How Manny Diaz Could Win The Press Conference

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Temple fans are looking for Manny Diaz to win the press conference

Believe it or not, there is some news about Temple’s hiring of Manny Diaz that is not all that discouraging:

He can win the press conference.

Kickoff is 3 p.m. today at the Liacouras Center.

It could dribble out of bounds, it could go through the goal posts. It could even be fumbled by the bad guys or taken back for a touchdown by the good guys.

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“Mark, I’m headed up I95 but I’ll be back to replace you in a year.”

Full disclosure: I am not in favor of this hire. If you came to me and asked me who the ABSOLUTE WORST choice that Temple athletic director Pat Kraft could make I would not have been able to give you Diaz’s name because I never heard of the guy.  I could have given you a pre-outline of a worst-possible choice: 1) a coordinator from a P5 school; 2) a coordinator who has never been a head coach before; 3) a coordinator who has to learn how to be a head coach (probably for another school) on Temple’s dime and Temple’s time; 4) A guy who has never been to Philadelphia before and knows nothing about the city; 5) A guy who knows very little about Temple’s personnel; 6) A guy whose dad was a Mayor of another large city and probably longs to return to that city.

Manny Diaz fits all of those disqualifications.

Still, there is a press conference.

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49er and former Owl Julian Taylor echo the feelings of a lot of former and current players about this hire.

If the right questions are asked (doubtful since they weren’t last time) and the right answers are given (also ditto), the Manster might change my mind.

Here is a primer for the new coach:

Shawn Pastor, OwlsDaily: Manny, both Steve Addazio and Geoff Collins left these kids after two years. Can you promise to them and the Temple fans right now you won’t do the same?

Diaz: Shawn, nice to meet you. I’ve been following the Temple coaching changes from afar and I’m really sick about it. I can tell you right now that I have a five-year contract and I will not even entertain any offers from anyone until the conclusion of the contract. That is my solemn vow to you and these kids. My word is my bond and when I sign a contract I consider that a promise not only to my employer but my God.

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John DiCarlo, Owlscoop.com: Manny, you’ve seen the Money Downs and heard Geoff Collins call his defense the dark side defense. What do you think of that kind of swag and nicknames?

Diaz: Not a fan, John. This defense is too good a defense to give up 45 points to Boston College, 52 to UCF and 49 to Houston and earn any nicknames. We’re going to play a sound base defense and go for shutouts. I did notice that the last time you had consecutive shutouts was in the 2016 season. That’s one of my goals: back-to-back shutouts. Until that happens, I’m not giving out any nicknames.

Marc Narducci, Philadelphia Inquirer: Manny, what do you think of quarterback Anthony Russo?

Diaz: Definitely an NFL talent. I watched the film and could not believe they had him running a read-option offense. He’s a Pro Set quarterback. Even Stevie Wonder can see that. Let me ask you a question, Marc: Would Belichick have Tom Brady run a read-option? I told coach Patenaude this morning to pack his bags and take that sorry-ass offense with him to Atlanta. Any other questions?

Don Hunt, Philadelphia Tribune: Manny, what about keeping Ed Foley and Chris Wisenhan? Foley had the best special teams in the country and Chris had the best offensive line in the AAC.

Diaz: Don, I’m looking for a special teams’ coach and an OL coach. I’d be crazy not to keep those two guys. They are not only staying, but I talked to QB coach Adam DiMichele and asked him to stay as well.

Pat Kraft: Manny, I think you’ve won the press conference. Please get to work keeping our commits and getting a few of the U’s to come North to Miami. Gentlemen, in the words of the great General MacArthur, these proceedings are closed.

Friday: Fizzy Checks In About the Overall TU situation

Saturday: Reaction to The Press Conference

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Moving parts and the Temple football coaching search

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The worst thing Pat Kraft could do for Temple is to bring in another team’s coordinator

More than any other recent hire, Temple athletic director Pat Kraft has a lot of moving parts to deal with in his search for a Temple football coach.

At times this week, he’s got to feel like one of those contestants in that Lincoln Financial Field shell game–find the Owl under the football helmet as the helmets jump all over the place.

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The most important sentence is underlined

The moving parts existing now were not necessarily there the last time.

This team coming back is POTENTIALLY a great team, losing 19 seniors but only a handful of those seniors played key roles and, the ones who did, have backups that can easily replace them. (Just one example is losing receivers like Ventell Byrant and Brodrick Yancy but having upside guys like Branden Mack and Sean Ryan coming back.)

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Nothing will continue this train moving forward than two things: 1) a guy who has been a head coach before and doesn’t have to learn to be a head coach on the job or 2) a guy who is familiar with the talent at hand and how to use it.

Is there a guy out there who possesses BOTH important qualities?


The time for bringing
in a coordinator who
has to learn how to
be another team’s
head coach on Temple’s
dime at the expense
of the Temple kids
should be over

Winning now should be the most important thing and, Kraft has to be thinking if he hires the Texas A&M coordinator, the Alabama coordinator or the Miami coordinator winning now becomes more difficult. At least that’s what I hope he is thinking.

So, the moving part, in that case, is that you don’t want to hire a guy who is new to the team and takes a year to figure out the relative merits of both the personnel and the ideal offensive and defensive schemes that fit, you risk taking a team with 10-12-win potential down to a six-win (or worse) season.

Basically, that’s what happened in Geoff Collins’ first year. His learning curve was too steep and Temple gave up a free year so a coach could learn both on our dime and our time how to be Georgia Tech’s head coach. The bottom line is Temple got one good year out of a two-year, $4 million investment.

Finding a guy who has been a head coach before and who at least as a rudimentary concept of the current Temple talent probably is the best way to go. Buffalo’s Lance Leipold, who studied Owl film the week before he was able to devise a way to beat them, seems to have all of the moving parts. You can’t go wrong hiring a guy like that.

Failing that, Ed Foley–who was a head coach before (albeit a losing one) and understands the Temple talent and how to use it–probably would be a safe choice. Fran Brown would be less safe, but more welcome in the clubhouse than some big-time team’s coordinator.  The time for bringing in a coordinator who has to learn how to be another team’s head coach on Temple’s dime at the expense of the Temple kids should be over.

This time, finding the guy who maximizes the talent currently on the team should be the way to go.

Otherwise, Temple football will be someone else’s Guinea pig and finding a pig under the helmet instead of an Owl won’t get you that Jumbotron Prize pack.

Thursday: How Manny Diaz Wins The Press Conference

Friday: Fizzy’s Thoughts on Temple’s Overall Situation

5 Perfect Fits To Be Next Temple HC (none named Fran Brown)

The Al Golden Coaching Carousel

Well, it’s official.

Geoff Collins is packing his bags this morning and heading out that revolving door which is the coach’s office at the Edberg-Olson Complex.

The ex-Temple head coach turned back-to-back 10-win seasons into a seven- and 8-win season (with 10-win talent all four seasons), so excuse me for hoping that door hits him in the ass and leaves a few bruises.


The bottom line is that Temple
has been playing a game of
Russian Roulette by hiring
assistant coaches over the
past decade or so. Four clicks
so far and the program is still
alive. It only takes one bullet
to kill the program. …
Time to put the gun down
and hire a proven head coach

All it takes now is for one bad hire to blow this whole thing up and, to me, the only bad hire would be hiring another assistant coach who we have to find out can’t coach his way out of a paper bag once he gets here.

Just because you are a good-to-great assistant coach doesn’t mean that will make you a good-to-great head coach. The world is strewn with bad examples of that. Can you say Ron Dickerson? While the defensive assistant at Penn State, Dickerson was named the top assistant coach in the country before taking the Temple job. He almost ran the program into the ground. Can you say Bob Diaco? Diaco won the award for FBS coordinator of the year at Notre Dame and did run UConn into the ground.

I like Fran Brown, the Baylor assistant head coach. I’d like him to prove he could be a head coach first before we can offer him the Temple job. Otherwise, he’s Ron Dickerson and Bob Diaco to me.

Temple needs to hire a proven head coach now to take this talent to the next level. Fortunately, there are five fits that check those boxes:

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Al Golden–Checks all of the boxes. Proven winner? Yes. Good CEO? None better. Contacts with FBS experience? You bet. Knows the recruiting footprint? Yes. Moms like him? Yes. High school coaches in Pennsylvania and South Jersey welcome him with open arms? Absolutely. More importantly, can he win “at Temple.” He’s the only guy on this list who has proven that. Golden applied for and finished second in the Maryland job to Mike Locksley. He’s looking. Temple should approach him first. His last words when leaving his office at Temple (got this from someone who was there at the time): “God, I love this place.” He was 100 percent sincere. He can bring back Fran Brown to be the recruiting coordinator. Temple probably doesn’t want Mark D’Onofrio back so Al would have to find a new DC. Chuck Heater is available. Al, who first hired Ed Foley and Adam DiMichele, also is the best guy to provide much-needed continuity. Temple should court him like Prince Harry courted the Duchess of Sussex.

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Lance Leipold–Checks most of the boxes. Who better to kick Geoff Collins’ ass next September than a guy already has proven to kick Collins’ ass with lesser talent. Leipold was 109-6 (yes, that’s not a typo) at Wisconsin-Whitewater. I thought that was a rafting school. Anthony Russo would thrive under the same pro set offense that Leipold had Tyree Jackson run. He’s 10-2 at Buffalo this season, soon to be 11-2. If I were Collins coaching against this guy next Sept. 28, I’d worry. Leipold’s current salary: $325,000-a-year. Collins was making $2 million per at Temple. This guy would jump in a heartbeat.

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Greg Schiano–Checks some of the boxes. Knows the area, is a good recruiter and, like Golden, a “decent enough” head coach on game day who won’t knock your socks off but can win. Schiano proved he could win at a place that might be harder to win than Temple: Rutgers. Deserves a close look.

Turner Gill–Checks most of the boxes. The one-time MAC coach of the year at Buffalo (he beat Temple on an infamous Hail Mary in 2008) just “retired” at Liberty after getting that team bowl eligible this season. Ruined Matt Rhule’s debut at Waco with a win. His wife has a heart condition and probably a move to a great medical hub like Philadelphia would help her recover. Liberty is a hard sell. Temple is not. A tremendous head coach who is only 57. Probably could convince him to unretire.

Mike MacIntyre–The former Temple assistant coach had San Jose State in the top 25 and was 10-2 before taking the Colorado job. McIntryre is probably a better fit in the G5 than he is in the P5 and is a helluva game day coach. Would work wonders with Temple talent. Understands Temple and winning. Could do a helluva lot worse than him (Fran Brown for instance).

The bottom line is that Temple has been playing a game of Russian Roulette by hiring assistant coaches over the past decade or so. Four clicks so far and the program is still alive. This six-shooter has only two chambers left and it only takes one bullet to kill the program.

Time to put the gun down and hire a proven head coach.

Monday: Fizzy Checks In On Coaching Search

Wednesday: 5 Questions Pat Kraft Should Be Asking

Friday: 5 Popular Guys, 5 Red Flags

Monday (12/17): Pros and Cons of The Collins’ Era

 

Palmer’s Induction Special Night for Temple

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Bruce Arians, Paul Palmer, and the guys were “tight as a fist” last night.

The guys who played with Paul Palmer have tailgated near the entrance to Lot K every home Saturday for too many years to count.

You can tell them apart from the rest of us by the familiar cherry “Tight As A Fist” T-Shirts they wear.

The slogan represents what they have been as people since they first met either on recruiting trips or checking in at Peabody Hall.

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On Monday, as many as could fit into a car traveled to New York’s Hilton Hotel for the National College Football Foundation Hall of Fame festivities that were broadcast live last night (ESPN3).

Many more watched from home.

As a young reporter in my late 20s, I covered all of Paul Palmer’s games for the Calkins Newspaper group. In those days, newspaper budgets were large enough they send you on trips with the team on the team charter and then reimburse the school.

I flew on the team charter to Provo, Utah with Paul and his teammates and head coach Bruce Arians in 1986. When we left Philly, the air conditioning on the plane wasn’t working on a hot day and we sweated it out waiting an hour in a holding pattern before takeoff. When we landed in Provo, we had to wait outside for just as long wearing nothing more than blazers in 31-degree weather.

Temple lost the game, 17-10.

I interviewed all of them as a youngster but never got to really KNOW them until the last decade or so.

They turned out to be better men than players and they were terrific players.

In two of Palmer’s years, the Owls played the 10th-toughest schedule in the country and finished with winning seasons. With paltry facilities, they beat teams like Peach Bowl-bound Virginia Tech (29-13) and California-bowl bound Toledo (35-6).

The Owls have not played anywhere near the kind of brutal schedule since and, despite that backdrop, Palmer is still the school’s all-time leading rusher.

Palmer’s induction last night represents closure of sorts for the Temple program because he becomes the first Owl player to make it, hopefully of many. The Owls have a pair of coaches (Pop Warner and Wayne Hardin) in the Hall of Fame.

Now they have a player who without a doubt is their greatest ever. Long after we are all gone, because he is there, Temple will be, too.

Friday: Elephant In The Room

 

Temple vs. Duke: Made For TV

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Watching ESPN talk about 4 teams for the first hour was a little like this yesterday.

Not having watched many bowl selection shows (but just about every March Madness one), I figured the program for the day would go something like the basketball one.

You know, the brackets get released, comments are made, and the show moves along at a brisk pace.

The football version was like four hours in a dentist chair.

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This is the stadium the Owls will be playing in, once known as “State Fair Stadium.”

Beat the same dead horse about the relative merits of the top six Power 5 teams for over an hour, rehashing pretty much the same arguments that we’ve heard over the last month or so.

As Deion Sanders might say, “C’mon Man!”

This was my favorite tweet at the time:

 

 

A better show would have been to build up to the championship talk by listing every non-NY6 bowl game and keep the thing moving along. People would have waited for the Final 4 discussion later on and teams like Temple and Duke would have got the information they wanted up front.

I put down the remote at about 1:05 and headed for the gym, periodically checking my phone for twitter updates.

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Owls finally get the bowl bid they lost out on in 1990 when Louisiana Tech tied Maryland, 34-34

The winner for the first “Temple vs. Duke” pick was college football reporter Brett McMurphy, who tweeted that Independence Bowl matchup at 4:38 p.m. The first Owlscoop.com tweet confirming that came across at 4:51.

As far as the game itself, it will be a made-for-TV affair on Thursday, Dec. 27 (1:30 p.m. kickoff). The only people in bars watching it will be fans of either team who took the day off or just plain alcoholics who occasionally look up at the TV while passing out at the bar.

Not very many Temple fans will be able to make it nor should they be blamed for it.  There are no direct flights from Philadelphia to Shreveport. The cheapest indirect flight I could find was $700 with a layover in Atlanta.

No thanks.

Temple would have drawn roughly 6-10K real fans to the Military Bowl, but because that bowl did not want any repeat teams from the last three years they picked Cincinnati instead. Cincy won’t bring more than 1,000 to D.C., if that. VT will pack the place so the MB probably won’t need Cincy’s fan support.

A lot of Temple fans would have been willing to spend that coin for a flight to Texas to face Baylor in the Frisco, Texas or Armed Forces Bowl but that opportunity went out the window when Oklahoma made the playoffs. The Big 12 didn’t have enough teams to fill their bowl affiliations and that was that.

As far as the game itself, Duke is a team to be respected but I expect Temple will be a slight favorite. Duke lost its last two games and was beaten, 59-7, by Wake Forest in its last game. Still, the Blue Devils beat two ranked teams–Army and Northwestern–and that’s one more ranked team than the Owls were able to beat.

Beat a team that beat Northwestern and Army and the Owls will take a lot of momentum into the 2019 season so coach Geoff Collins’ goal should be to go light on the air hockey, beach volleyball and bowling and heavy on the game prep.

After all, Duke did beat Baylor, so beating Duke would be the next best thing and give the Owls transitive property bragging rights when Collins gets on the horn with Matt Rhule.

The Baylor fan base looks a little less diverse than ours. 🙂

Wednesday: Atlanta Closure

Friday: The Elephant In The Room

Monday: An Argument That Cannot Be Won

Wednesday: Comparing Seasons

Friday: Swapping the Bowls Out Fidrych-Style

Isaiah Wright: Temple’s Answer

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There are not many vexing questions out there regarding the Temple football team for 2019.

The Owls appear to be even more loaded next year than they were this year with the exception of one sore thumb question:

“Who is going to replace Rock Armstead as the elite featured back?”

The answer is right under our noses: Isaiah Wright.

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“If we didn’t have Jahad Thomas or Ryquell Armstead at tailback,  Isaiah Wright is capable of playing the position and I’m sure he would do a great job.” _ Matt Rhule, 2016

This is what Matt Rhule said about Wright after the then true freshman gained 48 yards on seven carries in a 38-0 win over Stony Brook in 2016: “The great thing about Isaiah is his versatality. If we didn’t have Jahad Thomas or Ryquell Armstead at tailback, Isaiah Wright is capable of playing thet position and I’m sure he would do a great job. The challenge, really for me, is to get him the ball a lot more.”

Rhule could never follow through because Thomas and Armstead were there to block Wright’s progress as a running back but at least he instituted The Wildcat for him. (I don’t like the Wildcat because everyone knows Wright is going to run when he comes out in it. The Wildcat is effective only if IW throws it 50 percent of the time and runs it the other half.)

Getting the ball to Wright was a challenge inherited by the Geoff Collins staff and, quite frankly, they have not been up to it. Wright doesn’t get the ball nearly enough even though Army coach Jeff Monken called him “a touchdown waiting to happen” in his assessment of the Owls before the 2017 game at Army.

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Our picks for today’s games

For the record, I like Jager Gardner as well but, for some reason, Gardner has disappeared as the Armstead backup. He did score a nice touchdown at UConn. Gardner and Wright should battle it out as Armstead’s replacement and the Owls will be in good shape, but I think that’s a battle Wright would win given a fair opportunity. Tyliek Raynor as a third-down back (a Dave Meggett-type) would give the Owls a terrific trio of running backs next season.

First, though, Wright has to have every opportunity to grab the No. 1 job in spring ball.

The Owls can afford to move Wright from receiver to tailback because they are so deep at wide receiver. Randle Jones and Freddy Johnson return, as does this year’s true freshman Sean Ryan. The Owls have plenty of options at wide receiver.

“Armstead is the toughest running back in our league to stop,” Houston head coach Major Applegate said after the Owls won, 59-49, in Texas.

Putting Wright back there would give the Owls that same important advantage next year as well.

 

Backroom Jockeying and Bowl Bids

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This is how the Temple team reacted when UCLA came up as the 2009 bowl opponent on the TV screen in the lobby of the Liacouras Center.

Speculation is running rampant about where Temple’s football team will end up in a bowl game.

The Inquirer’s Mike Jensen said it best: “Temple vs. Baylor in the Armed Forces Bowl. Make it happen.”

That would be the ideal storyline, maybe of this entire bowl slate outside of the NY6 games. Matt Rhule versus his old school, versus one of best friends, a guy who he helped get the Temple job. Who would Matt Rhule’s son, Bryant, root for? (Hint: he watches all of the Temple games on TV and runs to his dad jumping up and down when Temple wins.)  Philadelphia, the nation’s fourth-largest TV market media, would slobber over this storyline, as would the fifth (Dallas-Fort Worth).

Other than that, the only matchups that appeal to me are Temple vs. Miami (the real one, not the fake one, Independence Bowl) or Temple vs. Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl. Temple vs Georgia Tech? That’s so next year, not this one. Temple vs. Vanderbilt? Been there, won that (37-7). Temple vs. Boston College is out because bowls do not do mulligans of that year’s regular-season games. Temple vs. Penn State? The Lions are headed to a NY6 bowl.

The idea of a Baylor-Temple matchup has been pooh-poohed by some party poopers (“not likely,” according to a source earlier this week). Yet it makes too much sense for the powers-that-be (Baylor AD, Temple AD, Big 12, AAC). Good storylines mean good ratings.

Bill Bradshaw, the Temple AD in 2009, made an ideal matchup happen and Pat Kraft can do the same.

eaglebankbowl

The Eagle Bank Bowl, then in Washington, D.C., had no affiliation with the PAC-12 or the MAC, but Temple and UCLA became partners there thanks largely to Bradshaw. Then, as now, the matchup called for a military school to play an ACC team but, when Army failed to upset Armed Forces Bowl-bound Navy, the EBB committee turned to the “most local” eligible team, Temple. Bradshaw wanted a high-profile opponent and convinced the MAC and EBB officials to help Temple get the Bruins instead of an ACC foe. UCLA, which was 3-6 at one time that season, finished with three-straight wins and became eligible.

Bradshaw wanted high-profile and UCLA fit that order and “made it happen” by some backroom swapping. Bradshaw delivered the bowl 20,000 needed fans.

Baylor fits that order now for Temple now. It won’t be easy, but Kraft in concert with commissioner Mike Aresco should be thinking of ways for the AAC to swap bowls and make backroom deals to make an Armed Forces Bowl or Frisco Bowl game with Baylor happen.

Even though Temple has been bowl eligible the last few seasons, there was never a celebration of facing an opponent like the one at the Liacouras Center when the name “UCLA” came up on the TV screen next to Temple at a live screening of the bowl selection show in 2009. The place erupted.

Toledo? FIU? Even Wake Forest?

Not so much. More like yawns than yells.

Baylor would cause the place to erupt on Sunday night.

As Mike Jensen would say, make it happen.

Hopefully, Pat Kraft is trying to make it happen for Temple in 2018 the same way Bradshaw made it happen in 2009.

Saturday: Temple football’s Version of Allen Iverson

Monday: Bowl Selection Reaction

Fizzy’s Corner: A Poetic Ending

                                         templetuff By Dave (Fizzy) Weinraub

(THE TEMPLE 2018 FOOTBALL SEASON – IN VERSE)

This Temple season started off really quite bad,

our heads were down and we were mighty sad…

In the first two games when we were upset,

most of us were ready to flush the toilet…

Versus Villanova it wasn’t at all sweet,

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cause the offense continued straight down Broad Street…

Against Buffalo, nothing much changed,

and I called a Shrink feeling very deranged…

A trip to Maryland featured coordinators Jekyll & Hyde,

who destroyed the opponent while changing places inside…

Then Tulsa was here and Russo continued to grow,

assisted by the defense and special teams you know…

We went to BC and played them really quite even,

a few different play calls would’ve had the country believe’n…

ECU came to town and there wasn’t much that could rankle,

except the coaches who let Armstead play on his bad ankle…

It was a torrid battle down on Navy’s grass,

but the best thing we did was to finally make them pass…

The game against Cincinnati is tough to rhyme,

but they helped us by blowing it in overtime…

Their coaches actually froze their own kicker,

who missed three field goals and there’s nothing sicker…

A win against Central Florida would’ve had us on the map,

but our second-half play calling fell into a trap…

We were at their goal line late in the game,

but two penalties and a missed field goal left us shamed…

In Houston our offense exploded,

but late in the game we almost imploded…

We were up three touchdowns with ten minutes left,

but a tired defense almost left us bereft…

Against South Florida our offense only scored thirteen,

but Isaiah Wright and our high scoring defense (# 1) kept us clean…

This year’s Connecticut team isn’t worth much mention,

but our fifty-seven points got everyone’s attention…

So all in all as we wait for a bowl,

we have much to savor though we paid the toll…

Our team has greatly improved throughout this year,

and though we’ll lose some great players, many more are here…

My hope is we play a power five team…

and beat them to prove this isn’t a dream.

Tomorrow: Backroom Jockeying and Bowl Bids

Saturday: Temple football’s version of Allen Iverson

Monday: Bowl Selection Show Reactions

A Happy Ending

Sometime after Temple did not bother to challenge an obvious touchdown by Isaiah Wright at the end of the half, a long-time Owl fan sent this message on social media:

“This is sad.”

The fan was not referring to Temple eschewing a challenge and taking a field goal there, he was talking about the utter non-competitiveness of UConn.

My response was swift and definitive:

“Happy for me. Any time the good guys have a lot and the bad guys have a little, it is a great game.”

On Saturday afternoon, the good guys wore the white hats and won, 57-7.

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This now becomes my second-favorite TU-UConn game (by a point).

It was reminiscent of an almost identical score in 2001 when Makonnan Fenton took a kickoff for 94 yards and a touchdown in a 56-7 win over a UConn team that was pegged to replace Temple in the Big East.

Wright went six more yards than Fenton did on his kickoff return, also the pivotal play (if there can be one in a 57-7 win).

You can have all the last-second exciting back-and-forth wins you want, give me a good Temple 57-7 win over that kind of excitement any Saturday of the week.

While the 56-7 win was a vindication that the Big East was getting rid of a far more competitive program for a less-competitive one, the 57-7 win becomes my favorite for reasons that extend far beyond that single point.

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It vindicates the Owls as one of the premier programs in the stepchild of the Big East, the AAC, and comes at the end of a five-year bowl-eligible run for Temple

Really, since 2001, the odyssey in this space I’ve always wanted for Temple football is respect and the Owls now have that on a global level. Be bowl eligible every year, win a championship every few years, have everyone say what a tough team Temple is and that’s all we has Temple fans can ever hope for on a regular basis.

narducci

In between pounding 90 wpm on the laptop and making a post-game video, Marc Narducci got this capture of Anthony Russo hugging Toddy Centeio after Toddy touchdown scored his first TU touchdown and posted it on his twitter feed.

It certainly beats the 20-game losing streak and (mostly) 20 years of losing seasons that existed between 1989 and 2009. (Only the 7-4 team of 1990 broke what would have been a 20-year losing skein.)

More importantly, a culture of toughness has been established that existed once under Wayne Hardin and Bruce Arians and was only was later given recessitation by Al Golden.

Fair to great hirings by Bill Bradshaw (Golden, Steve Addazio, Matt Rhule) and one by Pat Kraft (Geoff Collins) kept that ball rolling. That ball looks like it will continue to roll for the next two years because the current sophomore and junior classes appear to be at least the equal of any of the best similar groups of the Bradshaw coaches. The Owls have a great quarterback, Anthony Russo, for the next two seasons and seem to have a succession plan in place after he leaves with Toddy Centeio and Trad Beatty waiting in the wings.

It could all blow up if the Owls do something stupid and follow the blueprint of bad coaching hirings established by, say, UConn but having a ex-Big 10 football player like Kraft doing the hiring probably precludes that. Collins seems to fit this school well, even if his offensive coordinator does not.

We learned a lot about the Owls this year. Mostly, that sad beginnings can lead to happy endings if the culture prevails.

There’s one more chapter in this 2018 book to be written and, if the Owls are able to beat a Power 5 foe (I really don’t care where) and hoist another bowl trophy, that would be an even happier ending than the one that closed the regular season.

Baylor in the Armed Forces Bowl would be my heavy lean (negotiate a trade with Army by putting it in the Birmingham Bowl) and hopefully the crafty Kraft is working on that now.

Tuesday: Fizzy’s Corner: Poetic Justice

Thursday: How The West Was Won

Saturday: Temple’s Version of Allen Iverson

Monday: Bowl Selection Analysis

 

 

 

 

Welcoming Opposing Fans

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Former Owl greats Kevin Jones (left) and Joe Greenwood sent these USF fans home with a smile on their faces.

Over the years, being a fan is the derivitive of the word fanatic.

Sometimes, it’s a good thing, sometimes a bad one.

My love of Temple and my hatred of the “bad guys” (anybody playing Temple) sometimes got the best of me but, over the last decade, I’ve matured and become more welcoming to the fans who wear other colors than Cherry and White.

I have a lot of people to thank for that, specifically some terrific hosts of tailgates–like Steve Conjar and Sheldon Morris–who I’ve been able to learn from and adopt their attitudes.

Huskers

Mostly, watching them becoming good Ambassadors for Temple football, I’ve come to conclusion is a win-win for the program. When one group of fans from another school travels home, they can say what a terrific experience they had in Philadelphia with the Temple fans.

The fans you meet in person are often less aggravating than the ones who make antagonist comments about the Owls on the internet.

Take last Saturday, for instance.

The Sheldon Morris Group–which includes some of the great Bruce Arians’ players like Joe Greenwood, Paul Palmer and Mike Hinnant (to name a few)–welcomed a few South Florida fans into their post-game tailgate.

“It’s how we do,” was the way Joe Greenwood described it.

Despite the loss, those guys had a great time and will take the story back home to Tampa.

Maybe next year, the South Florida fans will recipocate.

notall

Err, just for this guy I’d like to see Temple ring up 80 on UConn, though.

I’ve had a few terrific experiences on the road, including one at UConn in 2012. Myself and the late great Phil Makowski were walking around in the parking lot at Rentschler Field and a couple asked us about Temple and we got into an interesting hour conversation about Eastern football, other universities and towns. They introduced us to two more UConn fans and so on and so forth. The Husky fans could not have been nicer.

The next year, we returned the favor at the Temple tailgates.

I’ve found the nicest fans are the Navy fans, but I’ve never been to a game at Army. Notre Dame fans were terrific both in South Bend and at Lincoln Financial Field. A steady stream of green-cladded Irish walked up my aisle as I sat dejected after a 24-20 loss in 2015 and shook my hand and said things like, “Keep your head up, you have a great team.”

Even though, we all root for different teams, the thing that binds us is our love of college football and our schools.

Empathy is wonderful but it’s learned and not inherited. UConn is going through a tough time now–as we went through once–and it’s important to win and party with class and Temple, largely, has done that thanks to a special group of people.

Hopefully, the goodwill reflects as positively on the university as the play of the kids wearing Cherry and White does.

Sunday: Game Analysis