Temple Football

Rumors are that the Big East may be no more soon (or will exist in all sports except football). Don't expect a sympathy card from me though. The way you treated Temple the last two decades, I hope you get what you deserve. Over the past 20 years, the Big East has slapped Temple in the face several times in favor of Rutgers even though I feel it was unjustified. While the move since has looked good for the Big East, at the time I thought the move was biased. You can push all in in poker with a 2-7 off suit and get lucky, but it doesn't make it right.

So here's the story way back when (at least my version, feel free to present your own). The Big East began as a conference in 1979. They didn't sponsor football until 1991. In the late 80's, many Eastern schools including Penn State, Miami, and Florida State, competed as independents in football. That landscape started to change. At the time the Big East had nine members and only Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College had FBS teams (remaining members were UConn, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, Villanova, and Georgetown). To begin football and to entice Miami, they brought in Miami as a full time member of the conference and Rutgers, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Temple as football only members.

Later on, in 1994 the league decided (against the will of the non football schools) to expand to 12 teams and invite two football members as full time members. Now the remaining two schools would remain as football members only so the criteria would seem to be based upon basketball and other sports (especially since more than half of the then ten members didn't even sponsor football). At the time, the Temple Owls were at the peak under John Chaney and made three appearances in the Elite Eight between 1988 and 1993.

If you type in "how loaded is loaded" into a google search engine these days, the first result will be this very thoughtful and well-researched post by MH55 on Owlscoop.com.
Before this post goes into oblivion caused by Rivals.com's limited serving capacity, we thought we would post it here.

MH55 got the idea, I presume, from the night of the bowl party.
Three or four of the boosters who had a chance to speak to Golden that night said that Golden used the words "we're loaded" for next year and followed that up with big cat-eating-the-canary grin.

Anybody with half a brain who follows college football, let alone Temple football, could have told you that. Temple returns 17 of 22 starters from a team which won nine in a row last year, beat Navy on the road (which hammered Missouri, 35-14, in a bowl game) and has 15 redshirts in reserve who many believe are better than half the returning starters.

Bernard Pierce (pictured) is no less than a Heisman Trophy candidate at running back, but he's got plenty of help.

Loaded?

Duh.

Yet it's not the kind of thing a head coach would say out loud, even on deep background.
The Temple fan who listed the players coming back did one better, loading up on names and positions.

Here is the returning roster (games played in paraenthesis):
Defensive Line:
Eli Joseph (36)
Kamara (35)
Robinson (25)
Blueford (24)
Wilkerson (24)
Morkeith Brown (21)
Custis (10)
Frenk (1)
Nwasike
Wise

Red Shirts

Levi Brown
Shahid Paulhill
Kamal Johnson
Geoffrey Prather
Tyreek Spain

Linebackers
P Joseph (27)
Martin (25)
Whitehead (13)
Namude (12)
Q White (10)
M Green (12)
St Johnson

Red Shirts
Caponegro
Onukwuesi
Beatty
Van Norton
Zach Kane (U Mia transfer)

Defensive Backs
Jarrett (37)
Liverpool (37)
Griffin (23)
Gildea (12)
Kroboth (11)
Mo Jones (12)
Falcone (12)
K Johnson (8)
J Williams (2)

Red Shirts
Terrell (2)
Deonte Parker
Byron Parker
M Gould

Quarterbacks

Charlton (28, but now a tight end)
Stewart (20)
Gerardi (1)

Red Shirts
Coyer
Bryan Morris

Running Backs

Pierce (12)
Brown (11)

Red Shirts
A Smith (6)

TE
Balasavage (20)
Rodriguez (13)
Pekarski (1)

Red Shirts
Booth
A Jackson
Parthemore
L Turner
Brookhart
Wide Receivers
D Green (37)
Crudup (33)
Campbell (31)
Nixon (25)
Jones (25)
Hutchinson (18)
Bynum (14)
Carraway (9, but now a D-back)
Hammond (1)
Baker

Red Shirt
Anthony Parker Boyd (North Car X)
Ryan Alderman
R Streater JuCo

Silvera-BE Capable Temple Ready

Offensive Line
Morris (32)
Madison (28)
Dennis (27)
Tribue (25)
Sean Boyle (25)
Palumbo (22)
Caputo (19)
Brown (17)
Pat Boyle (17)
Schonnbruner (9)
Whittingham (4)
Yuan (1)

Red Shirts
Martin Wallace (Northeastern transfer) 6’6 295
Scott Roorda 6’3 318
Cody Bohler 6’7 305
Evan Regas 6’4 313
Sean Pearson 6’5 312
Daryl Pringle 6’6 315

That's a lot of names, but there's a lot of talent behind each name.

Loaded?

Maybe that's not the word.

Or maybe it's just the word.

I like the way Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw works; quietly and behind the scenes.

I ran into Bill at the signing day function and mentioned something about head coach Al Golden's contract and Bill said, "Al Golden can have a contract extension any time he wants."

Bradshaw didn't elaborate, and he didn't need to for a Joe Schmoe like me.

I didn't take it as a good sign at the time because I interpreted it as a "contract extension" of the current contract with the same financial terms in place.  Evidently, though, from what I hear, his recently signed extension features a significant increase in Golden's salary with a commensurate increase in staff compensation. The figures $1.2 million with a $2 million buyout have been floated around.

I got those from reliable sources, guys who have told me things that have happened the day before they became public elsewhere, so I don't doubt them.  Someone tweeted me this morning that Golden is now making money similar to head coaches in BCS conferences, a more-than-double salary increase.

I like that, but what I like more is that there are hightened protections in place for my beloved Temple University.

I hope Al stays at Temple for a Joe Paterno-like run, but I live in a real world.  Other schools have come after him hard the past two seasons and, someday, someone is going to get him for the right price.

Once that happens, though, I want Temple protected and this deal does that.  The school that hires Golden away from Temple will have to pay the school the kind of money West Virginia got when Rich Rodriguez left for Michigan.  That's the best part of the deal and assures that Temple will have the financial wherewithal to hire a big-name coach should Golden leave.

Let's hope Golden settles in and develops the kind of love for the school that Wayne Hardin, John Chaney and Harry Litwack had.  This school has a special mission and only very special people understand that.

For the historic-like turnaround Golden has already achieved, he deserves to be compensated handsomely.  I hope he attacks the enormous task ahead to move the program forward with the same verve he has in working his magic so far.

Today was a great day for both Al Golden and Temple football, but there are greater days ahead.

It should be fun finding out what rewards those days bring to the Owls and their fans.

So I'm driving on I-76 today and thinking how it's too bad I don't have a digital camera.

It's raining like crazy on the Schuylkill Expressway and I see a Temple billboard that proclaims "Friday, Sept. 3" as the date of the home football opener with Villanova.

That called for a photo, but it had a deeper meaning as well. It meant only one thing.

Temple's "negotiations" with fellow Lincoln Financial Field tenant, the Philadelphia Eagles, over its preferred date, Sept. 2, fell through.

Then I put two and two together and came up with four.

Oddly enough, that's the starting time of the game, but it's not how this mostly mathematical equation was solved.

Two plus two equals 4 PM basically because Sept. 2, the date Temple AD Bill Bradshaw long sought as prime time for the game, was denied the Owls by the landlord Eagles, leaving four as the only logical time for the game.

The official announcement will be made tomorrow or next week, but you read it here, on Bleacher Report, first.

Hmm.

The game figures to draw the largest college football crowd in Philadelphia history (in games involving two Philadelphia teams) for three reasons, in no particular order:

1) It's the start of Bernard Pierce's serious run for the Heisman Trophy (a TV screen shot from ESPN comparing his freshman year to Adrian Peterson's is pictured here)

2) Villanova is coming off a national FCS championship

3) Temple is coming off its first bowl game in 30 years.

Temple could have played on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, when no one would have been in town. There's this thing called The Shore, and it's a phenomenon peculiar to Philadelphia, where the town virtually empties out the weekend of Labor Day, leaving only the homeless and poor behind.

Philadelphia is unique because The Shore (capital T, capital S) is only 50 miles away and Philadelphians see this weekend as their absolutely last chance to get away before a long, cold winter. The magnetic attraction of that to a region of six million people cannot be minimized.

So Saturday was out.

The Eagles have long given lip-service to their role in the Philadelphia "community" and how they do all of these charitable things.

The Eagles could have done the "community" a favor and moved their game to Sept. 3 and allowed Temple and Villanova to play on the date best suited for a big college crowd.

The Eagles being the Eagles could have gotten their 70,000 people on either date but, no, the Eagles had to put the screws to Temple and Villanova.

"We want to play Thursday night," was basically what Joe Banner told Bradshaw.

"But, Joe, you'll get your crowd either night...."

"No, we still want to play Thursday night. Good luck, though."

Typical Eagles.

The Phillies are already scheduled for a Friday night (7 PM) game across the street against Milwaukee in Citizens' Bank Park.

Since two crowds in excess of 40,000 (hopefully for Temple, definitely for Phils) would be showing up at the same time, the Owls reluctantly were forced to pick 4 PM.

It's a stroke of genius, in my mind.

The Temple and Villanova fans get to arrive, say, at 2 PM for tailgating, taking all of the tailgate spots used by Phillies fans.

Phillies fans arrive at about four, then start frantically texting "WTF?" messages to their fellow 20-somethings.

If there's a silver lining to this scheduling nightmare, that's it.

Now it's up to Temple and Villanova fans to get a crowd large enough to steal all of their parking spaces.

Better yet, invite all the Phillies fans along for the all-sports-day party by allowing them half-price football access by just showing a baseball ticket stub.

Every once in a while, I check in with what Temple coach Al Golden has to say on Twitter.

According to Al's latest tweet, the coaching staff is in the film room right now.

"Spring practice is getting close," Al said. "Only a couple of weeks for the staff to fine tune and evaluate the film from the fall to improve the team."

Evidently, they haven't come out because the last tweet was on Feb. 22 and that was four days before the last big snowfall, which seems like a long time ago.

Well, we've been studying the film, too.

We've got high definition DVDs of many of the games, and this is what I would do to improve the team:

1) Have a real competition for starting quarterback. Take the red shirts off and allow the guys to get hit. Allow them to run the ball against a live defense. Let them throw the ball with a guy in their face.

If somebody gets hurt, so be it.

They'll have all summer to get healthy. We're going to need to find a gamer at that position and you don't find that person in a seven-on-seven passing drill.

Mike McGann was the greatest seven-on-seven practice passer I ever saw at Temple, yet when he got into the game he had this annoying habit of throwing to guys who weren't wearing Cherry or White jerseys.

You can't have a turnover machine at that position or someone who can't duck out of a pass rush and make positive yards. The Owls need more than a "game manager" at that position this year. They need a "game changer."

I think they'll find one. God, I hope so.

At last count, they have Vaughn Charlton, Chester Stewart, Chris Coyer, and Mike Gerardi at the top of the depth chart. They have other guys who have played the position in high school either already here or coming in like Aaron Haas, Matt Falcone, Andre Coble, and Connor Reilly.

2) Get all the players in a circle and ask who snapped the ball in high school. Ask them to have their high school coaches send film of them snapping. Pick the best three and have a competition.

If one, two, or three are excellent or even good, make long-snapping a part of their daily routine (even five minutes). Long-snapping is a routine play at about 118 other Division IA schools.

Let's make it that way again at Temple.

3) Improve the pass rush. I'm a big fan of blitz packages that send more than one linebacker or safety on certain down-and-distance situations. Temple needs to turn up the heat on opposing quarterbacks.

Adrian Robinson is the best pass-rusher in the league, but wouldn't it be nice to consistently collapse the pocket with another "Adrian Robinson" coming from the other side?

If I'm Mark D'Onofrio, I'm seriously considering going to a 3-4 with Amara Kamara and Robinson returning to their natural outside linebacker positions and using Robinson as a "rush" linebacker, like the Giants did with Lawrence Taylor. Moving Robinson all over the field will make him harder to find.

I'd use Big Mo Wilkerson as one defensive end, Levi Brown as the nose guard, and Kadeem Custisas the other defensive end and rotate guys in after that.

Imagine, if you will, what a nightmare, say, Chris Whitney's life would be if he had two 6'5" athletic guys coming at him from both DE positions and still had to account for Robinson's presence?

I'm liking it already.

I want to see Whitney and every other quarterback who plays Temple hit the ground hard multiple times before being able to release the ball. I'm hoping that is the plan Al Golden and staff have come up with between Feb. 22 and now.

The time to implement it would be in a few days when spring practice starts.

If you listen to Temple University head football coach Al Golden—and I try to do that every chance I get, whether it's on signing day or Fan Fest or Cherry and White day, whenever—you will become conversant in what I call Goldenspeak.

"Core values"...you'll hear that a lot.

"Going forward"...that's another favorite catch phrase of his; so is "it's all part of the process."

There are a few more, but I won't write a Golden/English Dictionary here.

The point being that before all of that, Golden came up with a phrase he thought enough of to put on the wall at Edberg-Olson Hall, the team's $7 million practice facility built in 2001.

"Hunting a MAC title with local talent."

It's become a core value, if you will, of the program, err, going forward—so much so that it has appeared in the school's football media guide the past few years.

What you won't hear Golden say is that he's going after this Holy Grail, this MAC title, with BCS-level talent.

If Hunting for a Title with Local Talent is the program's self-proclaimed headline, then "by the way, we're playing with BCS-level players in a non-BCS league" has to be some kind of subhead.

I know it's not as catchy, but it's true.

It's like the guy wrote on the Akron message board, ZipsNation.org, after Temple thumped Akron, 56-17, last year.

"Let's face it, guys," the longtime Akron fan said. "Temple is a Big East team playing in the MAC. Their talent level made us look like a high school team."

The implication was clear, and so were the on-field results.

While Akron might beat out Kent State for a player, Temple is beating out Vanderbilt.

While Kent State might beat out Ohio for a player, Temple is beating out Maryland and Michigan State.

You only need to stop at the A's, B's, and C's of the signing brochure to find that out.

I did a story for the Philadelphia Inquirer recently on a couple of basketball players from Friends' Central, who received offers from Temple and other big-time schools. Before that goes into the paper, you have to fact-check those claims against the Scout.com database. Soout.com will say "yes" if a player has been offered and "no" if he has not. It's a pretty cut-and-dried system, the best there is.

I thought about that while thumbing through the pages of the 2010 signing class brochure the other day.

I followed the same routine with Temple's football signees, and the claims made in the brochure, with only one or two exceptions, were verified by Scout.com's system. That's pretty good when talking about 27 incoming freshmen.

Niyi Adewole, a linebacker from Upper Darby, had an offer from Vanderbilt, as did Myron Ross, a running back from Wissahickon.

Antonio Belt, a wide receiver from Forestville, Md., "selected Temple over Maryland and Michigan State."

Wyatt Benson, a linebacker from Haverford School, picked Temple over "Stanford and Pitt."

Brian Burns, a defensive back and former next-door neighbor to Benson in Southwest Philly, "selected Temple over West Virginia and Rutgers."

Taray Carey, a defensive end from Whitehall, picked Temple over UConn and Boston College.

Those are just the A's, B's, and C's. It's like that all the way down to defensive tackle Dante Weaver, who the brochure says picked Temple over Rutgers and Maryland.

Last year the Owls signed a quarterback, Chris Coyer (pictured), on the night Ohio State extended him a conditional verbal offer (you visit us, we will offer). Temple was on Coyer for months, and OSU arrived on the scene in the last day.

Coyer said, basically, "Thanks guys, but no thanks. I made my mind up. I'm going to Temple."

Now, after a year of fine-tuning, the Coyer quarterback Stealth Fighter is shined and polished and ready to leave the E-O hanger to wreck havoc on the rest of the MAC. He is pictured with this story, a fine photo by Ryan Porter.

He could have gone to Ohio State, much like many of his teammates could have gone to more recognized schools.

Good schools with good football programs.

They could have gone anywhere.

They chose Temple.

Bill Cosby, who made that commercial famous some 20 years ago, should be proud.

So should every Temple fan.

When I think about recruiting and how big the story has become on a national level, I'm reminded of the times as a kid I used to be in the back seat of my dad's car on the way to vacation in Wildwood, N.J.

"Are we there yet?" I would say every 10 miles or so while riding along a winding Route 47.

Recruiting is a little like that, especially at Temple University these days. It's a long and winding road, just like Route 47 was, with some bumps along the way. Like the first day of vacation, there's a lot of anticipation with Signing Day but you know the trip will be worth it when Al Golden gets you there. Golden got us there yesterday and I will strike one cautionary note.

There were fewer wows when the film machine was turned on this year than last year.
Since I think what I like to call the defined measureables (height, weight, speed, vertical leap, strength) are every bit as good this year as they were last, I can think of only three reasons for this:

1) We're getting used to viewing spectacular plays on this day every season;

2) The guys holding the camera weren't as good;

3) There wasn't any alcohol served this year (there was last).

I will say last year's biggest "Oos" and "Ahhs" came when the projection screen showed Oakton (Va.) quarterback Chris Coyer and a running back that you might have heard about from Glen Mills named Bernard Pierce.

One got on the field. One didn't.

Both will get on the field this year. Let's hope both stay healthy and do well.

"Last year, my wife could have picked out Bernard Pierce (as being a player), we knew he was that special," Temple coach Al Golden said. 

OK, I'll play Kelly Golden this year. I can tell you that Rod Streater, a 6-foot-4 wide receiver from Burlington Township (N.J.) by way of Alfred (N.Y.) junior college, is a player. Really, they all are.

If I had to put a couple of sheckles on it, and I don't (thank God), I would be willing to bet that, of this group, Streater makes an immediate impact. He can go get the ball, he's a national high jump champion (junior college, 6-9), he's got great hands and he can run like crazy. Other than that, he's just your normal everyday 6-4 wide receiver.

Yeah, right.

Just like Bernard Pierce is your normal everyday Heisman Trophy candidate.

It was great to see Bernard there, too, with a big smile on his face when assistant coach Ed Foley said of Connor Reilly, "once we get this kid on the field, Bernard won't be getting the ball." Heck, I think that was a big smile on his face. Anyway, Bernard looked fit, healthy and happy and that was great to see.

It was also great to hear by way of LaSalle state champion quarterback Drew Loughery (pictured) that Golden has reached out to him as a preferred walk-on. I hope Temple finds room for Drew Loughery and he them. I've watched this kid for four years and he's every bit the special quarterback Adam DiMichele was and Adam, in my mind, was my favorite Temple quarterback ever.

Just get him on the field and let him compete. That's all I can ask and that's all Drew can ask. He deserves the chance to succeed at the highest level of football in the town that he loves.

That's my soapbox rant for today. As for the film session, not a whole lot of wows, but there was a lot of talk of now.

Someone asked Al if there's any chance Temple will go to a bowl in a place where there are palm trees next season. "Palm trees?" Al said, pausing. "I'll do my best."

Both the wow class of last year and the now class of this year should help him do just that.

They say there are three seasons in college football: spring practice, the fall season itself, and recruiting season.

I have a hunch that we are nearing the end of the most important season, the recruiting one.

My thinking is that if you do well in this season, the one between the end of the bowl game and Feb. 3, success will naturally follow in the other two seasons. Maybe next year Temple will hold onto that 21-17 fourth-quarter lead (pictured) against UCLA or a similar-BCS team, like Penn State or UConn.

A lot will depend on this recruiting season, though.

It ends on Feb. 3 at Temple University when the faxes with the signed letters of intent arrive at Edberg-Olson Hall, but this is the stretch drive, the playoffs if you will.

Axel Ofori was one of a handful of guys who made their visits to Temple this weekend.
I don't know Axel Ofori from Axel Foley, but I like him already.  I like any defensive back who runs a 4.4-40, because you can't have too much speed back there on the last line of defense.

What I like most about him, though, is the attitude on top of his talent. Or, as we say here in Philly, his Attytude.

There might be bigger stars in this class of commits so far. I write might because you never know until they get here. Judging by the film, though, Nate Smith (RB/LB) of Highland Park (N.J.) could be one of the cornerstones. WR Deon Miller (coming in via last year's class this year) could help right away, too. He's 6'6", which already gives him an advantage on most DBs.

Sean Daniels, a 6-3, 220-pound RB/LB from Highland (N.J.), is the latest on the war board and his name was put up there today. Desmond Coble, a playmaking quarterback from talent-rich Richmond, Virginia, was added yesterday. Daniels rushed for 1,844 yards and 14 touchdowns for Highland.

I don't know if Axel Ofori has been offered or has accepted yet, but I hope Temple finds a place for him and he them.

Still, to me, it's not as much about what they have done, it's what they say before they get here.

Every year, someone has said something that jumped off the page to me. Last year, it was an offensive lineman from Immaculata High in New Jersey, Cody Bohler, who called the guys on the Temple team "the greatest bunch of guys I've ever met."

This year, it's Axel Ofori.

Gotta love his quotes from a couple of days ago on Scout.com about Temple University, the Temple football program, and how much he likes the school. "This weekend, I'm taking an official visit to Temple," Ofori told Scout.com. "I expect to like Temple very much and if they like me, my recruiting could be done. I feel that strongly about the school."

Axel Ofori was in town this weekend on an official visit to Temple hoping to receive a scholarship. One of the hallmarks of Al Golden's stay here is that he does things the right way and the kids can sense he's genuine. He won't go after other people's commits and usually does a good enough job holding onto his own.

If Ofori gets the offer and does commit, he will be the 24nd of this class. Already 23 have committed. One, 6-4 wide receiver Rod Streater, a state-high jump champion, has already signed is LOI.

By my count, there are about two scholarships left. Whoever gets one of those two, should accept. They will get a chance to play right away for a guy who does things the right way at a school about to win championships and make the cover of Sports Illustrated. (If I was Al Golden and wanted to make a big splash with my final scholie, I'd give it to Philadelphia Inquirer area Player-of-The-Year Drew Loughery, savvy quarterback of the state champion LaSalle High Explorers. He would be worth it in local PR alone, plus I think he would make a huge positive impact on the field. He's about as tall and as tough as former Owl quarterback Adam DiMichele and an inch taller than Drew Brees.)

Think about it for a second.

Golden already has told boosters that Temple is "loaded" next season. The Owls return six first-team All-MAC performers. With just a little help with the pass rush and passing game and secondary coverage (heck, maybe long-snapping), it's not a stretch to think this team can't take the next step.

What's the next step?

Take down national FCS champ Villanova before 45,000 people in the opening game and then repeat a similar run through the MAC, all the while adding wins over Penn State and UConn.

Do that and Temple makes the cover of Sports Illustrated and becomes the No. 1 "feel good" story in the nation.

Some of these recruits will write that story next season, just like the one true freshman Bernard Pierce helped pen last season. That one was a nice little story that had what Golden called an "unimaginable" ending.

This story could be a lot more compelling with a much happier ending.

I can't wait to read the Axel Ofori quotes in that one.

I don't mention Temple basketball coach Fran Dunphy to many people because I'm not that much of a hoops fan, but I admire the man a lot.

The thing I admire most about him is that he already is a Hall of Fame coach in my mind, but he doesn't drag Temple's good name needlessly through speculation every time a big-time opening comes up.

Fran Dunphy is a Philly guy through and through, and even if he wins the national championship with the Owls, he will likely remain the Temple head coach.

Temple will be his last head coaching job.

There is much to admire about that.

You can throw a Brinks' truck worth of money at him, and he will likely wave the Brinks' truck by so he can get to his Suburu parked in the Liacouras Center lot. Philly and family mean that much to him.

Temple fans are comforted by that and they don't take it for granted. They trust Fran Dunphy. They have plenty of reasons to do so.

I must admit that I get uneasy with this yearly speculation that comes up surrounding Temple's other high-profile coach, Al Golden.

Word comes tonight from multiple reliable sources that Al Golden has withdrawn his name for consideration for the East Carolina head football coaching job, reportedly telling Terry Holland to politely take his job and shove it.

Politely, of course. (Rick Stockstill will likely get that job now.)

It's all part of The Plan.

I have to trust Al today because the one thing he said when he took the Temple job was that he had a plan to turn Temple's football fortunes around and that it wouldn't take long for Temple fans to discern that plan.

You've got to give the guy credit. He had a plan, and it didn't take any of us long to realize that it would work.

He is an East Coast recruiter without peer who has high schools from Boston to Washington, D.C. locked up. He can walk into any one of them today and be welcomed with open arms.

He would have to change his whole recruiting footprint if he went outside that corridor. Cincinnati, Tennessee and East Carolina are far outside that footprint. His alma mater, Penn State, is not.

I have a feeling he's got a similar plan for his own career.

My guess is that he's had his eyes on the Penn State job all along.

Think about it.

What better way to get the attention of the people he wants to nudge than to have Temple—TEMPLE—beat Penn State in State College next year?

Golden told selected boosters at the bowl party that the Owls were "loaded" next year.
Loaded, with emphasis on loaded with talent.

Penn State people may not realize it, but Temple was a quarterback away from being in the game until the end with the Nittany Lions this season. I'm not talking about a Colt McCoy here. I'm talking about an Adam DiMichele, a guy who is capable of making 20 to 30 positive plays on his own.

Temple might have that guy next year.

With one swift Temple over Penn State blow, he would unsettle the Penn State fan base and hasten the departure of the legendary Joe Paterno and sell himself as his successor in the same day.

He would not get that chance at Cincy or at Tennessee or at East Carolina.

ESPN.com reported him as the leading candidate at Cincy before he withdrew his name from consideration for that job. My guess is that Golden, not Cincy, made that decision. Same with Tennessee.

Do you really, honestly, think Louisiana Tech's Derek Dooley is a better coach than Al Golden? The same Dooley who had a losing record in the past three years?

I didn't think you did.

If Al Golden wanted that job, he probably could have gotten it.

He didn't want Cincy. He didn't want Tennessee. He didn't want East Carolina.

He wants Temple.

It's all part of The Plan.

Hopefully, The Plan evolves into Al Golden seeing Temple the way Fran Dunphy sees Temple but that's up to Al to decide.

With no attractive jobs left, he'll have another year to think about it. What the Temple administration does behind the scenes and what he Owls do on the field will determine the future now.

Once upon a time not so long ago, being a Temple football fan was like being a member of an exclusive club in the Dark Ages. You'd meet in a small group in a near-empty professional football stadium, watch the plague spread, then hope that someday the university would find a cure for the football program we loved.

The group would be so small in selected seasons, maybe down to three or four cars in the tailgate section of Veterans Stadium. We commiserated because we all knew what it meant to be a Temple football fan in those days. We all experienced similar pains. It meant walking into a bar and asking for the Temple game to be turned on just one of the TVs and inevitably bracing for the bartender to laugh at you.

He might turn the Temple game on and he might not. It was a 50-50 shot. Then you'd brace for the smart-aleck comments from the patrons asking "who put the Temple game on?" Well, that exclusive club lost one of its most treasured members this week when Dan Glammer passed away at the way-too-young age of 46.

He was just a fan, one of millions of college football fans in this country, but he really was much more than that. He was a true fan because he followed a team that, until this year, pretty much lost all the time.

That's a real fan.

I first met Dan through the message boards discussing Temple football in the late part of the last century, then later at the tailgates. When there were five (that's five ) left at the Miami (Ohio) pre-game tailgate in 2005, Dan Glammer was one of those fans. I was another one.

Dan was smart, funny (enough to be an award-winning comedian) and kind. The kindness will always stick with me. When Temple was playing at Kent State two seasons ago, a rumor got around on the Internet that the game would be on at Chickie and Pete's in South Philly and that they had some kind of special hookup that no other place had.

I was off work that night, so I headed down there. I was five minutes from home when the cell rang in my car. Nobody has my cell number, but Dan knew I wanted to see the game so he somehow found it. "Mike, this is Dan. The game's not on. It's not on anywhere."

"Thanks, Dan. You saved me a trip." A random, unsolicited, act of kindness and a much-appreciated one. Dan didn't have to do that. He just did.

I saw him at the bowl game in D.C. and I remembered thinking I've never seen him look that happy. Heck, until the pick-six, I've never been that happy. He was sitting (standing, really, the whole game like the rest of us) in the row in front of me. He knew about the conniption I get every time Bernard Pierce is taken out of the game so, at one point, he turned around and said: "Preps! Pierce is out. McPherson's in."

"GET HIM OUT!! GET HIM OUT!!" I yelled in the direction of Al Golden. "PUT THE FRANCHISE BACK IN..."

McPherson then ripped off a 12-yard gain. Everybody was cheering, going crazy. Dan was clapping and laughing when he turned around to say: "Keep talking, Preps," he said.
Those were, sadly, the last words he ever said to me.