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The state of Temple Athletics in the NIL-era (a rant)

Fellow Owls fans,

As I sit here watching yet another March Madness without our Owls - forgive me, but I need to rant. Let me preface by saying - I don't know the ins-and-outs about how all of this works. I'm simply a fan with no background in college athletics whatsoever. Maybe I'm playing a little devil's advocate here. I'm just so sick of these comments about blaming the "lack of donations" to the current state of our program(s). Let's face it, this NIL and Transfer Portal era of college athletics is absolutely ridiculous and has completely ruined something I once enjoyed.

Attending Temple was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Fast forward to now - I'm a proud alumni. I'm extremely thankful to everything I learned and the experiences I had on North Broad. I have a great career thanks to Temple - but I've never been "rich", and I never will be. I've still got bills to pay like the rest of us. But it's now on me and my fellow alums to decide whether or not the Owls win or lose? I seem to remember working to pay off four years of student loans. Now you're asking me to spend my hard earned money so some kid will join the basketball team for a year and leave for the highest bidder the next? What are we talking about here? I'm just a fan. At the end of that day, this is entertainment to me. No offense, but I can think of a ton more worthy causes to donate to - both within Temple University and outside (which I happily do, by the way).

Can we please stop the guilt trips and and off-putting remarks indicating that the reason we suck is because we're not throwing around OUR cash? Snap out of it. This isn't how it should work, guys. We shouldn't be pointing fingers at each other. I know what you're going to say - we should look to famous alums or corporate sponsors! You know what? It shouldn't be on them either. THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN. We're not Penn State. We're not Duke. Temple Alums aren't trust fund kids - we grind. This is not a landscape designed for Temple.

This isn't a slight against the TUFF_FUND or any other organization pushing for support, by the way. I have nothing but respect for these efforts and I've seen nothing but professionalism with everyone involved. Tip of the cap. KEEP GRINDING. If you're passionate and are willing and able to support, do it! More power to you. My thanks to you.

Me? I'm going to sit this one out. Does that bother you? Is my fan card now revoked? Don't care. You doing the same? Cool, I totally get it.

This isn't a rallying cry to join me in my apathy. I'm sure I'll be making a lot of message board enemies by saying the quiet part out loud. Just sharing the common sentiment. I am open to having my mind changed. In the meantime, I'll keep tuning in (when I can stomach it) and cross my fingers for rule changes at the top.

Go Owls.

When is the last time you were truly excited about Temple basketball??

For me it was March 7th 2012 when it was announced we were admitted as a full conference member into the Big East. A little snippet from an article:

"In 2014, the BIG EAST basketball membership will include UCF, Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Houston, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's, Seton Hall, SMU, Temple, USF and Villanova".

The TUFF Fund

Good morning Owl fans:

As many of you know, the TUFF Fund was formed in the fall, with hopes of modernizing Temple Athletics through NIL. Over the past several months, we've signed over a dozen student-athletes, including all eligible Men's Basketball players.

We've decided to join OwlScoop so that we can provide information and resources directly to the most ardent and passionate Temple fans. We'll occasionally provide updates, whether it be signings, fundraising opportunities, events, or charitable initiatives that our student-athletes are involved with over the course of the year. We'll also answer questions to the best of our ability and within the guidelines of the NCAA and state of Pennsylvania.

I believe I'm preaching to the choir when I express how vitally important NIL is to the success of an athletics program. While it's been a slow build, I think that we are trending in a positive direction as a whole.

And while it's probably poor bedside manner to ask for something out of the chute, we currently have a donor who has graciously offered to match all funds up to $10,000 by the tip off on Sunday versus Houston. If you have the ability to do so, and many have already done so since it's gone live yesterday, please consider contributing. Our continued ability to demonstrate to the administration and the BOT that there is interest and a propensity to give to NIL will go a long way.

The TUFF Fund Match

Go Owls

Andy Carl
info@tuff-fund.com

Hard to believe

It's really hard to believe that there are 64 teams in the NCAA, 32 in the NIT, 16 in the Crown and no Temple. There are 112 college basketball programs more desirable for post season play. This is not mediocrity, this is downright disgraceful. And talk of giving a coach several seasons to build no longer holds given the portal. Look at St. John's with a first year coach, and there are so many others. Either go all out and produce a team worthy of fan interest or call it a day. Our new President and Board need to have some serious discussions. This just can't continue.

News and notes from today's practice: March 15 edition

Some nuggets to pass along from this morning's practice.

The quarterback pecking order still seems to be Evan Simon at No. 1, Tyler Douglas at No. 2, Robet Morris transfer Anthony Chiccitt at No. 3 and walk-on Patrick Keller at No. 4. While I get the impression that K.C. Keeler and Tyler Walker are fairly happy with what they've seen so far from Simon, they are going to pursue a quarterback in the portal who is capable of competing for the starting job.

There were several plays today in which Walker made an effort to get Simon rolled out and in space. On one occasion, he rolled to his left under some pressure and connected with Antonio Jones. It wasn't a huge play, but a smart one. On another throw, Simon found sophomore tight end Daniel Evert, and Evert shed a tackler to the delight of his teammates as he made his way down the right sideline. He later completed a pass to John Adams near the same spot with some zip on it.

The staff looks to be throwing various offensive line combinations together, and I'll continue to say this until I'm blue in the face: it's March and it's early. Having said that, Simon was at one point playing behind a line that had Kevin Terry at left tackle, Eric King at left guard, Chris Smith at center (Grayson Mains still appears to be limited), Jackson Pruitt at right guard and Diego Barajas at right tackle.

Douglas has continued to wear a brace on his left, non-throwing arm as he's practiced.

Jay Ducker, the Sam Houston State transfer, appears to be RB 1 right now. He broke a couple of runs later in practice. Joquez Smith seems to be the No. 2 tailback.

For what it's worth, walk-on Jordan Miller seems to be running with some pop early on this spring. No. 23 flashed a little bit on Tuesday and again today. The 5-foot-7, 185-pound redshirt freshman from Bear, Delaware's Caravel Academy played in a pair of games as a freshman at Millersville this past fall. He broke off a run today and drew some praise from his teammates. I don't know how that will carry over into August or if he'll be part of the rotation, but he's stood out a bit so far.

Once again, the team ended practice with some kicking. Honestly, all three kickers looked pretty good today. Carl Hardin, who as Keeler mentioned is now on scholarship, still appears to have the strongest leg. He hit from 33 yards, had a 36-yard kick blocked by cornerback Denzel Chavis, and then, I believe, hit from 40 yards near the end of practicel. The 40-yarder had plenty of leg on it and I think it was good. Didn't see the official verdict on it from where I was standing. But redshirt freshman Lucas Glassburn and redshirt sophomore Darren Wu also made their kicks. Wu was the first to kick in the late-practice session and easily hit from 21 and 23 yards before Glassburn converted from 25 and 30 yards with plenty of leg. He probably has the next-strongest leg behind Hardin.

Punter Dante Atton was kicking after the team broke down practice and was taking snaps and punting traditionally, not in the rugby style he utilized under former special teams coach Adam Scheier. When I asked Keeler about it earlier this week, he said Atton might utilize both punting styles this season depending upon the situation. But from what I saw today, he was able to get some leg into his punts without rolling to his right, so he appears capable of doing both, and he continues to be the holder on field goals.

We talked to defensive coordinator Brian Smith after practice, and it was an enlightening conversation with some good takeaways. I'll have a story up later tonight or tomorrow about him.

Smith ran a 3-4 at Rice. He said his defense will be multiple, will mix in some three-down concepts, and will mirror an NFL-style system, with influences from former Jets head coach Rex Ryan and his mentor, Don Brown, Smith's former head coach at UMass and his defensive coordinator at Michigan when Smith coached the Wolverines' defensive backs in 2016 and 2017.

When I asked Smith if any outside linebackers looked good so far as edge rushers, he brought up some names, breaking the 'I don't want to single anyone out yet' mold, which was refreshing.

"Cam Stewart,, he played more of an (defensive) end last year, kind of moved him over to rush (linebacker)," Smith said. "He looks good there. Tyrese Whitaker has kind of been a big surprise for so far. I think he's got a really bright future, but it's a good group of guys. We're still learning, seeing who can do what. But I'm definitely excited all across the board with the D line, the outside backers. It's been a pleasant surprise, the level of talent that we have."

What's next? Keeler and special teams coordinator Brian Ginn will talk to reporters after Tuesday's practice, and cornerbacks coach Henry Baker and a few players from his room will talk Thursday.

News and notes from today's practice: March 11 edition

Good evening, everyone. Some news and notes to pass along from today’s practice, Temple’s first of the spring.

If you listened to my lengthy 1-on-1 interview with K.C. Keeler last month, you know by now that he gives very detailed and thorough answers to questions. So if you like football content, you’ll like hearing from Keeler. Today was more of the same. He was vibrant, upbeat, talkative and informative.

Keeler talks about Demerick Morris and Landon Morris returning

As Kyle first reported, Demerick Morris and Landon Morris are back with the program, and K.C. Keeler confirmed that today.

“I said, ‘Listen, I'm not getting any bonus money for recruiting Temple kids back to Temple,’” Keeler said of his conversation with Landon Morris, “but with what we do offensively and what that tight end did in this offense last year at Montana State, pretty good situation for you. And I think he saw that and he came back. So I think, yeah, we added two really good players who are really good people back to the program that I think you know in the locker room, it is a little bit about, yeah, the grass isn’t (always) greener.”

Three position switches lead Conlan Greene to long-snapping

As for Conlan Greene, he’s been a busy guy during the offseason. The former defensive lineman has gone from switching to tight end to the offensive line to now long-snapping.

“So we need a snapper,” Keeler said, “and, you know, he's dabbled with it. And so we're like, you know what? During these 15 practices, you're probably not going to crack the lineup right now as a defensive end or a tight end or as an offensive lineman. You might be able to crack the lineup as a snapper. Let's focus our energy there. So we've decided to go all in with him being a snapper. So they're tough to find, now. They're really hard to find. And so he has enough ability.

“(Assistant coach) Rick Brown, he coaches the specialists. So he's in charge of the snapper, the holder, the kicker, the punter, and that's all he does. Brian Ginn handles the special teams. (Brown) handles specialists. So we're hoping with 15 practices with Rick Brown just working, technique, technique, technique, we can make him our snapper. There's enough there. It's going to be interesting over these 15 practices. If not, we'll go get one. And so that's why it's really important for us to figure out, do we need to go get one, or we have this guy right here in the building?”

On the injury front, wide receiver Ian Stewart, center Grayson Mains and defensive end Khalil Poteat are limited right now. Stewart was in pads but not taking part in drills as he continues to work his way back from a really tough quad injury. Offensive lineman Luke Watson, Keeler said, “is still a little way’s away” as he recovers from his knee injury.

“He’s not going to take any real reps this spring,” Keeler said.

Keeler sees some athleticism with Evan Simon

Again, we’ll couch this by saying it’s March 11. But based upon what looked to be the first-team offense at times, Evan Simon was running with that group today. At one point, the offensive line in front of him had Kevin Terry at left tackle, Eric King at left guard, walk-on Shane Toolan at center, Mausa Palu at right guard and Diego Barajas at right tackle, so different players were being mixed and matched there.

Keeler said again today that they will look to add another quarterback through the portal, and we’ll keep you updated there. I asked him about Simon’s running ability that he showed when he was at Manheim Central High School and if the staff feels they can still tap into that a bit.

“Absolutely, “Keeler said. “You know, when you look at his tape, it's not that he's not a non-athlete. I mean, people that ask me about (former Delaware star quarterback Joe)Flacco, Joe is a pretty good athlete, even though, he’s almost 6-foot-7. Evan, when you look at his tape, you go, better athlete than you think. So obviously, the way this offense is designed, you like to have an athletic quarterback. But the same time, I've always tweaked my offenses based on who was the starting quarterback.”

Then Keeler went on to mention some of the things we discussed during our interview last month..

“The things we did with (former Delaware quarterback) Andy Hall, who was a fifth-round pick by the Eagles, different than the things we did with Joe Flacco, who was the first-round pick by the Ravens. So still effective offenses, but different because of their skill set. Because they touch the ball 100% of the time, you've got to tweak your offense. And so what we'll do is, if Evan’s our starter, we will have some tweaks in there to make this offense Evan friendly, and that's just, you know, I think smart football, especially at this level. I think if you're at Ohio State, or you're at USC, or you're Penn State, you're going to get exactly what you want for your particular offense. I think at our level, and most levels below the Power Four, you need to go get the best available player, and then you tweak your offense based on his skill set.”

High praise for Carl Hardin

When I talked to Maddux Trujillo last month on The Scoop, he said he felt Carl Hardin would have been an all-conference kicker at Temple if Trujillo himself had decided to go elsewhere, and he thinks the program will be in good hands with him handling placekicking duties.

Tuesday’s practice started with a walkthrough, and the special teams group went through the mechanics of lining up, snapping the ball but not kicking it.

Then to end practice, Hardin and Darren Wu lined up for some field goals. Hardin started at 24 yards and then went back in two-yard increments, and finished the day with two solid makes from 33 yards out. Wu hit a kick from 30.

When I asked Keeler about Hardin today, he said they have put the Raleigh, North Carolina product on scholarship.

“That's the first information I got when I got in this building, that the second-best kicker in this league was a walk-on, and he’s here right now,” Keeler said of Hardin. “I saw a little tape, met Carl, and we put him on scholarship. Never saw him kick in person, but just saw some tape, believed in some people that are currently in this building right now, and that were in the building, and we put him on scholarship because we didn’t want to lose him. And I know Rick has been really impressed and so has Brian Ginn. Been really impressed with his leg strength, his accuracy, his mentality. He is an AAC kicker.”

Other news and notes

In some general observations from the field, Katin Suprenant, redshirt freshman Wesley Brown, Kentucky transfer Jayvant Brown, redshirt junior London Hall, redshirt sophomore Eric Stuart and sophomore Tyree Alualu were working with the inside linebackers, while recent additions like Delaware transfer Ty Davis and Monmouth transfer Willy Love were working with the outside backers. Alualu and Stuart were wearing black jerseys, meaning they’re considered limited, but they were both moving around well in position drills. … Sam Houston State transfer Jay Ducker and Joquez Smith seemed to be 1 and 2 in the running back pecking order today. … Players who seemed to be getting a fair amount of defensive snaps included Ben Osueke and Denzel Chavis at corner, Wesley Brown and Katin Suprenant at linebacker, Javier Morton, Avery Powell and Louis Frye at safety, Cam’Ron Stewart at defensive end, and K.J. Miles, Sekou Kromah and Allan Haye at defensive tackle.

You can listen to Keeler’s entire interview in the link posted on the front page. Just wanted to break down more details here.
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