State of the Roster
- By Kyle Gauss
- Temple Football
- 36 Replies
As of right now, all of Temple's Class of 2020 is enrolled in the Cherry and White directory except for JUCO safety Jalen Ware and NIU grad transfer CJ Perez. Perez only committed to Temple on Friday so it make sense that he's not in there yet. As for Ware, a source I spoke with today stated that Ware is still expected to enroll. I'll pass along anything I hear on that end.
Assuming Ware and Perez enroll, Temple is currently at 89 scholarship commitments for the fall. Temple has to get down to 85 scholarships by the time preseason camp starts. A program usually oversigns expecting to get down to the 85 scholarship threshold via one of two things:
1. Attrition on the existing roster.
This could be medical retirements, players transferring under their own volition (Ex. An upperclassman transferring to get playing time as a senior or underclassmen transferring after realizing Temple isn't the best fit for them) or Temple's coaching staff having a frank conversation with a player about their role in the future.
2. Signees not qualifying or going to prep school/JUCO for a year.
Since everybody in Temple's 2020 class is expected to qualify and enroll, the difference in scholarships is going to have to come via attrition and that needs to happen in the next few weeks. As for names, I think there are a number of obvious candidates for a change of scenery but I think it would be in poor taste to speculate on those names. Instead, we'll report them as they break.
With all that in mind, I still think that Temple is actively involved with a couple more transfers. Perez, who spoke with OwlScoop.com over the weekend, mentioned to our Sam Neumann that NIU defensive tackle Jack Heflin, who was Perez's roommate in college, has been in contact with his former coaches. Heflin was a 3-year starter at DT for NIU and garnered Third Team All-MAC honors as a sophomore and Second Team All-MAC honors as a junior in 2019. Pro Football Focus also named Heflin an Honorable Mention All-American. For his career, Heflin had 17.5 TFL and nine sacks for NIU.
I'm far from definitively stating that Heflin will end up at Temple. I think Rod Carey and his staff will have a lot of competition for Heflin's services. But I do think it's telling that Temple is still staying active in the portal despite being over the scholarship limit.
As always, stay tuned to OwlScoop.com for any updates.
Assuming Ware and Perez enroll, Temple is currently at 89 scholarship commitments for the fall. Temple has to get down to 85 scholarships by the time preseason camp starts. A program usually oversigns expecting to get down to the 85 scholarship threshold via one of two things:
1. Attrition on the existing roster.
This could be medical retirements, players transferring under their own volition (Ex. An upperclassman transferring to get playing time as a senior or underclassmen transferring after realizing Temple isn't the best fit for them) or Temple's coaching staff having a frank conversation with a player about their role in the future.
2. Signees not qualifying or going to prep school/JUCO for a year.
Since everybody in Temple's 2020 class is expected to qualify and enroll, the difference in scholarships is going to have to come via attrition and that needs to happen in the next few weeks. As for names, I think there are a number of obvious candidates for a change of scenery but I think it would be in poor taste to speculate on those names. Instead, we'll report them as they break.
With all that in mind, I still think that Temple is actively involved with a couple more transfers. Perez, who spoke with OwlScoop.com over the weekend, mentioned to our Sam Neumann that NIU defensive tackle Jack Heflin, who was Perez's roommate in college, has been in contact with his former coaches. Heflin was a 3-year starter at DT for NIU and garnered Third Team All-MAC honors as a sophomore and Second Team All-MAC honors as a junior in 2019. Pro Football Focus also named Heflin an Honorable Mention All-American. For his career, Heflin had 17.5 TFL and nine sacks for NIU.
I'm far from definitively stating that Heflin will end up at Temple. I think Rod Carey and his staff will have a lot of competition for Heflin's services. But I do think it's telling that Temple is still staying active in the portal despite being over the scholarship limit.
As always, stay tuned to OwlScoop.com for any updates.