The ‘23-‘24 season for Temple, as a university and for most of our sports, has been a roller-coaster ride.
I think we all owe John and the Owlscoop team our sincere thanks. They gave us the ticket for this ride. We all know that covering the games and the requisite madness is one thing but I think we all can agree that this next phase of the amusement-park visit is going to be an amped-up car chase through the Funhouse hall of mirrors. Keep your hands inside the ride at all times; images in the mirror may (or may not) be closer than they appear.
Thanks for riding shotgun, fellas.

Good morning, everyone! We're taking mailbag questions for this week's episode of The Scoop until 1 p.m. today. If you have something you'd like to put on the agenda, drop it in here and we'll answer it on the podcast.

Thank you, as always, for listening!

We'll be talking more about the roster, the transfer portal and anything else you'd like to put on the agenda this week on The Scoop. If you have a mailbag question for us, please drop it in here by 1 p.m. today.

Thanks as always for listening!

Sitting at lunch with my wife and the games are on every tv. I miss the excitement of March. Feels like we are headed in the right direction. It’s crazy we haven’t been to the 2nd weekend in almost 25 years.

I’ve seen bigger high school and D3 gyms. Wow. Anyway, go (our) Owls.

We’ll have a full story later from Johnny Zawislak about today’s open practice, but I wanted to pass along some news and notes for now.

Wide receiver John Adams was in pads today but was in sneakers and wasn’t part of any contact drills or practice. Defensive tackle Allan Haye was in pads and cleats but didn’t appear to participate in any contact drills. Offensive lineman Luke Watson was in a no-touch jersey but went through some non-contact drills in position groups.

Generally speaking, the defensive backfield looks a lot more athletic and faster than it did this past season, especially the safeties. Nebraska transfer Javier Morton, Western Carolina transfer Andreas Keaton and nickel corner and Arkansas transfer Jaylen Lewis all flashed today.

Again, it’s early, and first-, second- and third-team reps can and will change, but South Carolina transfer Grayson Mains was taking first-team reps at center, and James Faminu (right tackle), Kevin Terry (left tackle) and Eric King (guard) were also getting first-team reps.

Wide receiver Ian Stewart looked strong, fast, agile and made the play of the day on a one-handed reception. Forrest Brock, who also looked sharp today, threw a touchdown pass to Corey Cuascut-Palmer down the right sideline, although CCP probably got away with pushing off from cornerback and UTEP transfer Torey Richardson.

Quarterback Clifton McDowell wasn’t at practice today, but I’m told it’s not injury-related. Evan Simon, Brock, walk-on Patrick Keller and redshirt-freshman Tyler Douglas split up the reps. Simon and Brock looked confident throwing the ball, and I know the staff is pleased with what it has seen from Keller. Douglas might be a little behind the rest of the group as a thrower, but he’s pretty mobile and they ran several designed runs for him.

Stay tuned for more from Johnny a little later today.

The team is opening tomorrow's practice to reporters. They're not allowing photo, video or social media posts during practice, but we'll have a detailed report for our subscribers here afterward, along with interviews with Antwain Littleton, Joquez Smith and running backs coach Tyree Foreman.

Based solely on educated guessing, my sense is that there wasn't any glaring and obvious shaving activity specific to one or more players. With the Alabama baseball scandal, they were quick to identify the issue via call logs, video footage, and gambler relationship; none of that was found here to my knowledge.

My gut is that there isn't any substance to it. My hope is that it gets rectified quickly and publicly because it will certainly have an impact on roster retention, acquisition, and even incoming commits if it lingers.

Special teams and tight ends coach Adam Scheier, safety and kick returner Sam Martin, tight end Landon Morris and punter Dante Atton spoke on Zoom today. We'll have a story or two in the coming days, but I wanted to get a few notes and updates out there.

Redshirt freshman walk-on Carl Hardin is handling all of the kicking duties in the spring since Austin Peay transfer Maddux Trujillo won't arrive at Temple until the summer. Scheier said Hardin is having a "pretty good" spring, and he said he was encouraged by the fact that more than 50% (10 of 18) went for touchbacks. But they brought in Trujillo "for a reason," Scheirer said, which includes him being a more experienced and seasoned player, someone who has kicked in SEC stadiums, Scheier noted. Not that this would surprise anyone since they're bringing him in on scholarship, but it sounds like Trujillo would be expected to come in and win the job.

Scheier also provided a breakdown of the tight ends in his room. He said Reese Clark is in a "class of his own" because he's like a Swiss Army knife.

"He's physical enough to block," Scheier said, "but he's not a true tight end. But he's fast enough to run fly sweeps and catch bubbles (screens) and be very effective in the pass game and maybe increase his role on special teams. I think Landon and Daniel (Evert), the freshmen from Germany, are kind of similar in that they're really talented route runners, great pass catchers, but are physical enough to hold their own in the run game. And then Peter (Clarke) and JDP (James Della Pesca), a little bit more seasoned a little bit more in-line, "Y" types, hold the point of attack for a physical blocker. So it's a good mix of two true inline Ys two kind of hybrid, DMR (David Martin-Robinson) JO (Jordan Smith) ypes, and Daniel and and Landon (Morris) that can block, can hold the point of attack. They're also really, really good route runner and pass catchers. And then Reese kind of does a little bit everything. And I'm excited for him and all the progress he's made from his freshman year through last year. And even now, just from a mental standpoint, where he is academically and socially and just the way he carries himself, really excited to see how this second half of spring goes for him."

It sounds like Morris will be a big factor at that position. He talked about getting to know Dalton Kincaid in the short time they were teammates at Utah.

...has been so fun and to think they could sneak into the field of 68 is remarkable, to say the least. This end of season run could be the culmination of diligent work by the coaching staff and their positive approach. I absolutely love Fisher's positive lean and his sideline energy...it's infectious. Right now they are the talk of the week and possible bid stealers...I love it. Hoping they can keep this group together for next year plus the recruits...should be fun. Also, Hysier was tremendous down the stretch today...major props to him, Riley and the whole squad. #GoOwls. #BeatUAB

According to multiple sources, Temple's women's basketball team is working on scheduling home-and-home series with Notre Dame and South Carolina.

Head coach Niele Ivey and the Fighting Irish are likely to play at the Liacouras Center during the 2024-25 season, and Dawn Staley and South Carolina would start that home-and-home series the following season.

South Carolina (32-0) and Notre Dame (26-6) are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, in the Albany 1 region of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Agreement on new tv deal. It will run for six years at 1.3 billion annually. 58% SEC & B10 32% ACC &B12, 9%G5 and 1% notre dame.

After letting things settle in from the men's and women's conference tournaments, we're back with another episode of The Scoop and taking mailbag questions until 1 p.m. today. The women fell short of a championship and the men nearly pulled off what certainly would have been a remarkable run to an NCAA berth, so we have a lot to talk about.

If you a question to put on the agenda, please drop it in here and we'll answer it on the show. Thanks as always for listening!

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Good morning, everyone!

The Scoop is back this week and we're taking mailbag questions until 1 p.m. today. We'll update you on our conversations with Danny Langsdorf and the quarterbacks - Clifton McDowell, Evan Simon and Forrest Brock - as well as Everett Withers.

If you have anything you'd like to put on the agenda, please drop it in here and we'll be happy to answer it on the podcast, which you can find on any of the major platforms. Please subscribe, rate and review when you have a minute.

Thanks as always for listening!

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I want this at the top of the thread as we discuss the transfer portal.

The below charts are not guesses. This is actual data from the past year utilizing contracts from over 50 collectives nationally.

Feels weird to say with a team who finished the regular season 12-19 but this is the most momentum I feel like the program has had since they lost to SDST in double OT in the round of 32 and brought back a ton of players. Hope we can keep it going the next few weeks and through the summer. I would love to get to September and feel like we had a team that could compete for an at large bid. Just an incredible job by Fisher and staff.

I’ll be the first to confess my skepticism about this team. However, their recent performances have completely turned my opinion around. While it may sound cliché, they’re truly playing with house money right now, and if there was ever a fitting moment for it, this is it. The outcome remains uncertain, but as long as the team plays the way we’ve seen in the last few games, that’s all we can hope for. Best of luck to the team, and to all of us. Dare I say, the future looks promising. Go Owls!

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Please consider joining Kevin & others in a pledge for today’s game with whatever you can contribute.

Thinks a win for Temple puts them as a 15 or 16 seed.

Looks like we have tired legs early.

They have a chance to have a chance the way the game is going.

That was mentioned several times during the SMU game. That was actually disappointing to hear. I can remember when we were 5th.

Ryan Mack's game story from Forth Worth.

My theory is Fisher anonymously reported Temple to US Integrity as bulletin board material for the team.