In a perfect off-season Temple football world, Stan Drayton would have convinced Carson Steele to make the jump from Ball State to the Owls and he would have given currently unemployed defensive coordinator Chuck Heater the same job at Temple.

Off and running, at least in my opinion, toward a POSSIBLE American Athletic Conference championship on Dec. 2, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field.

Honestly cannot have those expectations now because at least in those two areas the Owls came up short in the planning and hiring departments.

In the last six years where Heater was a sole DC, his defenses held opponents under 20 points per game. In the same six years as a sole DC, Drayton’s hire–buddy Everett Withers–allowed opposing offenses over 30 points a game.

Big difference.

Bigger difference is in the running game, though.

Instead of adding one of the 21 portal players who were 1,000-yard running backs, the Owls went for a guy from a worse team, FIU, who had half the yards of their own Edward Saydee. In case you missed it, the Owls were 131st in run-game efficiency and Saydee was their No. 1 back.

There are only 131 teams in FBS football and, after that, that’s where the FCS starts.

Not good.

Terrible, in fact.

Couldn’t be worse.

Ugh.

E.J. Wilson was that guy and I think Saydee will hold off that challenge and keep his job. Steele would have taken it.

Steele went to UCLA and another 1,000-yard back, Sean Tyler (Western Michigan), committed to Minnesota. Despite those being two P5 teams, I really that Temple could have convinced one to come East due to the fact that Drayton is a Running Game whisperer and the Owls really, really needed a stud running back. (UCLA and Minny didn’t have anywhere near the same need.)

Adding a Heater and a Steele would have gotten me pumped about an AAC title run for the Owls. Add both and I put money on it.

I’ve recalibrated my expectations just a little. It’s not championship or bust but bowl game or bust. If this team doesn’t win at least six games, I fear for the future of the sport at Temple.

I think one of the new AAC teams (UTSA or UAB) or even holdover Memphis or ECU are way more likely than the Owls to win the title this season.

Prove me wrong, Stan.

One of those “prove me wrong games” will come Oct. 7, when UTSA with quarterback Frank Walker is in Philly to play Temple and quarterback E.J. Warner in Homecoming Game guaranteed to sell over 30,000 tickets.

Win that game and the Owls might surprise everyone.

Still, the reason it’s bowl or bust is this.

One, you are coming off a 3-9 season that was twice as good as the prior 3-9 season from a competitive standpoint.

Two, you did a much better job keeping players than most of your league competitors.

Three, your schedule is the third-easiest one in all of FBS football.

All of those factors add up to at least six wins, hopefully, more.

If the Owls shock the world and host the AAC title game at the Linc, not getting that big-time running back or big-time DC would not have mattered.

Nothing would make me happier.

Or, really, any Owl fan.

Monday: How to Fix College Football

Friday: A 42-year run comes to an end

Amazing to me how much has changed in seven short years at Temple University.

Seven years ago, Temple was coming off an American Conference Championship in football on ABC-TV at noon on a Saturday, a total dominating 34-10 win over the No. 22-ranked team in the nation, Navy. That means a major network that has reach in every single county in America had the Temple game on during a time when people are accustomed to watching college football.

From a cheering and fan standpoint, the game in Annapolis seemed like a home one for Temple as the 10,000 Owl fans in attendance made significantly more noise than the Brigade of Midshipmen in Annapolis.

Back home crime was an annoyance, not a crisis, but that was no different than the previous 50 or so years in North Philadelphia. On the day of the game, the several hundred fans, including me, loading up for the buses at 5 a.m. in front of the Liacouras Center had no fear of being shot or robbed.

A stadium on campus was very much in play.

Things could not have been much better for Temple students, grads or Joe Philadelphia fans.

Now it’s hit rock bottom.

Now, there’s is real crime, the football team has come off consecutive 3-9 seasons and the flagship basketball program has hired an unproven assistant coach.

Temple, the sixth-largest educator of professionals in the entire nation, is a large-enough school to deserve its own stadium on its own campus but even that is a pipe dream for now.

Maybe hiring a former Mayor like Ed Rendell (who has significant health issues) or (more realistically) Michael Nutter as a future President could facilitate such a dream but that remains to be seen. Temple needs a leader who can politically navigate the corrupt City of Philadelphia minefield but does the university even have the will to make a quick hire?

Doubt it.

There is a “committee” of leadership and no real leader at the helm. It will be that way for awhile.

Yet Temple football has a good leader, Stan Drayton, one week away from Cherry and White Day.

Despite that 3-9 season, Drayton has shown most Owl fans–including this one–that he is the guy who will lead Temple football back to the Promised Land.

The fact that the President who hired him, Dr. Jason Wingard, is no longer here should have no impact on the Owls’ success. For the record, I think Wingard got a raw deal. In the 1970s, when crime was nowhere near as bad on campus as it is now, Temple had 150 full-time police officers. Most of the time, under Wingard, they had 60. During his last week of President, they had 90. Nowhere near enough time to give Wingard a chance. Hell, they gave Aaron McKie four years to go 52-56. They could have given Wingard at least that much time.

Whose fault was that?

The same BOT that fired him.

Water under the bridge now.

Business goes ahead as usual and the business of Temple football is winning.

Drayton’s got this. He doesn’t need a President to tell him how to win.

Still, got to wonder what would have happened if the Owls followed the advice of their most high-profile, President, Peter J. Liacouras, who threatened to move the entire campus to Ambler if the City of Philadelphia didn’t relent and allow the Owls to build what is now the arena that carries his name. Even John Chaney, a lifelong North Philadelphian, supported the move out of the city.

Like the story says, Temple owns 184 acres in Ambler and that’s more than enough room for 30,000 students. Hell, the current main campus only is 74 acres. Plenty of room to make Ambler the focus and to show North Philly what 13th to 15th Street, Susquehanna to Master, would look like without Temple.

Temple would have built the E-O in Ambler, not North Philadelphia, and maybe a stadium would have been more possible there than here.

We will never know but I sure would have loved to try.

Now all we can do is win and hope the “select group of leaders” secure the campus and pick someone who wants to take Temple just a little back in time.

Say, seven years.

Monday: Cherry and White Week