Posts for Temple Category

Matt Rhule Is Leaving Temple

Kyle Scott - December 6, 2016

Well, Temple football was fun while it lasted. So much for Matt Rhule coaching the Eagles. So much for that statue. Rhule leaves to coach in the Big 12 for perennially top 25 team.

Rhule was making $1.3 million at Temple (which is obscene). Baylor’s previous coach made $4.2 million. Money talks.

I discussed with Jim, who is here packing Ugly Christmas Sweatshirts with no breaks, little water or food, his tough decision:

So much for sticking around:

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UPDATE: And there you have it:

UPDATE 2: Matt Rhule, last year:

“This is hard man,” Rhule admitted. “This is really, really hard. People start coming to your door and say hey, ‘I got four million dollars.’ But you know what, I’d rather coach Temple’s kids. I love these kids. I’d rather coach here and coach Temple’s kids then just sell my soul for four million dollars. That is the truth and that’s as honest and open as I can be with you guys.”

Suuuuuure.

H/T to (@yoitsbird)

WTF? Temple and Oklahoma Have Scheduled a Three-Game Series Starting in 8 Years

Kyle Scott - July 6, 2016

Temple press release:

Temple has reached an agreement on a three-game series with one of the nation’s most storied college football programs, the University of Oklahoma.

The teams will start a three-game series on Aug. 31, 2024 in Norman, Okla. with the Sooners traveling to Philadelphia for a Sept. 13, 2025 contest. The final game of the series will be at Oklahoma on Sept. 2, 2028.

“We look forward to starting a series with a great program like Oklahoma and hosting the Sooners in Philadelphia,” said Temple University Director of Athletics Dr. Patrick Kraft. “Our goal is to continue to schedule the best games possible for our program, alums and the college football fans in the city.”

Is this typical in college football, to schedule games a decade out? Feels excessive. But I’m going to withhold myself from snarking on Temple and their coup of landing a big-name opponent to potentially play at their ill-advised on-campus stadium 12 years from now when football will probably be a footnote in history because it prematurely killed thousands of athletes and President Trump, in a sweepingly anti-populist move – yet another in his remarkable transformation into a Commander-in-chief willing to make the tough decisions for the betterment of society – banned the sport in 2022, more than a year into his second term, during which he operated without fear of running for reelection and yet still managed to weigh each decision with the care and consideration such an important job demanded. So, I’ll just congratulate Temple on this small step but important step toward becoming a nationally respected program. J-E-L-L-O.

Temple Got Their Guts Ripped Out On a Buzzer Beater Pushoff

Kyle Scott - March 18, 2016

Was rooting for Temple. Tough loss. Tough way to go down. For one, they played good defense on Iowa’s final possesion and forced a tough shot (with maybe a little travel in there?). Problem was the shot was so off that it opened a lane for one of Iowa’s big, dumb, humorless white robots to push off and net the game-winner.

Temple Rode The Subway to Their First Round Tournament Game, Thus Proving They’re Philly Tough

Kyle Scott - March 18, 2016

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Temple pulled a Cliff Lee and road the subway to their first round game in Brooklyn today. Why? Team of the people, I suppose. The fawning Tweets have commenced:

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I wonder what subway line Fran Dunphy takes from his home in Villanova to North Broad?

This Art Print Features Every Big 5 Score in the Palestra’s History

Jim Adair - March 15, 2016

You’ve probably seen artist Dan Duffy’s work. His word-mosaic art of Brian Dawkins or Brad Lidge probably hangs in the living room of at least one of your friends. But he’s really outdone himself with his latest piece.

Duffy’s image of the Palestra, as you can see with detail above, features the dates, teams and scores from every Men’s Big 5 game ever played in the arena to celebrate its 60th anniversary. Sales of the print benefit the American Cancer Society, and it can give you so much eye-straining to check every Villanova win – Kyle – that you’ll need glasses.

Kyle: COULD THEY FIT THEM ALL ON THERE?

Here’s Matt Rhule Singing Karaoke at McGillin’s

Jim Adair - February 5, 2016

Spencer Hawes. Jason Kelce. Claude Giroux. Matt Rhule. Question: What do these people all have in common? Everybody knows they’re a karaoke monster.

On Wednesday night, celebrating a great National Signing Day, Temple coach Matt Rhule joined those Philly sports heavy-hitters above in the McGillin’s Karaoke hall of fame. Rhule’s “My Girl” falls somewhere between Giroux’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” and Kelce’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” They’re all way, way, way ahead of Hawes.

This is what you guys mean when you Tweet at Kyle asking him to write about Temple, right?

[h/t Barstool]

Matt Rhule Gets a Raise to Stay at Temple

Jim Adair - December 7, 2015

Photo Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

One of the most bandied about names in college football coaching openings, Temple’s Matt Rhule, is now off the table. Rhule has reportedly agreed to a new contract from Temple which will include a pay raise and “commitment to facilities from school,” maybe something about that new stadium.

We’ll have more details as actual salary information comes out.

UPDATE: According to OwlSports, the new contract is for six years, but financials have not been disclosed.

Matt Rhule is “No Longer Talking” with Missouri about Their Head Coaching Job

Jim Adair - December 1, 2015

Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

There are a lot of headlines and tweets out there that say Temple coach Matt Rhule “turned down” an offer from Missouri. All of them cite Marc Narducci’s Inquirer report. That’s not technically what he wrote, however. Here’s what Narducci says:

“Multiple sources have told The Inquirer that head coach Matt Rhule is no longer talking to Missouri about its vacant football job. A source confirmed that the two sides met on Sunday morning in Philadelphia.

Behind the scenes a source says that Temple has been in negotiations with Rhule to ensure that he will stay. And apparently, these negotiations were happening well before Missouri sought permission to speak to Rhule.”

This could mean a few things, the first being that Missouri made an offer and Rhule turned it down. It could also mean there wasn’t enough mutual interest, no offer was made at all, Rhule would rather deal with Temple first before really looking elsewhere, or the food at the meeting was bad. Really, any of those things could be true, but we don’t know for a fact that Mizzou offered Rhule and he said “no.” It might warm the hearts of Owls around the nation to think that, but it still seems possible that Rhule could jump ship.

Even Philly.com is admitting their original Tweet – “turned down” – was misleading: