The Temple job is open. The school fired head coach Stan Drayton before the end of his third season, after a win against Florida Atlantic, ending his run at 9-25.
Drayton posted 3-9 records in his first two seasons and was 3-7 this year.
“With the changing landscape of college football and the Playoff format, the opportunity for Temple football has never been greater,” athletic director Arthur Johnson said in a statement. “Our expectation is to compete for American Athletic Conference titles, appear in bowl games consistently, and build a program that our fans, alumni, and students can be proud of in the classroom and on the field. I am confident that our fans will rally around our student-athletes and support them as they always have.”
So how good is the Temple job? What names could get in the mix? Based on conversations with industry sources, here is a report card for the job and the potential candidates to watch.
Recent history/tradition: C
Not long ago, the Temple Owls were one of the better teams in the AAC. They reached five bowl games in a row from 2015 to 2019, reached the CFP rankings twice, and have won at least eight games seven times since 2009. But the run of good coaches from Al Golden to Steve Addazio to Matt Rhule to Geoff Collins ended. Manny Diaz had the job for just a few weeks before returning to Miami (Fla.), and the Owls haven’t won more than three games in a season since then. Before that run, they were one of the worst programs in FBS — they were kicked out of the Big East in 2001 due to poor play. Now they’re back in a basement.
On-field outlook: D-
The Owls are last in the AAC in scoring offense and 10th in scoring defense. Drayton took a portal swing last offseason in hopes of turning things around, but it didn’t work. Receiver Dante Wright is good, but he’ll be out of eligibility. Talented quarterback EJ Warner transferred to Rice last offseason. There is not a lot to work with here, and it’s not located in a prime recruiting area in the Northeast.
Money matters: B-
The school has invested in football. Drayton’s $1.8 million salary was in the middle of the AAC but is still a high number for the Group of 5, enough to potentially lure Power 4 coordinators or other Group of 5 head coaches. An indoor practice field opened in 2013. The 110,000-square-foot STAR complex opened in 2017 with meeting rooms, weight rooms and more. But there is no on-campus stadium, and playing games at an empty Lincoln Financial Field remains a drag.
University stability: C-
Not only is the football program struggling but the men’s basketball program is involved in a potential gambling investigation dating back to last season, the details of which have remained sparse. It’s hard to know what impact that could have on the school or the rest of athletics when it finishes, but the cloud is not good. Johnson has been the athletic director since 2021, coming from Texas.
Coach pool: B-
Syracuse defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson coached Temple’s defensive line under Rhule from 2014 to 2017. The New Jersey native and Penn State alum has been in the mix for Northeast head coaching jobs before. He’s been known as a strong recruiter and spent 2018 to 2023 at Texas A&M.
Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon is a Pennsylvania native and Penn State grad who coached at Temple in 2006. He joined Rhule with Baylor in 2017 and has spent a few stints in the NFL. In Nixon’s first season, Syracuse’s offense ranks 36th nationally in scoring, up from 92nd a year ago.
Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler has done a solid job with the Falcons, heading to a third consecutive bowl. He served as Temple’s offensive coordinator in 2011. Loeffler’s salary at Bowling Green is around $580,000, meaning Temple could more than double his earnings. But the last time Temple hired a MAC head coach in Rod Carey, it didn’t work out. Should that mean anything?
Texas offensive coordinator Kyle Flood has done a good job with the Longhorns offensive line after following Steve Sarkisian from Alabama. The New York native coached at Rutgers from 2005 to 2015, with those last four years as head coach. He went 26-22 overall, reached three bowl games and won at least eight games twice. If he wants to be a head coach again, perhaps this could be a fit.
Syracuse quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile is a New Jersey native who spent four years at Rutgers and was a New Jersey high school coach for 18 years before that, so he knows the area. He went 1-7 as the Rutgers interim head coach in 2019 and 1-1 as Syracuse’s interim head coach last year, before being retained by Fran Brown.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is a Philadelphia native who has improved the Buckeyes defense in a big way since arriving in 2022. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2021 and has head coaching experience at Cornell, where he went 26-34 from 2004 to 2009.
Kutztown head coach Jim Clements has been winning big in Division II. He’s 155-52 as a head coach (all in Pennsylvania) including 53-10 since 2019 and a No. 3 ranking this year with an 11-0 record. If you want to find another Lance Leipold or Kalen DeBoer, this could be it.
Lehigh head coach Kevin Cahill is about an hour away from Temple, and he’s got the Mountain Hawks at 7-3 this year in his second season, the program’s first winning season since 2016. He’s a New York native who previously coached at Yale and Maine.
Overall grade: C+
For a long time, this was probably the worst job in FBS. But after a decade of success and money put into the program, the ceiling here is higher than it used to be. Multiple coaches have won here. Temple can pay a coach well, and the facilities outside of the stadium are good. But the roster is a mess and Temple isn’t an NIL heavy hitter. There is a lot of work to do.
(Top photo: Andy Lewis / Imagn Images)
Related News :