Tag Archives: Temple football recruiting

01.06.16
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Recruiting Overview: Brace Yourself

Montel

 

When it comes to Temple recruiting, I’m from Missouri.

Show me.

Trust the film is one way to put it, but  numbers and rave reviews in the newspapers is verification.

We’ll always have Montel Aaron, the Player of the Year in the Sacramento area.

Aaron, a known quantity, figures to be the jewel of the 2016 class.

The others, we’re going to have to trust the film because there is not a whole lot in terms of the written word to go on but the key question is whether Houston seems to have out-recruited the Owls.

Unless you are Stevie Wonder, the answer has to be yes.

aac

Here’s the deal with Temple recruiting: In all of those years where Temple was No. 1 in the MAC under Al Golden, the theme on recruiting night was that Temple was No. 1 in the MAC. When Temple is not No. 1 in the AAC on the first Wednesday night in February, the theme will be “trust the film.”

You can book it, but it seems to me that you can’t sell it both ways.

John Chaney would say always go  by the known. It was a good philosophy about both  basketball and football recruiting. Coach always knew when he had Rick Brunson, Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie to allow one of those three guys to shoot the ball. If anyone else shot it, he’d call time out and ream out the guy.

Here’s what we do know: Houston, a team that Temple should be on par with, is out-recruiting Temple by a large margin.  Temple had 100 big-time recruits in for the Notre Dame game and failed to land a single one after that night was over.

fredster

Not good. That was the night to make hay while the ABC-TV lights shone.

Maybe if Will Hayes had knocked down that pass, we would be talking about adding a dozen big-time recruits that night. Now we’re talking about zero.

To me, this was an important class not for next year but for two years down the road. Temple could (should) win as many as 11 games next year, but will slip below six in two years if this is not a dynamite class. I’m not seeing the TNT in this class.

One month until signing day and Temple has 17 recruits signed and the best is a quarterback from California. At least we have him.  Maybe Rhule and the staff will shock us all in the final eight, get Anthony Russo to de-commit and add seven more four-stars who everyone sees the film and trusts it. That’s what I’m hoping for, but not holding my breath about.

The final eight will tell the tale. There is a lot of work to do in the next 30 days.

Fortunately, Missouri won’t be clogging up the phone lines.

Tomorrow: Why Philadelphia Should Love Matt Rhule

Saturday: A Functional Temple Stadium

10.04.15
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Montel Aaron Could Be the Next P.J.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvKH-JcwW7U

I’ll have a No. 7 and a No. 11 from this menu.

There is no bigger P.J. Walker fan on the planet than me.

After going through years of Chester Stewarts and Vaughn Charltons, I know a good quarterback from a bad one and only two guys in the last eight years—Walker and Adam DiMichele—have met minimum daily requirement standards for a Temple quarterback. Chris Coyer won a bowl game, but never got the kind of extended run at the position he deserved so he didn’t have a full body of work from which to judge. Both P.J. and Adam could make plays with their feet as well as their arm and, in big-time college football, you need those intangibles. You cannot run an effective read-option play without a quarterback who is a running threat, and that’s something the Philadelphia Eagles  are learning the hard way. Adam was and P.J. is a great leader in the huddle. Stewart and Charlton never were. I’m a hard-marker and P.J. gets an “A” in my book, Adam an A+. The difference is that P.J. has two years to improve that grade.

I'm taking his nickname his Scooooby, give or take a few oooos

I’m taking his nickname his Scooooby, give or take a few oooos

Fortunately, this year the coaches are helping him with a curriculum that he’s better-suited for—a strong run game that (sometimes) includes a blocking fullback, setting up an effective play-action passing game. Temple is a better team when it runs for 200 yards and passes for 200 and P.J. is a better quarterback when he’s throwing 20-30 passes, not 40-50.

A lot (heck, all) of Walker’s so-called sophomore slump can be attributed to one of the worst offensive schemes ever laid at the feet of a Temple quarterback—empty backfields and four wides that invited blitzes and sacks, which led to fumbles and interceptions—and no pocket protection that a blocking fullback or even a max protect scheme could have provided.

That said, P.J. Walker will sadly not be here forever and it was great to see that the Temple coaching staff used the off week to pound the pavement for his replacement—even though his replacement is 3,000 miles away. Apparently, there is money is the budget to send a couple of Temple assistants on a six-hour plane flight to suburban Sacramento and, judging by the film, it was money well-spent for an acceptable replacement for Walker in Montel Aaron, who committed to the Owls on Friday night. Temple had a very good experience with its last Montel (Harris) and there is no reason to believe this Montel will not give Owl fans reason to smile. (For those who’ve forgotten, Harris went off for 351 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in a 63-32 win at Army in 2012. That’s probably a 56-game hitting streak-type record that will never be broken.)

I looked hard on Cherry and White Day and did not see anyone with the physical tools of P.J. that I could project as a replacement. Montel Aaron has those physical tools.

Aaron reminds me of a more polished version of Clinton Granger. We could not win with Clint because he came here raw and stayed that way. If Montel comes here polished as he appears to be and the coaches rub a little extra Pledge on him, Temple can win with Montel Aaron, and going to the other side of the football earth to get him will prove to be worth it.

Tomorrow: Temple vs. Charlotte photos

Tuesday: Tulane and UCF

06.30.15
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Reaching for the Stars or Just Reaching?

Darian Bryant

Darian Bryant

Ronald Reagan once helped win The Cold War with a simple phrase: “Trust, but verify.” When it comes to college football recruiting, that’s as good a mantra for any fan base to follow.

It looks like Matt Rhule’s first couple of classes were the result of some pretty solid legwork, based on the fact that many of his Temple recruits were also offered by Power 5 schools. That is not so much the case this season so far.

So far,  at least for the “trust but verify” crowd, the favorite recruit of the Temple football class of 2016 has to be Darian Bryant. The offensive lineman out of Chestnut Hill Academy committed to the Owls early. He holds a unique distinction among the several early Temple commits. He turned down a Pitt offer.

I’m sure the rest of the guys are nice guys and good players, but it is comforting to know that another big-time staff saw in Bryant what Temple’s staff saw in him.

Al Golden build a solid MAC team with a simple recruiting formula: Trust the film, but also reach up and get a few guys who were wanted by the Power 5 schools. The first player he brought to Temple who fit that later criteria was a defensive back named Kee-Ayre Griffin, whose interception against Penn State would have won the 2011 game had not Mike Gerardi—unrecruited by anyone else—returned the favor with an interception of his own.

Golden also got big Mo Wilkerson, who was a two-star recruit, but for every Wilkerson he got an Adrian Robinson, who also turned down a Pitt offer.

Golden, who could sell ice cream to the Eskimos, also made some serious mistakes tied to offers made at his camp. He was saw a workout warrior, Vaughn Charlton, complete 21-straight passes in a 7-on-7 drill and offered him a scholarship on the spot. Several Southern Chester County League head coaches, who saw Charlton play against a rush, said, “say whaaaat?” when they heard Charlton got the offer. In that case, the SCCL coaches were right and Golden was wrong. Adam DiMichele, nowhere near as good in 7-on-7 as Charlton, but way better against the rush, was a much better investment of a scholarship.

Golden learned to be much more prudent in offering camp scholarships after that lesson.

Got to have a good mix of both in order to beat the big schools.  Hopefully, the Owls will pick up a few Adrian Robinson and Kee-Ayre Griffins along with these (err, also hopefully) Mo Wilkersons:

Recruit Position Height/Weight Other Offers
Kimere Brown WR/DB 5-11, 166 None
Dan Archibong DE 6-5, 245 Army, Villanova, UConn, Delaware, UMass, Stony Brook, Western Michigan
Darian Bryant OL 6-6, 295 UConn, ODU, UMass, Pitt, Towson, UConn
Kareem Gaulden DB 6-0, 187 Monmouth
D’Andre Dill DT 6-3, 295 None
Branden Mack ATH 6-5, 190 Delaware State
02.03.15
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The Temple Spin Zone

Click here to get into the Temple Spin Zone. It is a lot like the old Twilight Zone, with a little less reality.

Click here to get into the Temple Spin Zone. It is a lot like the old Twilight Zone, with a little less reality. Not surprisingly, the show opens with Sean Padden’s microphone turned off. If you can lip read, it’s a great show.

Fox News has its Bill O’Reilly No-Spin Zone and Temple football will have its spin zone on Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. on National Signing Day.

It is considered a major no-no in the journalism business to call a subject you regularly cover by his first name. Par for the course or the MRAs at Owlscoop.com, though.

It is considered a major no-no in the journalism business to call a subject you regularly cover by his first name. Par for the course for the MRAs at Owlscoop.com, though.

No one can say how the Owls’ coaching staff will spin it, but pretty much everyone agrees that there will be a spin involved. There can be no other conclusion based on the way the Owls handled their other recruiting classes. The theme of past signing days I attended was Al Golden saying we were No. 1 in the MAC by all objective analysis and Temple’s goal is to be No. 1 in everything, recruiting, workouts, gameday, etc. Instead, this will be one of the lowest-ranked recruiting classes in recent years, with Temple ranked No. 102 in the country by one of the two major recruiting websites. Sixth in the AAC by one, eighth–behind Mensa-level Navy–by another.

It came down to the wire.

It came down to the wire.

I do not know how to spin that, but I guess that Temple will bring up all of the examples of two-star guys who came to 10th and Diamond and made it to the NFL. For every one of those guys, though, Al Golden was able to get a guy heavily recruited by a BCS team like Boston College (Kee-Ayre Griffin) or Pitt (Adrian Robinson) who really made a contribution at Temple.

Bernard Pierce, who I called “The Franchise” for his three years here, was a two-star who Golden was able to stash away at a reform school (Glen Mills). This is the way you build winning teams: Get five guys who the big boys want, stash a couple of guys away, and then do a tremendous job watching the film.

That’s what Golden did.

The spin tomorrow will probably be “we watched the film, trust us.”  That’s OK, too, if Temple is able to land T.J. Simmons of Lakeland (Fla.) and Adrienne Talan, a linebacker who is between Nebraska and Temple. I would love to get the Canadian defensive end, Mathieu Betts, who is between Temple and Purdue. If Rhule is able to pull off those three, the spin becomes easier to swallow. Love the legacy recruit, Kareem Ali. Jr., and the kid he was able to bring with him, Greg Webb. I believe both of those guys could earn starting jobs next season. That would upgrade the talent level of a team which already returns 20 starters and set the minimum bar for Rhule wins at eight. A healthy Simmons following a fullback, say Rob Dvoracek, could do some serious damage against Penn State. Simmons following last year’s offensive line without a lead blocker like Dvoracek would not nearly be as effective. Remember, Pierce, Matty Brown and Montel Harris followed great  blocking fullbacks  through the hole and enabled Temple to set up an effective passing  game.  Don’t try to tell that to Rhule, though, who thinks his “process”  of no running game, no pass protection and no wide receiver separation can prevail against any opponent. There’s a lot of spin in that gameday coaching process, too.

This is not a Golden class, though. At best, it is a Silver one, maybe a Bronze. I’d rather have the top-rated class the AAC, like Golden had in the MAC for three-straight years. If Simmons is 100 percent—and that’s a big if—he could be better than Bernard Pierce. Having his announcement rescheduled for 7 a.m. is a big positive for Temple, which does not currently have a franchise running back on the roster.

Keep your fingers crossed and set the alarm for 6:55.

09.14.14
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The Next Robbie Anderson Could Bring Some Juice

Temple commit Cortrelle Simpson catches 3 touchdown passes for over 100 yards in receiving on Friday.

Temple commit Cortrelle Simpson catches 3 touchdown passes for over 100 yards in receiving on Friday.

I don’t know about you but, for the last few months, I’ve heard about Temple having the “next Robbie Anderson” in the fold.

The only people who could stop Anderson were the Temple professors who flunked him out of school. (I would have done what every big-time school does and stash Anderson away in Basketweaving 101, but Temple has a lot of catching up to do in that area. Heck, Basketweaving 101 is how I got through Temple.)

Wish he were slightly taller than 5-11, but that 40 time (4.33) would make him the fastest player currently on the TU roster (Khalif Herbin has been timed at 4.34). Maybe he'll have a senior growth spurt and shoot up to 6-2.

Wish he were slightly taller than 5-11, but that 40 time (4.33) would make him the fastest player currently on the TU roster (Khalif Herbin has been timed at 4.34). Maybe he’ll have a senior growth spurt and shoot up to 6-2.

You know, a couple of guys who were about 6-4, 6-5, who could run like Khalif Herbin, catch the ball like Larry Fitzgerald, and have the moves in the open field like Paul Palmer. A guy who P.J. Walker can just throw the ball up to and the 6-4 size and vertical leap and Temple ‘][‘’ rubber gloves would cling to it. Then strong enough to break a tackle in the middle of the field and fast enough to turn around and make RAC yards.

Temple has played two games this season and I haven’t seen him yet. Temple’s best receiver is a 5-10 slot receiver named Jalen Fitzpatrick, who has done all of the good things we’ve come to expect of him in his last three years at Temple. This guy was clutch enough to catch the game-tying touchdown at UConn two seasons ago, so we know he’s solid.

Still, he’s not likely to do what Anderson did and that’s catch nine TD passes in five games and become virtually uncoverable.

If he cannot do it, maybe Cortrelle Simpson can. Simpson got off to a good start over the weekend and it is chronicled in the Washington Post here.

Hint: If you are 6-4, can run like the wind and have sticky fingers and currently are on the Temple roster, please start making some explosive plays downfield now. You’ve got a one-year head start.

02.05.14
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Temple 2014 Recruiting Class

Click on bios to read more about the players below ...

Click on bios to read more about the players below … and then the back arrow on your browser to view the next player.

Back when Temple played UCLA, I had an Epiphany.
Watching that game on that brutally cold afternoon, one thought kept occurring to me over and over.
“Geez, their talent level is so much better than ours.”
Because no matter how hard Temple huffed and puffed, things seemed to come relatively easy to the UCLA players even in an environment far away from the friendly Southern California beaches.
Yes, Temple had a 21-10 lead at halftime and, yes, Temple’s top player (Bernard Pierce) left the game with that darn sensitive hamstring of his, but the players UCLA had kept coming in waves.
Hopefully, I thought then, Temple’s talent level will do the same to another overachieving team someday.
Today might have been one of those days.
The Owls filled areas of need in pass rushers and defensive backs. Pass rushing seems to come easy to the Michael Dogbes and Jacob Martins of the world. The same can be said for defending the pass for the top DBs the Owls recruited. The Owls got one four-star offensive lineman, Aaron Ruff of Philadelphia’s Imhotep Prep.
The day Matt Rhule was hired as Temple head coach Donald Hunt of the Philadelphia Tribune asked Rhule if he was going to sign the city kids and Rhule remembered that today at the press conference. Hunt asked the first question. It was about Ruff.
“I could not wait to see you and say I signed Aaron Ruff from the city,” Rhule said. “Not every kid in the city is going to want to come to Temple but I want every young man to feel that Temple is a good place for them.”
Also, for the third-straight year, Temple signed a Newark Star-Ledger New Jersey State player of the year. This year, it’s Dogbe, a 247-pound defensive lineman who benches 415 pounds.
Coaches coach, but players win games and now the Owls have the players.
Hopefully soon, it will be enough to win big bowl games.

Temple Football 2014 Recruiting Class

  1. Cequan Jefferson | DB | Richmond, Va. – Bio
  2. Shahid Lovett | DB | Vineland, N.J. – Bio
  3. Derrek Thomas | WR | Albany, N.Y. –Bio
  4. Alex Wells | DB | Baltimore, Md.- Bio
  5. Michael Dogbe | DE | Morris Plains, N.J. – Bio
  6. James McHale | OL | Dunmore, Pa. – Bio
  7. Ventell Bryant  | WR | Tampa, Fla. – Bio
  8. Shamir Bearfield | DB | Jersey City, N.J. – Bio
  9. Lenny Williams | QB | McKees Rocks, Pa. – Bio
  10. David Hood | RB | Galloway, N.J. – Bio
  11. Aaron Ruff | OL | Philadelphia, Pa. – Bio
  12. Frank Nutile | QB | Ramsey, N.J. – Bio
  13. Sean Chandler | DB | Camden, N.J. – Bio
  14. Freddie Booth-Lloyd | DL | Cocoa, Fla. – Bio
  15. Anthony Davis | DB | Monroeville,Pa. – Bio
  16. Jaelin Robinson | OL | New Haven, Conn. – Bio
  17. Derrick Ingram | WR | Tampa, Fla. – Bio
  18. Brodrick Yancy | WR | Bradenton, Fla. – Bio
  19. Brenon Thrift | DL | Monroeville, Pa. – Bio
  20. Jyquis Thomas  |DB | Plant City, Fla. – Bio
  21. Jacob Martin | DL | Aurora, Colo. – Bio
  22. Delvon Randall | WR | Monroeville, Pa. – Bio
  23. Jared Folks | LB | Harrisburg, Pa. – Bio
  24. Matt Eaton | WR | Pascagoula, Miss. – Bio
  25. Khiry Lucas | DB | Cleveland, Miss. – Bio
02.04.14
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The company you keep

Rivals.com's list of Temple commits (above and below)

Rivals.com’s list of Temple commits (above and below)

thrif

You are pretty much judged by the company you keep.

So it is with the Temple recruiting class of 2014.

By all accounts, it will be a good class. Will it be ranked  by any of the three services (Rivals, Scout or 247) as high as No. 55?

Probably not, but we won’t know for sure until 3 or 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon when all of the faxes with the LOIs will be received at the E-O.

signingdaysnip

Click over the black image above for a TV link to coverage of the faxes coming in starting at 7 a.m.

Fifty-five is a magical number, because that’s how high Steve Addazio’s 2012 recruiting class was ranked and that was the highest-ever in the history of Temple. Addazio was able to put that class together even after a few great  recruiting classes by Al Golden, who had three straight recruiting classes ranked No. 1 in the MAC.

Of course, current head coach Matt Rhule was part of putting together those classes and now he appears to have put together a good one.

More than whether the class is ranked No. 55 or better is really not as important as how many guys Temple signed who were “offered by” BCS schools and not “received interest by.” When the bios start coming in, that’s a thing to pay special attention to before judging.

If Temple beats out a guy who was offered by say, Stony Brook and Kent State, that’s not as impressive as  Penn State and Rutgers.

If Temple gets a late commit who turned down a Sun Belt school to take a Temple scholarship, that’s not as impressive as Temple beating out a Big 12 school (as it did when a West Virginia commit flipped at the last minute two years ago).

There will be those who say “trust the coaches” but I say “trust, by verify.” If more successful coaches than 2-10 coaches like our recruits, I will be impressed.

Let’s hope that’s the case once the faxes start rolling in and Temple gets guys who can play anywhere. We should know by this time Wednesday night.