Tag Archives: spirituality

10.26.24
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Administration now has its Stan Drayton answer

The great name of Temple University was once again embarrassed on the national stage. Thanks, Stan.

Most people in regular jobs get a three-month probation to prove they can do the job, then they get to join a union and have some protection down the line.

Temple head football coach Stan Drayton has had three years, not a mere three months.

Enough.

This was our post on opening night. Drayton didn’t learn that Simon was the better QB until three weeks later. I, not a $2.5 million paid HC, learned it that night in the first quarter. That’s one of many fireable offenses.

The Temple administration now has its answer about him: He hasn’t done the job, can’t do the job and never will do the job.

That was abundantly clear after a 56-34 loss at East Carolina on Saturday. The only saving grace was that Temple wasn’t playing at another North Carolina school, Charlotte, because that school hung a 55-37 loss on ECU. In two years, Charlotte’s Biff Poggi is 6-13. In three years, Drayton is 8-24. Same conference. Temple has better facilities and roughly the same NIL money.

Charlotte is making progress. Temple is not.

Who made the better hire?

This was our post TWO WEEKS before Stan Drayton was hired.

With another ill-timed bye week (why do we have two bye weeks in one season?), and Temple’s well-earned reputation of doing nothing while other schools do something, nothing will probably happen.

Something is a better option than nothing but if that something is to name defensive coordinator Everett Withers as interim coach, nothing moves to the No. 1 option.

Probably a moot point now since a new President comes onboard on Friday and Temple will probably wait until then to do something.

Temple has proven under other coaches–Wayne Hardin, Bruce Arians, Al Golden, Matt Rhule and even Geoff Collins–that it can win and be nationally respected in football.

This is what we wrote in this space about Everett Withers on St. Patrick’s Day, 2023, the day he was hired to replace D.J. Eliot. Withers gave up 56 points today and the defensive kids totally quit on him, despite what Stan Drayton said post-game.

Under guys like Jerry Berndt, Ron Dickerson, Bobby Wallace, Rod Carey and now Drayton, not so much.

We suspected this for quite awhile now.

Two weeks before Arthur Johnson hired Drayton we wrote in this space “we have a sinking feeling that he is the guy” and the sinking part was because Johnson was at Texas and Drayton was at Texas with him. Given Temple’s history of Bill Bradshaw being at LaSalle at the same time Fran Dunphy was there (and hiring him to be head coach) and Pat Kraft’s history of being at Indiana at “around” the same time Carey was, that was no bueno.

When is Temple ever going to learn that “buddy hires” don’t work nor should they be allowed?

Maybe after three strikes that approach is now out but that would mean someone other than Angel Hernandez, err, Arthur Johnson has to be the umpire.

Historically, the Temple Board of Trustees has given a new President carte blanche to hire his own major managers, including athletic directors. That came on years when the budget was even tighter than it is now.

We suspect Johnson will be gone.

After then, what?

New President John Fry is a Philly guy. It is only logical that he brings in a Philly guy to be AD. Maybe the new AD brings in a Philly guy to be head coach.

As long as that Philly guy is a proven winner as a head coach with recruiting connections within the footprint of Temple and not the buddy of the other Philly guy, Temple has a chance to succeed again in football.

That’s the formula going forward.

Drayton’s probation is up, and he should be out. If Fry wants to do something to ingratiate himself with Temple fans on his first day of work, firing Drayton would prove that he cares about the way Temple is perceived nationally.

Monday: Five Candidates