I remember when I was a student at Temple in the 90’s. Temple was known for a lot of things, but one thing that unfortunately stood out was their abysmal football team. Their reputation stood in sharp contrast to that of the powerhouse basketball team. Although I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to either team at the time, I remember how the football team was the running joke of NCAA fans and their fellow students, who often criticized the university officials for continuing to support the program and not putting it out of its misery.
I remember an example of the sentiment on campus. In those pre-internet days, various corkboards around campus served the function that online forums now do. A question would be posted at the top, and students could post their responses on the little slips of paper and tacks provided. One time on the board in Anderson Hall, the subject was the football team, and it prompted a good amount of responses. The consensus of the fellow students painted the players as a bunch of dumb jocks similar to Moose from the Archies comic strip. They knew only how to crash into each other on Saturday afternoons, and were good only at losing games. I can recall two posts in particular. One said that the Temple team couldn’t even win the Bud Bowl. Another one contained this message, written in what looked like a woman’s handwriting: “Personully, I wood give all my tooition money to Temple football because there so grate”. It was signed by “Temple football player #15”.
In all truth, they were just good athletes who couldn’t compete with the NCAA’s finest. Although they may have been stars on their high school teams, they were passed over by the big time college recruiters. So they settled for Temple. I certainly don’t blame anyone for accepting an athletic scholarship with the goal of attaining a degree. Contrary to the corkboard postings, most of them didn’t come to school just to play football, and wouldn’t even if they were courted by the Notre Dames and Penn States of the world. But a football scholarship no doubt did influence their decision on which school to attend.
A decade later, Temple’s football program did manage to turn around. It came after they were bounced from the Big East Conference due to low game attendance and lack of competitiveness. But instead of putting the program to rest, the Owls took up an invitation to play in the non-BCS (Bowl Championship Series) Middle American Conference. Next, they hired a thirty something named Al Golden as their head coach. Whatever Golden did, it worked, and the Owls got better each season. In 2008, they finally compiled a winning record and in 2009 made a bowl appearance.
Of course, schools with more prestigious football programs took notice, and Golden’s name appeared on the short list whenever a head coaching job opened up. Since he removed himself from consideration for most of them, I believed he was committed to Temple until the Penn State job opened up. However, after last season, when Miami called, Golden felt it was time to go.
It’s safe to say that Golden’s departure was inevitable. When someone turns a team like Temple into a winner, it can’t go unnoticed. Even before he began posting winning records, I was hearing of how impressed other schools were with the job he was doing at Temple. More than anything, I think it was worth hiring Golden because of the change he brought to the culture of Temple football, even though it seems there’s more to be done. Hopefully Steve Addazio can pick up where he left off and finish the job.
Should the university officials have axed the program a long time ago? Since there has been a turnaround, I don’t think so. Had they continued in the Big East or as an independent, and if they were still getting pounded in lop-sided losses, I would lean toward terminating the program. Now, the team is in a position where it can help the university by making it look good on national television, and therefore attract students. Hopefully, they can also showcase student athletes who excel both in the classroom and on the field. But keep in mind that I write this from the viewpoint of a fan and alumnus. I don’t know whether the football team is generating any sizable profit. Maybe if I was a university accountant, I would think differently.
Regardless of the unfinished business, Temple football has definitely come a long way since those dismal days of the 90s and early 2000s. I would have liked to see them win a conference title or bowl game under Golden, but now they are competing for the conference title and have made it to at least one bowl game. Although Temple will probably always be a basketball first school, it’s good to see their football program gain some respectability.
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