker out of the backfield.

That’s why it was called the Philly Special because Temple used it first. The Eagles version also featured a high school quarterback, backup tight end Trey Burton, throwing the pass.

Real football games started on a Aug. 30 and ended last night with the Super Bowl.

Some of the games were more boring than others, including the last one. Trick plays add some spice to the equation, and they work more often than not.

At Temple, they’ve almost always worked and sometimes helped bridge a talent gap.

We talk about bringing back the good old days to Temple and one way would be bringing back those fun plays that led to big gains and even bigger wins.

01.29.26
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New Temple football Owls: Trust but Verify

An old Russian proverb was “trust but verify” and the first American to popularize it in the Western Hemisphere was Ronald Reagan when he talked about a nuclear deal with that nation.

That has applied to Temple football at least, well, forever.

It has been one of the core values of this site since its inception 21 years ago.

The difference between this year and last is that there is more trust than verification needed at least in two of the most important positions on the field.

Quarterback and running back.

No such concerns last year because then new head coach K.C. Keeler (with the help of General Manager Clayton Barnes) brought in the starting quarterback from Oregon State to ostensibly beat out Temple returning starter Evan Simon. Fortunately for all Temple fans, the talented Simon took that as a challenge and kept his job by throwing six touchdown passes in the 42-10 opening day win at UMass.

That solidified his job.

Yet the key point always was that if Simon ever went down, the Owls could have still won the same number of games with his $100,000 insurance policy: Gevani McCoy.

Plus, Keeler was able to bring in Sam Houston’s best player: running back Jay Ducker.

Those guys had receipts.

No such verifiables this year.

I feel a lot better about the Owls’ running game with Hunter Smith than I do about it with Rutgers backup Sam Brown. This is Smith scoring a TD in a 27-21 win over a UTSA team that beat league champion Tulane, 48-26.

While Simon’s remarkable 2025 season (25 touchdown passes, 1 interception) put him in the record books, he moved past P.J. Walker and Adam DiMichele into my No. 1 favorite spot not because of the stats but because of his commitment to Temple. There is no doubt in my mind that if the Owls decided to play in the Birmingham Bowl, Simon would have rallied the troops to play and win.

Yet McCoy should always hold a treasured spot in every Temple fans heart because he embraced the backup role, something unheard of in this “me first” era.

Both those guys were verified.

Now we get to the trust part.

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That’s all we have going into the 2026 season with three key pieces, transfer portal quarterbacks Ajani Sheppard and Jaxon Smolik and running back Sam Brown, who all have Big 10 roots.

Brown was the backup to two guys with the Scarlet Knights, while Sheppard and Smolik were third string at RU and PSU. Good, highly paid, coaching staffs saw those guys and said let’s keep them off the field in real games.

For me, a couple of huge red flags.

My trust at those positions to go Hunter Smith, who in my mind was every bit as good as Ducker, and true freshman quarterback Lamar Best who is the, err, “best” true freshman QB Temple has recruited since Walker.

Hope the trust guys (Smolik, Sheppard and Brown) surprise me but my money is on the verified guys (Smith and Best) carrying the day.

If Best and Smith are behind center on opening day, the Owls should be OK from a trust perspective. The others have yet to post their verifiables.

Monday: A Coaching Matchup to remember

01.09.26
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The New Reality: Is it sustainable?

From my seat at the Army game this year, I decided that Temple is going to have to find a way to beat the academies on a regular basis to have any success in this league. I was only able to attend due to the generosity of TFF readership. If you want me to attend a road game in 2026, please consider a small contribution today.

After watching one of the classic Fiesta Bowl games of all time, there is a reminder out there that not all that long ago Temple beat one of the two teams in that game by a couple touchdowns.

UConn was that team and Temple beat them, 30-16, a few weeks before that.

Both teams finished the regular season the same 8-4 record but the Huskies ended up in the Fiesta Bowl and the Owls bowless because one team was in the Big East (replacing Temple) and the other in the MAC.

That was exactly 15 years ago and college football has changed a lot since then.

Not for the better.

Short answer for players: You’re as fucked as the fans are and probably more because they have a regular job and you don’t. My advice: If you have a scholarship, room, board and cost of attendance, please keep it and stay at the school who showed you loyalty in the first place.

Temple was able to beat a Fiesta Bowl team back then because the playing field was relatively even as the Owls were able to identify top high school talent and keep those guys through all four years.

Now, no matter how good a job K.C. Keeler does on that end, he risks (and no doubt will) lose the best of that talent either the next year or the year after that.

The players don’t seem to notice how they are being played for suckers and that’s that sad thing. According to Rivals247.com, 3,156 players entered the portal last year at this time and only 1,511 found new spots. What happened to the others guys? In chasing riches, they ended up out on the street and losing a very valuable scholarship, room, board and cost of attendance … which, in the G5, usually averages about $3,500 a player.

The players (among them, a lot of really good ones) who lose it all in chasing the money and end up out on the street would be a terrific story for Dateline, 60 Minutes or any of those other news magazine shows but nobody seems interested in that cautionary story.

That leaves the fans holding the bag for players who make incredibly bad decisions due to predatory agents.

When you lose the fans, you lose the sport.

I don’t think it’s sustainable because North Texas lost its entire team after going 11-1 and will have to rebuild all over again.

Temple, on the other hand, is on the rise but what happens if the Owls overachieve and go 11-1?

They likely lose the entire team and start over again.

It’s not just a Temple problem or a North Texas problem. It’s a Tulane problem. It’s a Memphis problem. It’s a USF problem.

Ironically, it’s not an Army or Navy problem because those two schools have the Kryptonite that kills the NIL and transfer portal.

Yet for any team to win consistently in this league they have to figure out a way to beat Army and Navy by loading the box and selling out for the run. That usually goes against most coaching instincts.

And, after doing that, have a contingency plan on how to rebuild quicker than the competition.

Unless Congress acts and protects the smaller schools, that means a lot of winning seasons followed by a lot of losing ones and a wash, rinse and repeat cycle. Hard to build a loyal home fanbase that way.

Do you see a Congress that protects the big guy in other endeavors ever sticking up for the little guy in college football?

I don’t.

To Congress, I say: Surprise me.

Monday: Temple’s Secret Weapon

01.05.26
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Our predictions the last 2 years: One off, both ways

They should be breaking out the balls for winter workouts very soon.

One year we sold the Owls short. The next we oversold them.

By one game each year.

So close but so far away.

That’s the prediction business in a nutshell.

Having watched the final preseason of Stan Drayton’s Temple career, we wrote in this space that the Owls would finish 2-10 in May of 2024. We based that on Forrest Brock winning the job. When Evan Simon took over, the Owls got better but still not good enough.

They finished 3-9.

On May 23, 2025 we mapped out how each game would go and this was shockingly close to how the first few games turned out.

This year we saw what new head coach K.C. Keeler was doing (upgraded key areas like the DL, RB and backup QB), and upped that win total to six. The justification not only was the roster upgrade, but the fact that an established head coach and coordinators would eliminate the pre-snap penalties that killed Drayton, OC Danny Langsdorf and DC Everett Withers.

That largely happened and two single-point losses to the academies ruined the Owls’ chances of finishing 7-5.

On Memorial Day Weekend, we wrote the Owls would finish 6-6.

They finished 5-7.

We predicted a 24-10 win at UMass (it was 42-10) and a 48-7 win over Howard (it was 55-7). We also predicted a 34-14 loss to Oklahoma (42-3) and a 38-7 loss to Georgia Tech (it was 42-24).

Geoff Collins had the Owls practicing in the snow (2017). Fortunately, Keeler has a state-of-the-art indoor facility at 15th and Montgomery to weather any storms.

We predicted Temple would beat UTSA, 24-21 (remarkably close because the Owls won, 27-21), a 31-21 loss to Navy (Owls lost a game that will live in ignominy, 32-31).

We predicted Temple would beat Tulsa, 34-21 (Owls won, 31-30) and Charlotte, 28-14 (it was 48-14).

The one game we got really wrong was the East Carolina game. We thought the Owls would win that one, 28-20, but they lost, 45-14.

We predicted Army would beat Temple by three (it was by one), Tulane would beat Temple by 11 (it was 23) and North Texas would beat Temple by 14 (it was 27).

Not bad, except for a couple of outliers, Keeler and his staff outperformed the scores we expected. The bottom line is the number of wins.

We will be watching the offseason acquisitions, then attending Cherry and White and coming up with game-by-game predictions around Memorial Day. They need to find a proven starting quarterback in the transfer portal and then slowly work the future (Lamar Best) into the lineup as the season goes along.

By then, we should have a good handle on how things should play out.

Friday: Is it sustainable?

Monday: Temple’s Secret Weapon

Friday (1/15): Best Available

01.02.26
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What the Trinidad Chambliss story tells Temple fans

On the surface, Trinidad Chambliss’ story doesn’t say much about Temple football.

Underneath the surface, though, it tells everything about the future.

Why?

Because Temple did a very much un-Temple-like thing last February in offering Ferris State national Division II championship quarterback Trinidad Chambliss $300,000 to come here and compete for a starting job.

He accepted, and the Friday press conference was all set before Ole Miss swooped in with a $600,000 backup offer.

Bad news for Temple but good news for Ole Miss because he eventually earned the starting job and put his Rebels into the national semifinals.

What does it say about Temple?

It tells you that both head coach K.C. Keeler and General Manager Clayton Barnes have keen eyes for talent. There is a Trinidad Chambliss out there–whether he’s in JUCO, Division II or FCS–and the same eyes that saw the Ferris State quarterback will identify the next Temple one.

Maybe not Chambliss good. Maybe better. Maybe worse but there are no maybes about the eyes scouting that future Temple signal-caller.

“Their quarterback is just incredible,” Georgia’s Kirby Smart said.

Yeah, that’s what both Keeler and Barnes identified on the film a year ago today.

They were excited to get Chambliss and Chambliss was excited to come here before Ole Miss swooped in and got him.

Shit happens.

One team’s shit (Temple’s) is another team’s title (Ole Miss) but that doesn’t diminish the talent evaluation skills of Keeler or Barnes and that’s where Temple is at an advantage in this transfer portal season. Another thought is that Temple is so committed to winning in football that it put its money ($300,000) where its mouth was. Keeler knew that Evan Simon needed some competition and, while he whiffed on the first choice (Chambliss), he hit a solid double into the gap on his second (Gevani McCoy). If that’s not enough, here’s another Keeler/Barnes collaboration: They almost got Drew Mestemaker to commit to Sam Houston before Mestemaker decided to follow a high school teammate to North Texas.

Eye for talent indeed.

Four eyes to be exact.

They made a significant investment (roughly $100,000) in McCoy. They didn’t ask me for a contribution to cover the NIL but, if had the extra cash, I would have forked it over. That’s how much confidence I have in them.

Think about this: If Simon went down, Temple goes from 5-7 without him to 1-11 without a McCoy. If Simon goes down, and McCoy is the backup, Temple wins the same number of games.

That’s how this thing is supposed to work with a great head coach. One injury to a key player shouldn’t take out your season.

Nobody knows more than the CEO and the GM that Temple needs a Chambliss, Simon and McCoy.

Nearly getting Chambliss last year but getting thisclose means they will get someone good enough to compete for an American Conference title thisyear.

Those are the guys working the film room and that’s enough for me.

It should be for every Temple fan.

Monday: Reviewing Our Predictions

12.29.25
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Why the death of bowls may be premature …

Since about the time Temple was caught with its pants down on an invitation to play in the Birmingham Bowl (today at 2 p.m.), the conventional thinking was these so-called minor bowls are dead.

If you put $10 on North Texas laying the 7, as I did, this hurt. Otherwise, a terrific game.

As Mark Twain once said, “Reports of my death have been premature.”

At least that’s the way I see it.

Yes, plenty of 5-7 teams joined Temple in turning down bowl invitations, but hopefully the Owls learned a lesson from the whole fiasco.

The next time the Owls are 5-7–which is hopefully a long ways away–hang by the phone and be prepared to say yes. (Long ways away meaning hopefully the Owls have winning seasons from now on…)

Lessons are to be gained by the experience.

Sort of like kicking a field goal with about 20 seconds left to beat Navy at Homecoming. But that’s was a story for another day.

Today, we celebrate the bowls because, from what I’ve seen so far, the games have been terrific and, at least from an American Conference standpoint, there haven’t been as many opt-outs as I thought might.

North Texas’ best quarterback and running back decided to participate in a 49-47 win over San Diego State.

Louisville and Toledo cared enough to get involved in a donnybrook knock/down, drag/out fight.

Hawaii coach Timmy Chang eschewed what would have been a sure field goal from the best kicker in the country (nicknamed The Tokyo Toe) despite having to use his backup quarterback on the last play of the game because the starter had to come out for one play due to an injury. All that backup did was throw a game-winning touchdown pass.

The crowd of 15,000 at Hawaii–which looked bigger because the Rainbow Warriors have an appropriate-size stadium–went crazy. By comparison, Temple had twice as many fans for Homecoming and while it was a decent atmosphere, they rattled around in a 70,000-seat stadium that was never built for college football.

ECU got absolutely screwed on an inadvertent whistle but survived to beat Pitt.

Terrific drama all around in the bowl games and those were just a few.

In my mind, much more compelling television than shows I never watch (The Batchelor, The Real Wives of Atlanta, etc.) and, because I love college football in general and G5 football in particular, I get a kick out of every time a G5 team beats a P4 one. Plus, the sports programming on ESPN next months shifts to wrestling, volleyball and the kind of bowling where you put a couple of fingers in a heavy ball and roll it down a lane to hit pins.

That’s the kind of bowling I hope goes the way of Mark Twain.

I hope the college football version sticks around for a while.

Friday: What the Chambliss story tells Temple fans

Monday (1/5): Grading Our 2025 Predictions

Friday (1/7): Is it sustainable?

12.25.25
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Can Mason McKenzie realize Temple is the place for him?

Over a month later, Temple’s feelings about Mason McKenzie remain the same.

The Saginaw Valley quarterback has been the No. 1 recruiting transfer portal target regardless of position for K.C. Keeler’s Owls, but other suitors have squeezed in since.

Boston College fan not excited about Mason.

Notably Boston College.

Certainly, the allure of playing in a Power 4 league is something to consider but there are no doubt other considerations for Mason.

One, playing for a team who gave him (in his words) “a lot of love” and, two, quarterbacking what would certainly be a contender for the American Conference championship. It is a roster that Keeler has been largely able to keep intact and a culture that rarely exists in modern day college football–a lot of guys willing to stay and turn a 5-7 program into a championship one.

The only evidence we have for that is Keeler was able to turn a 3-9 roster into a 5-7 one in his first season, only three points from being a 7-5 one.

That all has to be weighed against competing against Miami, Clemson, and Georgia Tech on a regular basis in the AAC. That also involves getting beat up (and sacked) on a regular basis and not able to show the talent demonstrated on a weekly basis at Saginaw Valley the last couple of years.

From this perspective, not a tough choice but we will admit we’re wearing Cherry and White glasses.

Obviously, from Mason’s, it’s a tougher call because he hasn’t committed yet.

Hmm.

An offensive line that will be able to protect him enough so he can show his talent vs. a team regularly playing defensive lines that overwhelm a bottom-feeding ACC team?

That’s the decision Mason has to make the next couple of weeks.

Mason McKenzie

Another consideration is Mason has a chance to play for the winningest active Division I head coach in Keeler and that’s not an opportunity afforded for many college quarterbacks.

Also, Temple lost its top two quarterbacks (Evan Simon and Gevani McCoy) to graduation so the path to being No. 1 starter is wide open.

Mason probably had a lot of nice gifts under the tree yesterday but the one wrapped in the Cherry and White paper probably shouldn’t be ignored.

A Temple scholarship.

That trick play at the 50-second timestamp became the inspiration for the “Philly Special” according to Doug Pederson.

Monday: Rumors Premature

12.21.25
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Musical chairs could help Temple football

Every year pretty much every successful team in the American Conference is going to go through turmoil afterward.

Every team except Temple.

That might be the biggest football news of this offseason for K.C. Keeler and the Owls, whose wife has put her foot down. Both feet, really, firmly implanted in her hometown of Philadelphia, where the two met and married. She told Keeler that this is the last stop and he has agreed.

While Keeler is the CEO of the Owls, Janice Keeler is the CEO of the Keeler Household and the grandkids are here and every Temple fan should breathe a sigh of relief, really, for the first time since this whole NIL and transfer portal nonsense began.

The Keelers on the Bethany Beach Boardwalk last Feb.

That’s because, while there is some stability here, there isn’t throughout the league and Temple is left with perhaps the best coach in the league, although Army’s Jeff Monken might have a say in that.

Tulane played its final game of the season on Saturday night and replaced Jon Sumrall with assistant coach Will Hall. While that might provide some stability for the Green Wave, it also replaces a guy who won championships both at Troy and Tulane with a guy whose only head coaching experience was 16-30 at Southern Mississippi. He was fired after going 1-6 there in 2024.

Speaking of Southern Mississippi, Memphis hired his head coach, Charles Huff. Nice hire but if Huff leaves Marshall after winning a championship and then only gives a year to Southern Mississippi, what are the chances he moves on with any kind of success with the Tigers–maybe even after a year? Pretty good I’d say.

Hooter isn’t allowing K.C. Keeler to go anywhere.

North Texas replaced Eric Morris with Neal Brown, who was also a good head coach at Troy, but there are a couple of problems with that. Rumors are that Morris is taking his quarterback and running back with him to Oklahoma State, meaning that Brown will have to start all over again.

UAB replaced Trent Dilfer with Alex Mortenson, who has never been a head coach on any level, and USF replaced Alex Golesh with Brent Hartline, who was a coordinator at Ohio State. Unless he brings some Ohio State talent with him (doubtful), he’s going to have to rebuild that roster.

All are a year behind Keeler and the Owls, who have done a decent job of retaining the talent already here and procuring a dynamite freshman class.

Where that puts the Owls in the conference pecking order, no one really knows at this point but, thanks to K.C. and Janice Keeler, they are close to the top.

Friday: New Suitors for Targets

Monday: Rumors Premature

Friday: Grading Our 2025 Predictions

Monday (1/5): Temple’s Unsung Hero

Friday (1/7): Is it sustainable?