Training Camp Day 3: Tragedy and Toughness

After the first weekend of Temple football training camp, in which players were limited to only helmets and shoulder pads and fundamental drills, coach Steve Addazio and players said they were excited for the opportunity to hit some people Monday morning at the first full-contact practice of training camp.

But following Sunday’s death of Garrett Reid, 29, son of Philadelphia Eagles’ coach Andy Reid and brother of Owls’ redshirt-freshman running back Spencer Reid and graduate assistant coach Britt Reid, with the heavy hits came heavy hearts.

“It’s been a really tough couple of days,” Addazio said. “Our hearts and prayers go out the Reid family. It’s such a tragic thing and your heart breaks for them. I don’t know what else to say.”

Addazio said Tuesday’s training camp session will be held in the afternoon so that players and coaches will have the opportunity to attend Reid’s funeral in the morning.

“Practice will be the last thing on my mind tomorrow morning,” Addazio said. “Practice and football pales in comparison to what we’re talking about here.”

As to how the Owls fared in the first day of full-contact practice, their coach would like to see some improvement as camp moves on.

“We were a little sloppy offensively out there, especially toward the end,” Addazio said. “It was the first day of contact practice, but you still have to find a way to be sharper, tougher and more tuned in. That didn’t happen today.”

Although Addazio made it clear that there is work to be done, getting back to a real practice atmosphere is a big step for his team.

“Everybody was happy to get going today,” Addazio said. “It’s hard with the non-contact stuff. You can’t hit anybody or hurt anybody, and guys aren’t wearing pads. It’s hard, once you get going with the shoulder pads on, it’s a lot easier to function and improve as a team.”

“We’re installing a lot right now and with the hitting it tends to get a little sloppy on the first day,” junior quarterback Chris Coyer said. “I feel good about where we’re going, but we still have to improve a little bit on everything. We’ll be all right.”

Coyer, who began playing regularly midway through last season, is now the starter at quarterback heading into a season for the first time. The unfamiliar role has given Coyer a new perspective heading into camp.

“In past years for me, it’s been all about winning the starting job going into camp,” Coyer said. “Now I’m a lot more focused on improving myself and improving the team so that we can be as good as we can be for that first game.”

“Practice gets a little tougher every year and every day,” Coyer added. “I feel like I’m getting a little more accurate in my passes day by day, and I’m getting better with each day.”

While Coyer’s role has been clearly identified, sophomore Jalen Fitzpatrick, who could see time this year at running back and receiver, said he’ll be happy just to contribute however his coach wants him to.

“I just want to play and contribute to this team, and wherever [Addazio] puts me, I’m going to play there and do my best to contribute,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m still a young guy and I’m still learning.”

In the learning process, Fitzpatrick has looked at senior running back Matt Brown as a role model, and likens his playing style to that of Brown’s.

“I play with an edge and I learned that from [Brown],” Fitzpatrick said. “ He’s a huge competitor and has a big chip on his shoulder, and I try to play like that and have that same chip on my shoulder.”

“I’ve been competitive my whole life,” Brown said. “I grew up in a family with a tough mentality, and that kind of attitude rubs off.”

Brown, the featured back heading into the season, believes that players have to have a certain level of toughness when it comes to football.

“I’ve always had a tough mentality,” Brown said. “If I get hurt, I feel like it’s not right to leave your team because you’re hurting, unless you really can’t play. Other than that, suck it up and be a man, that’s football. This isn’t basketball or baseball, pain is a part of this game.”

“It wouldn’t be football if the pain wasn’t a part of the game,” Brown added. “I like the pain, it makes me feel like a man.”

-Drew Parent

Khalif Wyatt trial postponed again

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.- Men’s basketball senior guard Khalif Wyatt, who was scheduled to appear in court today for his June 10 arrest for soliciting a prostitute, had his hearing rescheduled for the third time.

The new trial is set for Aug. 21 in Atlantic City Municipal Court, less than a week before Temple students are set to report for the first day of classes.

Wyatt was arrested in Atlantic City two months ago while celebrating his 21st birthday for allegedly soliciting an undercover prostitute who was a police officer and resisting arrest. Others that were arrested at the same time as Wyatt are facing drug charges.

“I apologize to my family, teammates, coaches and Temple University for the embarrassment that I have caused,” Wyatt said in a statement after his arrest. “I was in Atlantic City this past weekend celebrating my 21st birthday with friends and exercised very poor judgment by allowing myself and my friends to be put in a compromising situation. I intend to cooperate with the authorities during their investigation and the legal process.”

Wyatt is being represented by Peter Sarkos, an Atlantic City based attorney, who has not responded to request for comment on the case.

While Wyatt is facing charges for the arrest, it is currently unclear what action the school will take if he is convicted. Wyatt’s name however, has not been removed from the basketball roster. Praise Martin-Oguike, a linebacker for the football team, had his name removed from the roster after being arrested in June.

While the schedule has not been announced, Temple is set to begin its season on Nov. 13 against Kent State for the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon.

-Ibrahim Jacobs

Addazio calls off media post tragedy

Football coach Steve Addazio canceled media availability after the second day of training camp Sunday morning following the passing of Garrett Reid, brother of Owls’ graduate assistant coach Britt Reid and redshirt-freshman running back Spencer Reid.

Garrett Reid, the 29-year-old son of Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid, was found dead in his Lehigh University dorm room Sunday after a 911 call was placed at 7:20 a.m. The cause of death is under investigation.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Reid family,” Addazio said in a statement released following Sunday morning’s practice.

Spencer Reid redshirted last season at Temple after playing running back and linebacker at Harriton High School. Britt Reid is entering his third season as a coaching assistant at Temple.

Golf led by top recruits

Golf coach Brian Quinn is excited.

His reason? The Owls are entering the 2012-13 season with a roster full of talent of a quality the program has never seen before.

“This is the best recruiting class in the history of Temple golf,” Quinn said.

The recruiting class is led by incoming freshman and 2010 Pennsylvania State Golf Champion Brandon Matthews from Pittston Area High School. Matthews has won junior tournaments across Pennsylvania and is figured to factor into the lineup immediately. Joining Matthews is fellow newcomer Mike Teesdale  a community college transfer that really has Quinn excited.

“[Teesdale] is a very good golfer,” Quinn said. “It is great that we are going to get three years of playing from him.”

The recruits aren’t the only thing that Quinn is excited about. He is returning two of his most important players from last season in sophomore Paul Carbone and senior Devin Bibeau.

“[Carbone] could be very good, he has a ton of potential. I’m expecting him to work harder and really improve a lot this season,” Quinn said.

Quinn sees Bibeau as the leader of the group, and he will be expected to carry load as not only the No. 1 player on the team, but the mentor to this young squad.

“[Bibeau] is the best player on our team right now,” Quinn said. “He needs to be a leader for the younger guys and play the best golf he could for us to be successful this season.”

The golf team will begin their season on Sept. 16 at The McLaughlin and they will finish their fall campaign on October 16 at the Barnabas Health Intercollegiate.

-Anthony Bellino

Volleyball adds international talent

As part of an attempt to improve upon last season’s 8-20 overall record, second-year head coach Bakeer Ganes has brought in seven newcomers, four true freshmen and three transfers, to the 2012 Temple volleyball team.

 
 “We are very excited about our incoming class,” Ganes said in a press release. “I think we have a good mix of true freshmen and transfers. They will provide us depth, experience and a very high skill set.”

 
Ganes will welcome freshmen Alyssa Drachslin, Sandra Sydlik, Alicia Wennberg and Regina Trabosh, juniors Annemarie Boehm and Paula Renteria, and senior Jingyu Zhang. The class has international experience as four of the student-athletes have experience playing in Germany, China and Norway.

 
Drachslin is a true freshman defensive specialist out of Southern California. She will play defense and libero for Temple after being the starting libero for her high school for three years and helping lead them to consecutive league titles. She was named to the first team all-league in both of her last two years at Riverside Poly High School.

 
Sydlik is a 5 foot, 10 inch setter from Berlin, Germany. She played in the highest amateur league in Germany and had a successful career with the Junior National Team.

 
Wennberg is another true freshman with an extensive international résumé. She’s an outside hitter from Stavanger, Norway and she started every game as a junior and senior for her high school. Wennberg brings valuable experience to North Philly after having a standout career with the U19 National Team, the National All-Star Team and the Junior National Team.

 
Trabosh is a 5 foot, 4 inch libero from Trooper, Pa. She was named to the first team all-league three times and first team all-area twice.

 
Boehm is a middle blocker transferring after spending two years at a Catholic University in Germany and time on the Junior National Team at the German Championships in 2005 and 2006.

 
Renteria will have two years of eligibility left after two years at West Virginia Wesleyan. Her value comes in her versatility as she can play both defense and outside hitter. She led WV Wesleyan in kills as a sophomore and was named second team all-conference.

 
Zhang, a Tianjin, China native, is a 5 foot, 10 inch outside hitter. She played the 2008 and 2009 seasons at Saint Petersburg College in Florida. While there, she was named to the NJCAA All-American First Team.

 
The volleyball team’s season opens on Aug. 24 at the University of South Carolina Invitational.
Brandon Stoneburg

Addazio talks change at Big East Media Day

With his team picked to finish last in the Big East conference, football coach Steve Addazio said that’s not what he’ll be focusing on this upcoming season during a press conference at Big East Media Day Tuesday morning.

“I don’t know where we’ll be in this pecking order at the end of the season. I have no idea,” Addazio said. “I do know this, we will show up. We’ll play really, really hard and we’ll represent the game the way it is supposed to be represented. That’s what I will promise you.”

Temple, coming off its first bowl victory since 1979, re-enters the Big East conference for football for the 2012 season after the team was asked to leave the conference in 2001 due to lack of competitiveness and poor attendance.

Despite the fact that the Owls were picked to finish last in the Big East Media Poll released Tuesday, Addazio said the team is more primed for success in the Big East this time around.

“It’s a new Temple,” Addazio said. “It doesn’t resemble anything where it was six or seven years ago.”

“We just completed a $10 million state-of-the-art football complex, a new $50 million basketball complex,” Addazio added. “There’s change everywhere.”

Following three non-conference games to begin the season, Big East play opens Oct. 6 at home against South Florida. The Owls will also have Big East home games against Rutgers, Cincinnati and Syracuse this year.

“Change can be a little uncomfortable sometimes, but change is exciting,” Addazio said. “It brings out the best in everyone. You have to embrace it.”