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Learn from the Eagles...?

Jeffery Lurie saw the writing on the wall. Chip had lost touch with the organization, or the org had lost touch with Chip. Either way, the situation was beyond repair, and there was no light at the end of the tunnel. It was year 3, and it was time to move on.

It is year three of mediocrity for Temple basketball, and it is time to 'release' Fran as the Eagles did with Chip Kelly.

I don't think Temple would take as much flack as folks on here seem to think. We are trying to ensure our top revenue sports are in great condition for potential conference realignment, to bolster our image and ensure opportunities for our student body and student athletes. I'm tired of hearing Temple will take flack. The Philadelphia media doesn't care enough about college athletics. This will be a headline briefly on the local TV news, and we might take some jabs from the Mike Jensen's of the world. I don't think we can afford to care about that.

If we can manage to scrap the money together this year, our university should take action before we are in a deeper hole. There are ZERO signs this improves dramatically in the next two years. We have some nice young talent, but not enough.

I knew there was a problem in the early Dunphy years when Fran's stated goals were to win the A10 and make the tourney. Sorry, Fran! That is a losers mentality. The goal of this program should be Final Four or Nat'l Championship. Set the bar high!

There's the running theory we dropped sports to fund football. At present I see a basketball team and staff going through the motions, and I see an empty Liacouras center. It is starting to look like we dropped basketball, and just forgot to send the memo. Maybe I should check with Mike Sileksi ;)

Mike Locksley

With Satterfield going to Tennessee Tech, Temple obviously has an opening at offensive coordinator. I've seen some suggestions out there that Temple should go after former Maryland offensive coordinator Mike Locksley. And I get it. His name came to mind almost immediately because he's a top-tier recruiter and had some success at Maryland and Illinois. That being said, I'm not sure if he's a viable option.

Consider this...

As Maryland's offensive coordinator last year, Locksley had a base salary of 892k and had the opportunity to make another 110k in bonuses. By comparison, Matt Rhule made around 650k as Temple's head coach before signing his two extensions. Fran Dunphy made around 990k as Temple's head basketball coach during the 2013-14 fiscal year.

Only one assistant coach in The American made more than Locksley last year. That was Brent Key, UCF's offensive coordinator, who was supposed to be UCF's coach in waiting and turned down the UAB head coaching gig in order to stay with the Knights. After Key, Houston's Todd Orlando was the next highest paid AAC assistant at 501k.

Temple hasn't disclosed how much it pays Rhule's assistants. That being said, when Nick Rolovich reneged on his decision to become Temple's offensive coordinator, Nevada doubled his salary to around 240k. Even if we assume that Rolovich took a hometown discount to stay with the Wolfpack, Temple's ceiling for paying its offensive coordinator at the time was probably in the 300k range.

So, to summarize, I get it but I don't think it's likely. Not unless Locksley is willing to take a gigantic paycut.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/football/assistant

Fran Unphy

As in "NO D". The worst thing about the demise of this program is how they no longer guard anyone. The lack of creativity defensively is alarming, coupled with the extreme lack of size and athleticism and you get the following Ken Pom Defensive Efficiency Ratings:
2015-2016- 162
2015 - 18 (an extreme outlier)
2014 - 257
2013- 111
2012- 104
2011- 27 (Lavoy's Senior Year)

Until we start guarding at an elite level, this program is going NOWHERE. These numbers have to be the worst in school history!
Thoughts about our defensive scheme and personnel?

Rich Lerner

Saw Rich Lerner from the Golf Channel at the game yesterday.
He is the main host for the station at all the big PGA events and does a great job.
I never knew it but he graduated from Temple in 1983.
He currently lives in Florida.

He unfortunately chose a terrible game to attend.
He did stay until the very end.

Terrible Conferance

The American's rise in football seems to match its decline in basketball. I know SMU is good. Cincy and UConn were ranked at on point, but have you seen our conference RPI?
SMU-5
Unconn- 83
Tulsa- 85
Temple- 96
Cincy- 109
Memphis- 122
Everyone Else- 150+
http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_aac_Men.html

I know RPI is not the best, but it does measure teams by who they played and beat. The fact is no one in this conference has beaten anyone. Nor has any team outside of UConn had any success in march. I think this conference may only place one or two teams into the tourney.

On the bright side, I think the conference will pick up. Sanctions on SMU will be lifted, Cincy is almost had two top 25 wins, and I have faith the UConn will improve. Not so sure about everyone else though. Looks like this is a football conference, at least in the short term.

What is wrong with Alston and Lowe

I watched them play in high school and they could both hit from outside. They seem to be playing at the level of the rest of the team. They are missing layups and outside shots. I don't remember a Temple team that missed more layups. Perhaps Dunphy wants to set an NCAA record for a team with the most missed layups so when he leaves the business (which we hope will be soon) he will have something in the record books. Kind of like bad attention is better than no attention at all. I am also not seeing much from Obi. Perhaps he hates playing out of position just as A. Lee, disliked the same. Anyone think Obi will transfer so he can play his remaining years with a real coach? A coach that has enough talent on his team so a natural 3/4 doesn't have to play the 5.

  • Poll
Poll: AAC Bowls

Which AAC teams are winners?

  • USF

    Votes: 52 78.8%
  • Temple

    Votes: 61 92.4%
  • Cincinnati

    Votes: 41 62.1%
  • UConn

    Votes: 21 31.8%
  • Tulsa

    Votes: 13 19.7%
  • Navy

    Votes: 56 84.8%
  • Memphis

    Votes: 38 57.6%
  • Houston

    Votes: 34 51.5%

How will the American do in its 8 bowl games? Select the winners.
Western Kentucky-USF
Toledo-Temple
SDSU- Cincinnati
Marshall- UConn
Virginia Tech- Tulsa
Pitt- Navy
Auburn- Memphis
Florida State/ Houston

Still upset

Toledo had no problems getting motivated for the game…, they are an experienced bowl team, 5 out of the last six years, and it showed..,

i chalk this up to an inexperienced Temple staff to include the AD’s office.., someone should have reminded MR that you play to win the game and what was at stake – Lambert Trophy, Top 25 rankings, etc, etc…,

everyone down there was in a party mode and just happy to be there in stark comparison to Toledo.., even the Toledo pre-game alumni tent was serious.., it was a business convention atmosphere over there compared to the Temple party tent….,

all year MR was preaching ‘this team will go to a bowl game’…, he should have said “this team will win a bowl game”…., HUGE difference between “going” vs “winning”

IMHO MR is entirely to comfortable with finishing the season 3-4, and losing the last two by being out-coached and out-played…,

this “Process” requires major adjustments in strategy. alignment is an issue, seriously don’t believe we have the physical talent to play the proclaimed brand of football on offense.

Either we recruit bigger, stronger, and faster players or adapt our approach to fit the talent on the roster, and we have a great deal of talent on offense…, Arians and Hardin would lead the league in total offense with this talent.,

The program to chase

Congrats to Houston for saving the AAC's bowl season.., and hats off to Herman for setting the bar high.., Houston opens next year w/Oklahoma in Houston, and plays Louisville at home; they have a top shelf recruiting class coming in, millionaire boosters, and a billionaire chairman of the board of regents who pushes the program

their facilities are best in-class and improving.., these guys will be good for a long time, and will be the program to chase in the AAC

http://www.chron.com/local/educatio...tting-into-Big-12-not-a-dead-deal-6569169.php
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When being in the red zone is over rated + Overall appreciation & a special quote from Tannhauser

We were in the red zone 5 times and scored 1 touchdown. Toledo was in the red zone one time and scored 4 touchdowns.

Total TD's for TU since the end of the regular season, in 8 quarters: 2.

For sure, we didn't finish up running on all cylinders, but when we consider this is the first time in the history of Temple football that we had the opportunity to compete twice after the regular season, where we finished 24th in both the AP and coaches polls, we've got to appreciate all we did to be in both arenas (AAC championship representing the eastern division and the bowl game that followed).

Kudos to all who made it down to Boca for the bowl game. No doubt, Temple was well represented there, and Temple branded to the T. Cheers, also, to the Temple administration and development folks who not only set up all the activities and the pregame tailgate, but especially to those who shared the wealth of the season, covered by Tannhauser in another thread as he said . . . . . .

"We got (reportedly) 10k fans down there, we gave (rumored) five plane loads of students an incredible experience, we gave the close to 200 members of the band, cheerleaders, Diamond Gems an incredibly good time (These are all future donors).

We gave the players an incredibly good time, and I'm sure our players blew up social media with what a great time they had which should absolutely resound with the high school seniors we've targeted."

Onward and upward! Go Owls!

HUDL VIDEO

While I wait for my clothes to dry off from the Boca Raton Bowl, I've had a lot of free time to watch video of our incoming recruits.

The first two videos I watched were of TE Steve Petrick from Norwin High in the Pittsburgh area and Amir Tyler, the ATHLETE recruit from Lakewood, N.J.

Petrick is 6-5, 230 and looks like he could add plenty of weight. He's a big boy for a high school kid. Long arms, big frame. Could even be an OL at the next level, IMO. Very athletic, agile and quick. Catches a nice ball. Good blocker, too. Looks like he could be a Colin Thompson type, maybe better.

Here's his HUDL tape from this season: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2813905/highlights/311040454/v2

Tyler, who's listed at 6-0, 195, looks like he could a hell of a free safety/strong safety type. Maybe even a LB with a RS year spent in the weight room. Big-time hitter on defense, but he looks like he could really be a standout RB or WR. Really, really fast. Same high school as Chapelle Russell.

Here's his HUDL tape from this season: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3359553/highlights/316142400/v2

Houston preview

i was looking ahead to the Houston game by comparing our stats. But I realized that while UH has far better team numbers than the Owls, they haven't played anyone on their way to a 10-2 record. They have yet to play a team with an RPI under 100. That is until they face us. Their two losses were to Rhode Island and Grand Canyon. Their SOS is 341, worst in the AAC. Look at their schedule and imagine how a similar one would play with Temple fans.
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