Phil Steele's take on Al Golden at Temple

CanesAreAble

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An unbiased opinion. Just more food for thought:


Coming into 2009, the Owls had not had a winning season in an amazing 18 straight years and in 2008 they topped 4 wins in a season for the first time since 1990. The Big East booted Temple out in 2004. Playing as an Independent without any chance of winning a conference title and taking on a killer schedule, they struggled. I called for them to join the MAC in 2005 and in 2006 and they finally did so in 2007 and it was a great move.

In their first 2 years in MAC play they went 8-8 and in the last 2 years have gone 12-4. Temple was actually -70.7 ypg in MAC play in 2008 but in 2009 they were finally up to their full allotment of scholarship players. I pegged the Owls as one of my Most Improved Teams meaning I expected them to go from a losing season to a bowl. The Owls were 7-1 in MAC play but lost to Ohio (without Bernard Pierce [the star RB]) and surprisingly were only +4.8 ypg. They finished 9-4 but did lose to UCLA in their first bowl since 1979. Temple on paper appeared to be the best team in the MAC last year.

Showing their depth, Temple played just 5 freshmen after playing the most freshmen in the nation in 2006 and 2007. An NFL scout called them "big, big, big and athletic" and Joe Paterno said "there weren't any fat kids out there, they were all rangy kids." Temple barely got past Villanova with a 43 yard FG with :03 left to take the lead then got a fumble recovery TD on the kickoff. They jumped out to a 3-0 start including a win over eventual Big East champ UCONN 30-16 (trailed 16-14 in the 4th quarter). They led Penn St 13-12 in the 3rd quarter but came up short (lost 22-13). Head coach Golden was disappointed by a passionless effort at Northern Illinois.

They steamrolled through the next 4 MAC opponents by a combined 128-37. On the first play versus Ohio, RB Pierce ripped off a 67 yard TD run but not only was it called back by a penalty, Pierce was injured and Temple lost. The next week (without Pierce) they lost to Miami-OH 23-3 and desite an 8-4 record and a win over the Big East champ, Temple did not get invited to a bowl!

Temple did benefit from 3 net close wins and only had 4 starts lost to injury. They lost Golden to Miami and their 12 returning starters rank in the bottom 4 of the MAC. Addazio steps into a good situatuion as Temple could easly have been the MAC champs each of the last 2 years had Pierce not been injured and they are deeper at RB in 2011. They should have been in a bowl last year and will get back to the post season this year.
 
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Temple played just 5 freshmen after playing the most freshmen in the nation in 2006 and 2007. An NFL scout called them "big, big, big and athletic"

Yup.
 
Give the man some time, I feel like he can do some great things. First things first, get rid of Kehoe and Swasey so you can find coaches that can take advantage of big athletes.
 
Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.
 
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Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.

That's what they were playing in the Big East obviously once they move to the MAC they were bound to win more games
 
Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.

That's what they were playing in the Big East obviously once they move to the MAC they were bound to win more games

1st year out of the BE, they went 0-11 with an average game score of 45-9. That year, they played 4 MAC opponents and got outscored 172-54 (43-13 per game)
 
Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.

That's what they were playing in the Big East obviously once they move to the MAC they were bound to win more games

1st year out of the BE, they went 0-11 with an average game score of 45-9. That year, they played 4 MAC opponents and got outscored 172-54 (43-13 per game)

Ok so they got worse before they got back to par. Didn't they lose scholarships or something?
 
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Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.

That's what they were playing in the Big East obviously once they move to the MAC they were bound to win more games

1st year out of the BE, they went 0-11 with an average game score of 45-9. That year, they played 4 MAC opponents and got outscored 172-54 (43-13 per game)

Ok so they got worse before they got back to par. Didn't they lose scholarships or something?

Were you in crafton's college fantasy football league?
 
Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.

That's what they were playing in the Big East obviously once they move to the MAC they were bound to win more games

1st year out of the BE, they went 0-11 with an average game score of 45-9. That year, they played 4 MAC opponents and got outscored 172-54 (43-13 per game)

Ok so they got worse before they got back to par. Didn't they lose scholarships or something?

No they were just awful so it seemed like they lost scholarships.
 
yes they lost schollies for not meeting APR

Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.

That's what they were playing in the Big East obviously once they move to the MAC they were bound to win more games

1st year out of the BE, they went 0-11 with an average game score of 45-9. That year, they played 4 MAC opponents and got outscored 172-54 (43-13 per game)

Ok so they got worse before they got back to par. Didn't they lose scholarships or something?

No they were just awful so it seemed like they lost scholarships.
 
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yes they lost schollies for not meeting APR

Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.

That's what they were playing in the Big East obviously once they move to the MAC they were bound to win more games

1st year out of the BE, they went 0-11 with an average game score of 45-9. That year, they played 4 MAC opponents and got outscored 172-54 (43-13 per game)

Ok so they got worse before they got back to par. Didn't they lose scholarships or something?

No they were just awful so it seemed like they lost scholarships.

Was unaware of that, any way you look at Temple they were atrocious before Golden took over.
 
they had something like....59 players on scholarship when Al took over.

It was a subpar D1AA program. Georgia State could have taken them to the woodshed.
 
yes they lost schollies for not meeting APR

Made a bottom feeding Big East team a middle of the pack MAC team..... average cabbage

Temple was one of the worst programs in NCAA history and were contemplating ending their football program before he turned them around. I would say thats far from average.

That's what they were playing in the Big East obviously once they move to the MAC they were bound to win more games

1st year out of the BE, they went 0-11 with an average game score of 45-9. That year, they played 4 MAC opponents and got outscored 172-54 (43-13 per game)

Ok so they got worse before they got back to par. Didn't they lose scholarships or something?

No they were just awful so it seemed like they lost scholarships.

Was unaware of that, any way you look at Temple they were atrocious before Golden took over.

An atrocious Big East team = a middle of the pack MAC team
 
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Give the man some time, I feel like he can do some great things. First things first, get rid of Kehoe and Swasey so you can find coaches that can take advantage of big athletes.

How's that working out?
 
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