Last donation: Michael A., Havertown, Pa, May 9; John J., South Bloomingville, Ohio May 5; Hill Studios, Paulsboro, N.J. (thanks for breaking the longest time between contributions in TFF history), May 1, 2024 (the three May contributions will keep us afloat through the summer, thanks, Mike, John and Hill Studios it’s great to know people care); Jon E., Cincinnati, 10/11/23 (thanks, Jon); John from Landenburg at the Miami game (in the parking lot no less), 9/23/23. Thanks, John. Great conversation as always.
Two donations on opening day against Akron, one at the game from Ed of Perkasie and one from the greatest punter in Temple history, Eddie L., of the same hometown of Bruce Springsteen (our first contributions since April and they keep this site going; much appreciated); Heriberto S., McDonough, GA, 4/24/23 (thanks, Heriberto!!) Two on 4/14/23 (thanks to Joe F. and Ross M. ); Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla. 2/18/23 (thanks, Tom!!!)Ed P., Yardley, Pa. (1/9/23; thanks, Ed,) Lawrence S., West Chester, Pa., 12/28/22, our first contribution in over a month (thanks Larry, this will help in having to replace the printer we purchased in the summer that went on the fritz); Bob C., Chadds Ford, Pa., 11/27/22 (thanks Bob, our first contribution since September) Ed P., Perkasie, Pa. who donated 9/24/22 at the UMass game and Ed and I both remember and love Pennridge coach Wayne Helman; Joe S. (Delaware County), 9/3/22 (thanks Joe, hope to see you at Lafayette or RU); James G. (thanks James and for all the great posts you make on this site),, 7/29/22: Matt P. (former Al Golden player, thank you Matt for the generous donation it will be put to good use as we will explain in Monday’s post), 6/9/22; Matt F., Horsham, Pa. (thanks, Matt!!), June 6, 2022; David, B., Milton, DE (thanks, Dave), April 11, 2022: Andy B., Philadelphia, Pa. (our first donation of 2022, thanks Andy), March 3, 2022; Ed P., Yardley, Pa. 12/25/21 (thanks, Ed for the Christmas donation); Matt F., no hometown found (“a celebratory donation for Carey’s firing”), 11/30/21 thanks, Matt; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio, 11/29/21 (thanks, Jon for the donation and the great comments on this site); James G., Royersford, Pa. 11/28/21 (thanks, Jim, for the donations and your comments on the website); Anonymous (no home town given but donation really appreciated), 11/20/2021; Roger D., Rehoboth Beach,, Del., 10/24/21; Joe S., Drexel Hill, Pa. 10/3/21 (thanks, Joe) At the BC game (9/18), John from Landenburg (thanks, John for being a great friend of this site for so many years); Three Aug. 21 donations: Eric A (former player), Atlanta, Ga; Anonymous (by request), Cincinnati, Oh; Tim R., Buffalo, N.Y. (sincere thanks to all); David N., Silver Springs, Md (thanks Dave) 7/10/21; former Temple player Matt P., who lives in Columbus, GA now (thanks Matt) 7/9/21; Joe F., Philadelphia (4/7/11, thanks Joe) Matt F., Horsham, Pa., 3/27/21 (thanks, Matt); Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio (1/31/21, thanks Jon) Ed P.,, Yardley, Pa. (thanks, Ed, much appredicated), 1/16/21; Mitchell S. , 12/21/20, our first contribution since (10/8) earlier, Former Owl Bruce G., Flourtown, Pa, who generously donated $100 in “honor” of the Ambler guy 10/8/20; (if they hate you in Ambler, we love you in Flortown,” BG says). Thanks, BG, we appreciate it; Earlier: James G., Philadelphia (7/21/20, thanks James) Robert B., Philadelphia (7/13/20, thanks, Bob, hope to see you at the tailgates again this fall); Previous: Jon E. from Cincinnati 6/15/20, our first donation this calendar year (thanks, Jon); Earlier, John from Landenberg; Kurt B., Wyomissing Hills, PA (former Temple player, 10-15-19) Earlier: David B. , Springfield, PA (9/26/19 … thanks, Dave!) also John from Landenberg (9/21/19); Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla. (8/22/19, thanks Tom!! Also, 10 days earlier, Bob. C and Joe S. and, on June 26, first bowl MVP Mark B.
Earlier: Matt F., Philadelphia; Matt P. (former Temple player) John from Landenberg and Jon E. from Cincinnati
Jay M. no hometown found ; Earlier: William B. Chicago; John from Landenberg, ; Mark B, South Jersey, Joe S, Springfield, PA…,
Also:
Ed P., Perkasie, Pa; and Richard W. (no hometown given); Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Tim C., no hometown available; Bob C., David B., Springfield (Montco); Mark B., from South Jersey; John from Landenberg, Pa.; Joe S., Primos, PA; Thomas W., Palm Coast Fla; Jon E., Cincinnati; Mike S.,no hometown; Ed P., Yardley; William B., Chicago; Matt M., Philadelphia; Matt T.., Oreland; Kevin H., Philadelphia; John from Landenberg, Pa.; Carl M, Silver Spring, Md.;; Brett K., Swedesboro, N.J.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, NY; David K., Malvern; Jon E., Cincinnati ; Jon, SE Ohio; Cordalia and Jim S., Eastampton, NJ.; Herb G., Newport News, Va.; Richard W., Royersford; Matt T., Philadelphia, Pa.; MWB, Mechanicsville, Va.; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; K.J., Alexandria, Va.; Jeff D., Philadelphia,; Michael R., Philadelphia,Matt T, Philadelphia, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.(8 in a row for 8 in a row, thanks EM); Jake and Diane Gicker, Dunmore, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.; Adrian R. Sr., Harrisburg, Pa.; Frank M., Marlton, N.J.; Ernie, Millville, N.J.; ; Jay M., Salem, Ore.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Phil E., Lorton, Va; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Matt M., (five donations in a row); Kevin F., Philadelphia, Pa.;Matt M. (three donations in a row, thanks, Matt); Matt M.; Matt M.; Brian C., Philadelphia, Pa.; Matt M., Hometown ;Unknown; David N., Silver Spring, Md.; Matt M., hometown unknown; Frank K., Horseheads, N.Y.; Mike F., Montauk, N.Y.; John, Landenberg, Pa.; Michael B, D.C.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; James G., Philadelphia, Pa.; Michael R., Philadelphia, Pa.; David N., Silver Spring (Md.);
Mark H., Gilbertsville, Pa.; Lisa M., Hummelstown, Pa.; Johnny Who, West Chester, Pa.; John T., Medford, N.J. (formerly North Catholic, Philly); Jon, SE Ohio; Jay M., Salem, Ore.; Dan M., Moscow, Pa.; Cyrus, Oklahoma City; Jon E., Cincinnati; Chris K., Harrisburg, Pa.; Chip M., Silver Spring, Md.; Dave B., Springfield, Pa.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, N.Y.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Ed F., Philadelphia, Pa.; Frank P., Jamison, Pa.; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Matt G., Haddonfield, N.J.; Tom L., Charlottesville, Va.; Thomas S., Landisville, Pa.; Jack D., Haddonfield, N.J.; Heriberto S., McDonough, Ga; Dr. Jim S., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Dick White, Milton, Del.; Matt T., Philadelphia; Jerome S., North Caldwell, N.J.; Mike D., Fairview, N.C.; Tim W., Myerstown, Pa.; Edward P., Yardley, Pa.; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Kurt B., Wyomissing, Pa.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Tom S., East Norriton, Pa.; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio; Matt T., Yardley, Pa.; Steve C., West Chester, Pa.; Floyd, Blackwood, N.J.; Jim J., Chalfont, Pa.; John, Landenberg, Pa; Jon E., Cincinnati; Ron A., Camp Hill, Pa.; Jay S., Jenkintown, Mr. John H.; Jonathan N., Atlanta, Ga.; Michael E., Levittown, Pa.; Ted D., Media, Pa. Nick and Sharon, Upper Bucks County; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Todd H., New York City; Alex H., Westport, CT; Joe S., Primos, PA; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, N.Y.; Stanley G., Mountain Top, Pa.; David N., Silver Spring, Md.; Micah F., Philadelphia, Pa.; James S., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Johnny B. at the Hill Studio, Paulsboro, N.J.; Nick C., Philadelphia; Tom C., Birmingham, Ala.; Phil. E. (Fast Phil), Lorton, Va; Jerome S., North Caldwell, N.J.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; George P., Downingtown, Pa.; Edward F., Philadelphia; Bryan S., North East, Pa.; Josh P., West Chester, Pa.; Brent Z., Atlanta, Ga.; David B., Springfield (D), Pa; Lisa M., Hummelstown, Pa.; David H., Pottstown, Pa.; Brian O., Ambler, Pa; Frank P., Jamison, Pa.; Brian C., Philadelphia; Mark B., Manlius, N.Y.; Ted D., Media; Scott J., Columbus, Ohio; Thomas H., Mullica Hill, N.J.; George T., Rehoboth Beach, Del.; Rob G., Fleetwood, Pa; Steve C., West Chester, Pa.; Fred A., St. Augustine, Fla.; Michael S., Westfield, N.J.; John, Landenberg, Pa.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Frank P., Jamison, Pa; Matt G., Basking Ridge, N.J.; Joe S., Primos, PA; Nick and Sharon, Upper Bucks County; John T., Medford, N.J.; Cap P., Finksburg, Md; Coolowl, New York City; Michael B., Washington, D.C.; Oakee, Salem, VA; Rob from Fleetwood; John from New Kensington; Kathyrn, Bloomingville, Ohio; Rockland Owl; Matt, Haddonfield, N.J.; Anthony, New York City; Jason F., Berlin (N.J.); Ed, New Hope; Mark B., Manlius, N.Y.; Mike, Lindenwold, N.J.; Tom C., Birmingham, Ala. Jim, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Kurt, Wyomissing Hills, PA;
Dave, Ocean City, N.J.; James, Chalfont; Ross, Garden City (N.Y.); Schmitty, Ocean City, N.J.; Sarge (via Schmitty);
Broad Street Leon; Martin, Encino (Calif.); John, Boston; Mike, Susannanoa, N.C.; Francis, Lansdale; Tom L., Charlottesville, Va.; Mark, Gilbertsville, Pa.; Frank, Sebastian, Fla.; George, Toms River, N.J.; Tom, Branchburg, N.J.; Chris, Philly (our first Philly donation!); John, Landenberg, Pa.; Tom S. East Norriton, Pa.;
Temple Football Forever 
I do not get to many games but drove the few hours Saturday night. Even after collapse after collapse I could not believe my eyes. I have been more in the “give coach a chance camp.” But how can anyone defend what happened this year? Just sad.
No one can, Tim.
I am so upset with staff and players at this one. JUST BAD! I’m trying to stay positive , its very hard. If this happening next year, new staff all day.
No words…..
Thoebald and Clark are directly responsible…, look who else is the on the hot seat? the FB coach at Indiana! why should we expect the two of them to make good football decisions? both of them have moron football IQs. this situation is so sad and without hope. Temple does not have the college football wisdom, financial standing, and experience to run a successful and competitive program.
I will not renew my season tickets, I will not reinforce failure. season ticket holders should take a stand and be heard by not renewing. then and only then, the BOT will be forced to act.
I am too
AG and Daz know what stubbornly can’t accept. Temple football will never be able to build and sustain a top 30 program. Temple is caught in an iron triangle: poor fan base, limited financial resources, institutional ignorance.
hats off to both AG and Daz, they escaped the iron triangle
Mike, one correction. We gave two teams on the Bottom 10 thier only wins of the season. Is there any hope that we can pull out of this? I am very concerned.
I should have replied to your earlier point about attendance in the above reply, but if I have one confidence about Temple football it is this: No one will come to the games next year if Rhule is still in charge. By no one, I don’t mean the band and the parents but the core paying fan base any program needs for sustainability. We had hard times averaging 25K after consecutive winning seasons. We will have an IMPOSSIBLE time getting to 15K average after a 1-11 season if you are selling this incompetence to the fan base again. If you are selling someone who has achieved something as a head coach, then that’s a different story. You are selling hope and that’s a powerful drug.
So are you saying you’re not renewing your tickets since you’re part of the “core paying fan base”?
This evaluation of the Temple overall situation is right on. There are just some things that can’t change much at Temple – fan base ? (Temple is simply not a rah, rah school no matter how well a team does); limited financials? (Temple has put more into the program recently to at least lift this aspect above, say, the MAC level but no where near the big boys); but worst problem IS the institutional ignorance (sad thing is that this is correctable – with a decent salary range and better facilities, the only problem now is simply making better choices for coaches). Coaching can overcome the other 2 Temple woes – it has done so periodically – get the right guy and Temple can hoot enough to have winning seasons and go to bowls, even top 25 occasionally. With the other problems we can’t expect much more than that, but could at least have some success). There really isn’t any excuse for bad hires – this year just shouldn’t have turned into the disaster we now see. I, too, was for giving Rhule more time as long as he fires the DC. If he doesn’t then he should be fired. NO MORE Bobby Wallace stuff!
A couple of things in addition to what you presented about this whole Al Golden went 1-11 his first year defense of Matt Rhule. One item that never gets brought up is the team won 0 games the season before AG took over. So if you look at going from 0 wins to 1 win, then Rhule should have gotten at least 4 wind this season to show the same kind of performance Golden did in his first year. That 2006 team also played 8 games on the road. I know Temple doesn’t have a huge home field advantage game day, but traveling 8 weeks out of a 12 week schedule takes its toll.
As for Matt Rhule, hey I don’t know if he will develop into a good coach or not, right now he certainly isn’t. Using player analogies, he is a freshman who probably needed some more “red shirt” time. Rather than spending a year under a carpet bagger like Addazio and year as assistant offensive line coach for the Giants, he probably would have been better served and maybe prepared if he had been able to get a coordinator position with an established FBS program. Aside from being a “Temple guy” and he’ll stick around if successful “qualifications” that his rabid supporters always toss out there you get he knows how to build the program after watching Al Golden. Also he is a good recruiter, we’ll find out about that come Feb 2nd. To that point didn’t Rhule have at least a hand in recruiting most of those seniors on the field Saturday and aside from injuries shouldn’t that group have been a core of the starting lineup this season?
My question is did this program need someone who’s only substantial experience at the FBS level was a total rebuilding job under a novice head coach? Golden was coming off of 5 years as a coordinator under a successful, established head coach in Al Groh with a team that made bowl games in 4 of the 5 years Golden was there. I really believe what this program needed when Daz left was either someone who was a successful HC or a coordinator coming from a longer term stable, successful program. The Rhule supporters seem to be making a case that one of the positives Matt brings to the table is an experience base that to me is not exactly what this team needed this year. What was needed at Temple was someone who could re-tool a team, stabilize the program and at a minimum not take a step back. Not totally blow it up trying to be as you say the anti-Daz. Basically any coach could have come in and done that. I had the opportunity to talk with several Rutgers players this weekend who played against Temple this year and last. From their perspective the 2013 team was the better one and they didn’t feel it was totally lacking in talent as the Rhule crowd continues to repeat over and over. I mean there is no way anyone at the game on Saturday can say that UConn had any talent advantage over Temple.
Sorry for the long winded post, but as I really don’t care what happens at Memphis this Saturday wanted to post this before the season was over.
JD, Temple played six MAC teams in Al Golden’s first season and they had 7 road games, not eight.
Wrong there NE 8 road games in 2006 and 4 home.
Nov 18, 2006 Annapolis, Md. Navy 42, Temple 6
Nov 11, 2006 State College, Pa. Penn State 47, Temple 0
Nov 04, 2006 Philadelphia, PA CMU 42, Temple 26
Oct 28, 2006 Philadelphia, PA Temple 28, Bowling Green 14
Oct 20, 2006 DeKalb, Illinois Northern Illinois 43, Temple 21
Oct 12, 2006 Charlotte, NC Clemson 63, Temple 9
Oct 07, 2006 Philadelphia, PA Kent State 28, Temple 17
Sep 30, 2006 Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt 43, Temple 14
Sep 23, 2006 Kalamazoo, Mich. Western Michigan 41, Temple 7
Sep 16, 2006 Minneapolis, Minn. Minnesota 62, Temple 0
Sep 09, 2006 Philadelphia, PA Louisville 62, Temple 0
Aug 31, 2006 Buffalo, NY Buffalo 9, Temple 3
You can check out the easier to read schedule on the Owlsports football stats page yourself. Have no clue what point you are trying to make about 6 MAC teams but that schedule also included 2 Big 10 teams, 1 SEC, 1 ACC and 1 Big East
They only played 7 away games that year. Bowling Green was played at home. It was the Homecoming game. From the 2013 Temple Football Media Guide:
2006 (1-11)
A 31 at Buffalo . . . . . . . . .(ot)…L 3-9
S 9 (13) Louisville . . . . . . . . ….L 0-62
S 16 at Minnesota . . . . . . . . . ….L 0-62
S 23 at Western Michigan . . ….L 7-41
S 30 at Vanderbilt . . . . . . . . . ….L 14-43
O 7 Kent State . . . . . . . . . . . ….L 17-28
O 12 (12) Clemson (BA) . . . . . ….L 9-63
O 21 at Northern Illinois . . . . ….L 21-43
O 28 Bowling Green [HC] . . . . ..W 28-14
N 4 Central Michigan . . . . . ….L 26-42
N 11 at Penn State . . . . . . . . . ….L 0-47
N 18 at Navy . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….L 6-42
(BA) – Bank of America Stadium,
Charlotte, NC
From the Owlsports stats page:
Aug 31, 2006 at Buffalo L o 3-9 0-1 0-0 2:46 29795
Sep 09, 2006 LOUISVILLE L 0-62 0-2 0-0 3:06 16015
Sep 16, 2006 at Minnesota L 0-62 0-3 0-0 2:49 45612
Sep 23, 2006 at Western Michigan L 7-41 0-4 0-0 2:41 15739
Sep 30, 2006 at Vanderbilt L 14-43 0-5 0-0 3:02 34319
Oct 07, 2006 KENT STATE L 17-28 0-6 0-0 2:58 13704
Oct 12, 2006 vs #12 Clemson L 9-63 0-7 0-0 3:02 30246
Oct 20, 2006 at Northern Illinois L 21-43 0-8 0-0 2:49 27039
Oct 28, 2006 BOWLING GREEN W 28-14 1-8 0-0 2:54 17431
Nov 04, 2006 CMU L 26-42 1-9 0-0 2:58 16091
Nov 11, 2006 at Penn State L 0-47 1-10 0-0 2:53 105950
Nov 18, 2006 at Navy L 6-42 1-11 0-0 2:56 33927
My point about the MAC teams is Golden basically played a MAC schedule that season. His out-of-conference schedule, but only played 2 MAC teams less than he would play in 2007.
NEOwl, take a look at your media guide page again as it confirms that Temple played 8 road games in 2006. If you look at the schedule I posted, copied from Owlsports.com and I admit it’s hard to read, it has BGSU as a home game, so that along with Louisville, Central Michigan and Kent State were the only home games in AG’s first year. The rest of the schedule were away games with Clemson played at a ‘neutral’ site, which was Charlotte, NC. Now the way I look at geography Charlotte is a lot closer to a home game for Clemson than Temple. Ok, I understand the MAC reference but that non MAC schedule was pretty strong in 2006, with Vandy being the worst non-MAC team at 4-8 that year.
JD, I humbly stand corrected. I was counting the at XXXXX and how realize they did not do that for Clemson on either of my sources. You right correct and I am wrong. My sincerest apologies.
Hey man no biggie, whether it was 7 or 8 away games that is still a lot of time on the road when you are trying to stabilize a program.
Yes, it certainly is.
Everything is set up for a Memphis blowout due to the players having zero confidence in this coaching staff. They won’t say it, but they certainly are playing like it. Do we coach face-guarding? I think we do. Why else would every DB do it on every play? When Nick Rapone was here, he would coach playing the ball while it is in the air, jumping up and knocking it away. Face-guarding on goal-line defense is just plain stupid. It’s not like you have to run the length of the field. You have to run 2-7 yards.
Sorry to say but USC, UConn and EMU did not do as you are saying they did: fire the coach after one seaon. Kiffin was fired in his 4th season, Pasqualoni was fired in his 3rd season and English was fired in his 5th season, and then, only after being recorded making inappropriate remarks. Good luck finding a football coach who you don’t have to grossly overpay to come here if you start firing coaches after one bad season, unless of course, you are going to start writing the checks to buy these guys out?
You can find examples that go both ways, Southern Miss fired their coach after one year when he took a 12-2 team and went 0-12. Didn’t work out as the new coach is 0-11. Memphis fired Larry Porter after 2 seasons, jury is still out there, Fuentes has a better record but not by a large margin. At this point I think you give Rhule a time frame between Pasqualoni and English. Don’t think it ever does much good to fire a coach during the season like UConn did, but if this team isn’t showing substantial improvement by the end of Rhule’s 3rd season then I think looking to make a change is a valid option.
There is a problem waiting three years. If there is no improvement, the program might be dead. No contract with the Linc, no fund raising for an on campus stadium, no place to play. I don’t think that the administration will fire Rhule before then, so i fear that fate is tied to his improvement. Not a comforting thought.
I wholeheartedly agree that after 3 seasons you need to make a change if you don’t see signs of improvement.
No, but Lew Katz is and he would not have to buy “guys” out, just one guy: Matt Rhule. Bring Clawson or Lembo in here and you can hand the keys over to either one and neither of those guys will wreck your ride like Rhule did and you would never have to buy either one of those guys out.
With the stadium and the lease issues on the immediate horizon, I agree with Phil. We don’t have three years. Can’t sell the BOT a stadium when you average 11K next year at LFF. This decision will have to be hastened, maybe as soon as the end of this season but certainly no longer than next.
Quick question regarding the lease at LFF, is Temple there through the 2017 season or 2018 season. I know the lease expires in 2018 but don;t know when in the year.
At the end of the 2018 regular season.
Look, I get it. Admin didn’t like the “high turnover” of coaches like AG and Daz, but I asked it when they hired Rhule and I will ask it again now. Exactly what is wrong with a ‘high’ turnover rate of WINNING coaches? If we became a school known for popping out good coaches eventually a talented one will want to stay and make TU his legacy.
Scared of inconsistency at HC? Hire Matt Rhule. Crush fans spirit and perform a diservice to our football players? Hire Matt Rhule (who by the way gauranteed a win in “one of the final two games”. So close, yet so far).
I saw the low attendance in the losing years. Saw the growing attendance in the winning years. Lately, it’s been going down again.
Rhule/Snow was a terrible choice, but the answer isn’t to “let it ride” for a couple of years. Pay 2 salaries. Learn your lesson. Hire for the future. Win games.
I heard that this year, unlike last, Hawaii wants to play TU next month so they can get their first win. They heard it was guaranteed. LOL.
On a more serious note, I think the future of the football program is in doubt more so than it ever has been even though Al Golden demonstrated that it can be an asset to the university. TU administration just has to get serious about it and not let this fester hoping that Matt Rhule gets his act together. They have to fire him now. Homecoming showed that the program can get 25 thousand people to a game even when the team has no wins. Imagine if TU had been winning at the time. TU must bring in a head coach who at least has a clue and knows how to hire good coordinators and maximize his talent. As an aside, DeLoach was punished in camp by being relegated to the defense where he was un-blockable. Did Rhule use him on defense? No. And the under and mis-use of Chris Coyer is well known and has often been discussed in this blog. I have never seen a season begin so filled with hope and reasonable expectations collapse in such a heap. Not only did it undermine the progress of the Golden years, it also put the future of the program in real jeopardy. I hope Matt Rhule realizes that the amateurish and negligible way he performed as a head coach, from the moment he was hired and during this season, may result in the termination of a program that is over one hundred years old.
Wow, talk about the sky is falling syndrome! This program goes 67-200 between 1983-2006–including an 0-11, two 1-11 and five 1-10 seasons–and suddenly the University is going to terminate football because Matt Rhule is 1-10 (or 1-11 or 2-10) this season? Seriously? The progress of the Golden years wouldn’t happen to coincide with one player and playing in the MAC, would it? AG in the MAC before Bernard Pierce: 10-26. AG/SA in the MAC with BP: 26-12. SA/MR in the BE/AAC without BP: 5-18.
The sky is falling because of the changed landscape in college football, the money pumped into on-campus facilities, the expiring lease at the Linc, and the horrendous coaching job turned in by this staff. When Al Golden got to TU, the cupboard was truly bare. Rhule on the other hand, arrived with sixteen returning starters, a great recruiting class, and I would say, a weaker schedule than Al had, who had to face Big East teams. In addition, other than Louisville and Central Florida, and maybe Cincinnati, the top teams in the MAC, N, Illinois, Ball State, Toledo and maybe one other, would have had a good chance of winning the AAC. The sky is falling because the administration is not going to get rid of Rhule, who’s shown no indication that he’s getting better. In fact, the evidence shows otherwise.
Al Golden only played ONE Big East team his first season at Temple (Louisville). He played SIX MAC teams, which was half the schedule. In fact his ONLY win was against a MAC team (Bowling Green). And everyone keeps throwing up the fact that Rhule had 16 starters returning. Yeah from a team that was 4-7 and TWO plays away from being 2-9! Just because you return starters, doesn’t automatically make them good players! And where is this great recruiting class? In 2012 Scout.com ranked us 55th and 6th in the AAC, while Rivals had us at #76 overall and 7th in AAC. In 2013, the most recent class Rivals has us at #84 overall and scout.com had us at #92. Both listed us at #9 in the conference. Which means 8 of our conference opponents were considered to have better recruiting classes! And lest we forget, Temple didn’t even get admitted to the Big East/AAC until over a month after National Signing Day in 2012, which means the 2012 class was primarily recruited while we were still a member of the MAC!
Rhule is brutally incompetent and provides no hope of impoving the situation. He’s not only unable to motivate his team during halftime he lays it off on the kids on the team to step up. His coordinators are incapable of adjusting during a game or stopping anything this side of a CYO single-wing attack.
Given his lack of connections and ‘dead-man-walking’ status his ability to recruit competent coordinators is extremely limited. If he were to fire Snow who would sign up to work on this staff for a coach who seemingly has lost the confidence of the team and fans.,
I really hope the administration recognizes the error in this hire and replaces him while PJ WAlker still has eligibility and can lead this program to a respectable place in the college ranks.
Keep up the great work Mike and have a great Thanksgiving.
Thanks, Dayowl, you too. Temple fans have little to be thankful for. The kids who played on this team were great kids. I think of guys like Chris Coyer and Ryan Alderman and Sean Boyle and the families like the family of Averee Robinson and Cody Booth. They deserved a better senior year, which a more competent coaching staff would have given them. Fortunately, Averee is going to be around for three more years and has a chance to play on a winning team or two.
how can anyone in their right mind support the face behind a 1-11 season? John has is right, the landscape of big time college football has changed dramatically in the last five years. AG and Daz saw the change and realized Temple University did not have the capability or means to adapt and overcome. Temple University football sucks because Temple, the institution, does not have the wisdom and resources to be consistently competitive. Hiring Rhule was shortsighted and retaining him reinforces all the above. What is better, going 67-200 for the next 20 or so years, or dropping football? the best thing about beating your head against the wall is that it feels so good when you stop.
KJ, “right mind” is the operative word. The MRAs will reach for every possible excuse to save this guy’s neck. Matt Rhule is to Temple football what Lee Harvey Oswald was to JFK. Unless, of course, we rush up to get him out of our School Book Depository Building before he pulls the trigger.
That’s a good either/or prop, Kj. I’d rather have them drop it than go through seasons of Matt Rhule going 1-11, 2-10, 3-8. I guess the “Rhule Apologists” would call that “improvement.” I call it dreck. We saw how a guy like Wayne Hardin revitalized things here. We need the metaphysical certainty of hiring a guy who has revived every program where he’s been (Clawson and Lembo fit that profile) and is a HEAD coach on the way up, not down, like Franchione and Coker. That’s the only reason to keep the program now, to make that kind of hire.
I have to laugh when I keep reading that Clawson “revived,” built or rebuilt Bowling Green. They where 61-36 with three bowl appearances in the eight years before he ever got there. What did he have to revive, build or rebuild? He’s 30-31 in his five years there with two bowl appearances. In fact, he went from 7-6 his first year to 2-10 his 2nd year. Using the logic that’s used around here, he wouldn’t have gotten a chance to be 5-7 his 3rd year.
I am curious as to what the definition of a “Rhule Apologist” is. I’ve yet to see a single post on this board that claims Rhule has done a good job. The opinions contrary to the blogger center around the returning talent on this team, the exaggeration of past success and the preposterous notion that the BOT is going to drop football. I have no idea if Rhule can coach. I can’t say with “metaphysical certainty” that Pete Lembo would have thrown TE-eligible TD passes to Cody Booth, but I can say with every fiber of my being that Temple will be playing football in 2030. And I hope the next 15 years are better than the past 40.
SUOwl82, a Rhule apologist is anyone who didn’t or doesn’t verbally express that Rhule should have been fired immediately after the Cherry & White Game for the poor play calling.
For the record, I wanted him to continue after the C and W game. After 0-6 against real teams with real coaches and not guys who were rejected for the OC job by Daz, I changed my mind.
I have serious doubts if Rhule follows this 1-11 season with a 1-11 season that Temple will be playing football in 2016. They will let the 2015 season play out to get the ND and PSU paydays, but then shutter the doors because they won’t have the stomach to pay for the LFF lease or a new stadium when they average 11K in 2014.
The exit fee from the AAC is three times the size of a yearly LFF lease. And when Theobold commented last week that football was a key part of his 10-year plan I must have missed the part where he said he reserved the right to shutter the program if they have two more losing seasons.
Don’t you remember a few years ago when the BOT was within a single vote of dropping football? If we fail to win and they have the choice of spending big bucks on an on campus stadium that will have fewer than 10-15,000 average attendance or dropping football I would not want to bet on us playing football, at least at FBS level in 2030. I expect Rhule to be retained and i hope he can recruit the athletes we need and coach them to victory. I will continue supporting the team. I am just worried that Rhule does not have the ability to get the job done. I really don’t think Snow has the ability to coach an improved defense.
Yes, that was against the recommendation of the President (Adamaney) and before Temple entered the MAC. Keep in mind that Temple now has nearly 15,000 students living on or around campus that would not have to bus to LFF on game days. So you might actually increase students attendance at the games with an on-campus stadium.
Completely different. The program had been booted from the Big East and was in independent wasteland. Now the AAC views the Philly market as a key to its football and basketball plans. It would NEVER allow TU to drop football without a huge exit fee…likely higher than what it would charge if Temple wanted to move to another conference. And, believe me, conferences put pressure on schools to hire quality coaches. The Big East did it to Notre Dame basketball in 1998, paving the way for the marketable Matt Doherty replacing John MacLeod.
Ahh, but he said a stadium was contingent on “fund-raising.” No winning, the cash register says: “Insufficient funds.” He will not pay the LFF lease, so after that, it’s either FF or our own stadium. Highly doubtful if the program can continue at FF, given that the AAC wants all of its teams to have full control on Saturdays. Penn has full control on Saturdays of that stadium. With a $6.8 billion endowment, that school is not likely to be swayed to give that up for the couple hundred thou Temple might be willing to throw on that pile. Won’t need to pay an exit fee. They’ll be glad to get rid of our sorry 1-11 asses.
I am more confused than ever. You feel Theobald would shutter the program if he can’t raise funds, and that fundraising is directly related to winning. But you also feel he will not fire Rhule because that is not the way Temple operates? So he will play Russian Roulette with a coach he didn’t even hire? That is too far fetched even for this site.
Simply, Temple doesn’t have the money to pay the coaching salaries of two staffs so it will be forced to HOPE Rhule can get the job done. After UConn and Idaho and Fordham (and you can throw RU in there with the 4th and inches stupidity), that’s a foolish hope IMHO. It’s not far-fetched at all that they will wait until halfway through Rhule’s 4-year contract is over to make a decision and it’s my opinion that the first two of those four years will most likely go 1-11 and 2-10 before they make that decision on no stadium and no lease and let MR finish out maybe a 4-8 season in 2015 before saying let’s turn the E-O into the new home of Temple men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey because we couldn’t find enough donors to fund a place to play for football.
And yet they were able to raise funds for Edberg-Olson while enduring probably the worst losing eras in Temple football history.
Temple is on a capital improvement binge with the E-O, the new hoops practice facility, complete McGonigle makeover, spectacular new dorm, and very impressive external marketing. So it makes complete sense to this site that it should pull the plug on one of its most visible assets because it has been proven with “metaphysical certainty” that Matt Rhule can’t coach. No Plan B, just kill the program when he inevitably fails.
I just need to say I’m tired of hearing how we’re two plays away from having only two wind last year. The reality is we’re three plays away from having three more wins this year. The difference is last year we made the plays because the team had no quit. This tear we’ve allowed the plays to me made against us for reasons you can probably figure out.
To quote bill parcels (who may not be the great football mind of tony from northeast Philly or Frankie from fish town) “every team is exactly as good as their record”. This doesn’t account for aenemic level of our competition but it stands. MR and cohorts are an unmitigated disaster.
Dayowl, that “two plays away from being 2-10” is the most laughable of the Rhule Apologists’ arguments. Fact is they made the plays by BLOCKING the field goals. We haven’t blocked a FG since SA left. Zack Smith had 6-6 Deon Miller coming from up the middle. When DM was healthy, he was nowhere to be found on our FG blocking team. That’s all coaching. I’ve got some “plays away” for you: 1 QB sneak away from a win at RU (coaching staff too dumb to call it): 20 more running plays away from wins over SMU, Fordham and Idaho (coaching staff too dumb/stubborn to call them). Those are the plays the MRAs should worry about, not the ones that Daz made.
Last year you complained Addazio ran the ball too much, now you complain Rhule doesn’t run it enough. They ran the ball 49 times against Fordham; only two games did they run it more than that last year. They ran it 36 times for 217 yards against SMU. You can’t run out the clock in the 2nd quarter.
They passed the ball only 5 times against Army in a 63-32 win. That’s what they needed to do against a Fordham team with a 247-pound average DL to get career numbers for both Kenny Harper and Zaire Williams, who are both far better than the St. Francis of Loretto running back who got 293 yards against Fordham. You have to attack the other team’s weaknesses, not stubbornly do what you want to do. Daz’s fault was to do it against everyone. Rhule makes it obvious he doesn’t do any scouting of opponents. Keep the ball out of Gilbert’s hands by giving it 25, not 8 times, to Zaire Williams. SUOwl asked me what a Rhule Apologist is. You, NEPhillyOwl, are a Rhule Apologist.
Who the hell is Gilbert? And against Fordham, 49x for 245 yards. Against Army they ran 57x for 560 yards. They only ran the ball only 8x less than they did against Army. yet they were outgained by 315 more yards. Only 8 less rushes against Fordham. And in 2011, they ran the ball 42x against Army, 7x less than did against Fordham, and still gained 335 yards. But then again, that Temple team had Bernard Pierce who ran 21x for 157 yards. See, it’s not how many times you run the ball, it’s how effectively you run the ball. And it doesn’t hurt when you have two great RBs. I’m confused…Harper and Williams…which one is the 6th-year senior who was All-ACC and the 15th All-time leading rusher in the ACC? Montel Harris carried the ball 36 times in that 2012 Army game. Harper has carried the ball 63x in his ENTIRE career at Temple going into the Fordham game. Harper/Williams ran the ball 30x against Fordham, only 6 less than Harris against Army, yet he still outgained them by 168 yards. Harris had one less TD in that game than Harper/Williams have rushing and receiving combined this season. So I think it was more that Montel Harris has the greatest single day rushing in Temple history that any great Addazio game plan. BTW, Temple only passed it 4x against Army last year. They passed it 5x in 2011.
Garrett Gilbert, the SMU quarterback. A few 6-minute running-fueled drives in the second half (like the 6-minute all runs at Rutgers) would have kept the ball out of his hands. He had the ball 8 times in the second half and scored seven touchdowns. Giving the ball to Zaire and Kenny and P.J. with a heavy dose of runs would have given Gilbert the ball 4 times, not 8. No way SMU could stop our run game.
Garrett Gilbert, SMU’s quarterback!!! really follow the games closely there NE.
Well he was referencing Fordham through most of the post, so it threw me a bit.
Simply put, Daz’s team made the plays and this this team failed to do it because the coaches did not put the players in positions to succeed.
I’m confused again. Has the narrative changed back to where we are saying Addazio did a good job last year? Maybe I should ask for a Garmin for Christmas so I can keep track of all the left turns necessary to keep up with the comments.
This was a response that if Daz’s team didn’t block two filed goals, he would have had only won two games last year. It was not an endorsement of Daz, who also failed to adequately use the players he had..
Regardless of what size brush you use to paint your picture I think we can all agree that this is not a favorable position we find ourselves in. None of us are happy to be losing or see attendance at games dwindle.
3 Factors will have big impact in our future: The LFF lease, Matt Rhule’s coaching, and future recruits. The big picture is that we need to win (combination of all 3 factors) and the the most critical one to get us there is coaching. The cornerstone of coaching will lead recruits/talent/assistant coaches to play for Temple. If you’ve done the coaching and recruiting right we should improve from 1-11. Increasing the number of wins is the best way to answer the LFF question, whatever that answer ultimately may be.
Mike, great blog.
Addazio was the coach of the year compared to Rhule. Not hard to understand. Daz was lousy. Rhule is worse. Capiche?
I shall take leave of the 2013 TU football season, one devoid of victories and reason. Happy Thanksgiving with gratitude of having health to watch the Owls and loved ones to do so with. Hope to see some of you at Liacouras this winter.
You too. While we disagree on the coach, I think we agree that we want the Owls to win as many games as possible. Peace.
Why hasn’t TU cancelled the season ticket holder party? How can Matt Rhule appear and speak with a straight face? I would have cancelled it just to avoid being accused of fraud for accepting money for tickets to watch a TU squad coached by a legitimate D-1 football coach possessed of the skills necessary to be successful. Maybe those attending should consider a class action law suit to recover the cost of the tickets. I’m sure punitive damages would be on the table forthe infliction of extreme emotional distress given the completely avoidable endings of Fordham, Central Florida, and Connecticut games.
That party will be a complete farce. The only people who will be there will be the MRAs patting MR on the back for having the Owls close in a few games. They should call themselves the Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Club because those are the only endeavors where close counts anything worth a damn. On the other side of the spectrum, I should start a “Quarterback Sneak” Club for the play that should have been called at RU. I think he heard me when I was yelling “quarterback sneak” against UConn. Not surprisingly, they run the play and P.J. got it easily. MH55 turned around to me and said, “You called it, Preps.” One of those at RU would have led to three kneeldowns and we would not have to listen to RU fans’ crap until 2020. Thanks, Matt Rhule.
Fun but not funny story…. I was boarding a flight out of Oakland this morning behind an O-lineman who plays for Cal. When I told him temple was my team and ‘Cal had nothing on us as far as on field frustration’ he responded “I don’t know man I think you’re the guys that lost to Idaho, how the hell did that happen?” I further informed him we lost to uconn and he incredulously asked “you mean uconn actually beat somebody?”
Happy thanksgiving Matt Rhule, you’ve made mine memorable.
It took Al Golden five years to restore Temple’s good name (the one it had for all of the Hardin years and two of the Arians’ years) and Steve Addazio one year to win the school’s first bowl game in 30 years and it took this guy only four months to make us a national laughingstock again. Even Daz’s last year, at 4-7, we were not a national laughingstock. The implosion company that blew up the Vet wasn’t that quick. Truly a remarkable accomplishment.
The worst part about getting into that position is that it really is the result of 2 games, Idaho and Fordham. While the UConn loss was tough to bear it was a conference game and that kind of thing is going to happen. While most of the rabid Rhule supporters point out that most of the pre-season “experts” had Temple finishing 9 in the AAC, which is true I read those as well, most also had the worst case scenario for Temple as a 3-9 record. No AAC wins but wins over Army, Idaho and Fordham, I don;t think I read one pre-season prediction that had Temple losing any of those games. I know that’s why you play the games but those 2 loses did more damage to this program than any of the other 8/9 combined.
To be considered a good coach, you’ve got to win ALL of the games you are favored to win and steal a couple as a dog. It’s a hard job but other people are able to do it. How come Pete Lembo hasn’t lost as a favorite in two years? There are guys out there who can do this at Temple, too. Rhule has proven not just once but three times over a short two-month period he’s not one of them. Lembo won all the games he’s been favored this year and beat Virginia, a game where he was a three-point dog, 48-27. I want someone at Temple who can coach the talent up, not down.
Mike, not disagreeing with the points you make. I was commenting more on what non-Temple fan pre-season reviews of the past season. Based on those if the team had gone 3-9 (worst case scenario) and Rhule was getting a performance review it would have probably been something like:
Below Expectations – Performance occasionally meets expectations and job requirements, but needs improvement in some areas.
As opposed to what he should receive for this year:
Unsatisfactory Performance does not meet expectations and job requirements
how in the heck did the university give MR a contract for that much money for over one year? this is absolutely crazy…, MR should owe Temple…, so we have to pay this guy if we fire him? how stupid is that?
Temple got caught in the “perfect storm” of feeling sorry for the kids who went 8-4 in 2010 and did not go to a bowl and feeling sorry for many of the same kids who lost their coach in 2012. Then the kids demand Rhule and BB promises that he will listen to them. Then Clawson pulls out at the last minute (I think BB told him they were going to hire MR and it was face-saver). Then Pete Lembo tells them he wants to wait until Ball State’s bowl game was over and Temple didn’t want to wait (fearful of losing the recruiting class). Lembo did the honorable thing. Don’t think AG would have coached the 2010 Owls in a bowl game had they been invited. He was on the first plane to Miami after the football banquet. Then the iconic Al Shrier comes in and says, “Bill, listen to me. Hire Matt Rhule.” Love the kids. Love Al Shrier but those guys should not be picking your football CEO.
KJ, as stupid as every other university or professional football team. Every coach who is fired before his contract expires has to be paid the remainder of their contract when fired.
You poor night birds. Bobby Wallace will be a National Champion again soon. No one can make chicken salad out of chicken$hit, not even a great coach like Wallace. What happened there wasn’t his fault. Just ask his former players.
Rhule should get one more season and NO more. He deserves to show/prove that he learned from his mistakes and can change enough to win games that he should and/or are close. We all expected that this year and are disappointed it didn’t happen this year when it certainly could have. It is, however, frightening that he can’t see that a change at DC is needed or that he doesn’t have the gumption to do it. For those that say he has lost the players confidence and they are demoralized, it certainly did not appear that way, especially in the last game. IF the team can start next year the way it ended this year, he will have a good year next season. If not, he needs to go.