Tag Archives: Pat Keller

07.31.26
by

Keeler and Keller: Perfect together

Cherry and White, 1978, in front of Temple Stadium. K.C. Keeler would be wise to be restricting the uniform/helmet combo to above (in case anyone can’t see, that’s a Cherry, not a White, helmet Ross Mongiardo is holding).

(Photo Courtesy, Matt McArdle, 32)

Everything is a lot more expensive these days.

I learned that the hard way this week.

Having been an automotive AAA member for more than 25 years, I was shocked when my $125 yearly membership fee gave me the “privilege” of having a new battery dropped into my car on Sunday for the princely sum (at least for me) of $247.

With my registration expiring today, I took the same car down to my friendly neighborhood mechanic. Trustworthy guy. Told him to slap on an inspection sticker and not fix anything that didn’t need to be fixed right away.

Pat Keller was a star quarterback at Central Bucks East. He volunteered to switch to tight end in an attempt to help the team.

Still, the minimum charge to keep the vehicle on the road was $525.

That’s almost $1,000 bucks in one week for a car that gets me from Point A to Point B.

Yikes. (I didn’t know there was anything wrong with the car.)

College football has also gotten way more expensive, especially in the area of player acquisition and retention.

So it comes as a surprise that the perfect coach/player relationship–not only at Temple but maybe in all of college football–is the inexpensive Keeler and Keller one at Temple.

They are both as “old school” as it gets and it’s for free or pretty close to it.

K.C. Keeler, the head coach, and Pat Keller, the longtime Temple backup quarterback, have similar values. Keeler has coached most of his life in the era where players only got room, board and tuition. Keller’s only motivation is something every “student/athlete” wants: Playing time.

If anything demonstrates the kind of coach Keeler is, it’s the relationship with Keller. He’s not the No. 1 player on the team. In fact, he’s closer to the No. 105 player on a team of 105 scholarship players but he’s right at the top of Keeler’s radar.

Give credit to Shawn Pastor of Owlsdaily.com for unearthing this gem on American Conference Media Day.

Pastor asks the best questions and it’s not surprising he gets the best answers of anyone covering the team.

This one is an all-timer.

“Pat came to us and goes, ‘Coach, you guys are set at quarterback.  I want to find a way to get on the field,'” Keeler said.  “And Pat is one of my favorite players of all time.  You talk about just a ‘yes sir’ kind of guy.  And has some ability, too.  So Pat has moved in with those guys and he’s competing.  And he knows for the most part it’s can he find a way to get on special teams?  Can he find a way to get on the bus?  But that’s just who Pat is.  He’s just looking for any way he can to help this team.”

Best line of that quote: “Pat is one of my favorite players of all time.”

Not the guy who threw 25 touchdown passes against only two interceptions (Evan Simon), although I’m sure he qualifies under those parameters but the fifth-team quarterback who asks to be moved to tight end so he can get on the field.

And that guy is making zero NIL money, although he probably gets a $2,500 COA stipend. That’s a mere pittance in college football these days.

Yet it says more for the way Keeler relates to his roster from 1-105 than any other story. That’s probably why he is the winningest active head coach in Division One college football.

That story costs nothing but is worth a thousand bucks, maybe a million.