College Football | Ouster of school prez does not bode well for Temple

Temple football reached its apex this past fall when the undefeated Owls hosted Notre Dame in a battle of ranked teams before a sold-out Lincoln Financial Field crowd and national-television audience.

by Jack Kerwin  |  [email protected]

The e-mail arrived a minute after 6 Thursday evening.

Duly addressed to the Temple University Community, where yours truly resides as a loyal alum and faithful patron of Owls sporting events, and credited to Patrick J. O’Connor, Chair of the Board of Trustees, it detailed in superfluous verbiage the change in power at the school, welcoming Dr. Richard Englert to a second stint as Acting President and JoAnne Epps to a first as Provost before closing with a rah-rah testament to the school’s bright future.

All typical, standard stuff coming on the heels of alterations at the critical top of an institution of higher learning’s administrative infrastructure.

Practical, positive, proactive … and absolutely self-promotional BS.

Cutting through the crap that attempted to put a kumbaya spin on Dr. Neil Theobald’s ouster as the front-and-center face of the university, headlined by “best interests” propaganda, before it devolved into a mere cut-and-paste effort from O’Connor’s previous ode to Englert when the latter slid into the same position four years ago, here is the unfortunate reality that is staring right at many in our community:

All that fun-fueled pride and success-based attention we enjoyed last fall with the football team, well, kiss goodbye any notion that either will continue on their recent, neck-straining upward trend.

OK, so doomsday may not be here for the Owls’ long-awaited surge to legit, gridiron respectability. But it’s near.

Not for nothing, but Theobald was the driving force behind what went on behind and between the lines ever since his arrival three and a half years ago. The budget, the advertising, the “presence” in the Philadelphia market, all jumped up under his watch, exponentially so.

He hired Matt Rhule, then re-signed him last December in the midst of a statement-making, historic season, and, sadly, the brilliance of that selection probably will only be realized once the head coach bolts for more football-committed pastures.

Those believing that his prioritizing the football program had nothing to do with his forced resignation are only fooling themselves. The big aspirations he had for the grid program would come with a hefty price tag, and ironically enough that cost Theobald his job.

Now, Temple football is, at best, back in limbo.

Don’t think so?

Well, take note that the buzz-meter isn’t even registering this summer leading into camp and then the season when, at the same juncture a year ago, it was somewhere above “oh, really” and pretty close to “off the charts.”

Yeah, got it. The Owls lost several key players, including arguably the greatest defender in the program’s history in linebacker Tyler Matakevich, to the NFL. Their latest schedule also doesn’t include home dates against Penn State and Notre Dame.

So, a breath-catching step back in terms of interest makes sense, except … the team returns an All-America candidate in electric running back Jahad Thomas, and arguably the greatest quarterback in the program’s history in P.J. Walker. It also has a trip set to Penn State and a real shot at an American Athletic Conference championship.

Frankly, the case could have been made even before discussions first started months ago to push Theobald out the door that the 2016 season was far more important to Temple’s future in football than 2015 ever was.

Reason being, the latter showed that the Owls were capable of stepping up when all the stars aligned while the former would offer the true proving ground, an opportunity for them to show what they would do when all the stars really hadn’t aligned.

​Now the most shiny one of all is gone for good. That would not seem to bode well ... for this upcoming autumn  and beyond.

Not for nothing, but (Dr. Neil) Theobald was the driving force behind what went on behind and between the lines ever since his arrival three and a half years ago. The budget, the advertising, the “presence” in the Philadelphia market, all jumped up under his watch, exponentially so. He hired Matt Rhule, then re-signed him last December in the midst of a statement-making, historic season, and, sadly, the brilliance of that selection probably will only be realized once the head coach bolts for more football-committed pastures. Those believing that his prioritizing the football program had nothing to do with his forced resignation are only fooling themselves. The big aspirations he had for the grid program would come with a hefty price tag, and ironically enough that cost Theobald his job. Now, Temple football is, at best, back in limbo.