Category Archives: Football

Training Camp Day 5: First full contact practice

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As the Owls donned full pads for the first practice of training camp, the offensive and defensive players got a chance to play at the highest level of contact since camp began. One player who the offense won’t have to compete against, along with the rest of the Big East, is linebacker Tahir Whitehead.

Whitehead, who was a senior last season, was selected by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round of the April NFL Draft. Whitehead led a defense that ranked third in the country in points allowed per game at 13.9.

“You can’t replace Tahir,” defensive line coach Sean Cronin said. “He was a tremendous leader for our football team, an outstanding player and a great playmaker. He was just one of those guys that made plays.”

One player who could lead the defense in Whitehead’s absence is junior defensive tackle Levi Brown, the only Owl who was named to the 2012 preseason All-Big East first team.

“It’s a good feeling,” Brown said. “I mean, it really doesn’t mean anything right now. I am just working each day to get better. I am working as hard as I have ever worked to try and play my best football this year.”

Brown isn’t worried about losing Whitehead though, and trusts his defense can get the job done without one of its top playmakers.

“We are running the same defense we ran last year,” Brown said. “We are just trying to stick to the same stuff and compete at a high level. We can’t focus on last year. We are going to throw somebody in there who is going to make plays and do what he has to do.”

John Youboty, a senior defensive lineman, could also be asked to carry a big load for the Owls, who are matching up against Big East competition for the first time.

“As a unit we want to put our team in the best position to win the game, which is getting the other offense off the field,” Youboty said. “Personally I want to be one of the leaders on and off the field for the defense. As far as that, as long as we are winning, I don’t care about personal stats.”

With the first day of full contact under their belt, staying healthy while staying competitive will be the focus moving forward. Brown described the practices as very “up-tempo” and that the whole team is focused. While the focus on the larger picture of a Big East schedule will eventually have to be addressed, the Aug. 31 season opener against Villanova is fast approaching.

“It felt great [putting full pads on] just to know that the season is right around the corner,” Youboty said. “Once we put those full pads on, we are closer to the first game.”

Training Camp Day 4: Rebuilding the offensive line

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As offensive line coach Justin Frye looked at his group during football training camp day four, he noticed a stark contrast between this year’s line and last year’s, after losing four out of five starters.

With fifth-year senior right tackle Martin Wallace being the only holdover from last year’s starting line, the Owls will depend on a younger core up front come September. Despite the youth, Frye sees an ambitious group when looking at this year’s offensive line.

“I look at these young guys and they just seem to always want more,” Frye said. “They’ll do a drill and keep going at it over and over again, until finally their eyes light up and you can tell when it works.”

Helping Wallace lead this year’s young line will be redshirt-junior center Sean Boyle, who watched the previous two seasons unfold from the sidelines while his brother Pat flourished at left tackle.

Hampered by shoulder surgeries in each of the last two summers, Boyle has not played in a collegiate game since the fall of 2009.

“I’m excited to be out on the field and play with the guys again,” Boyle said. “Being out of the game for two years, I always had to sit and watch. Now, just being on the field with these guys again is great.”

“I’m playing the best football I’ve played in a while,” Boyle added. “I’m healthy and I feel strong again. There’s nowhere to go but up for me at this point.”

While Boyle continues to settle into his new role as the starting center, Wallace is beginning to embrace his role as a leader of the Temple offense.

A former transfer from the now-defunct Northeastern football program, Wallace has solidified his role as a consistent force over at right tackle.

“I want to have one of the best seasons I’ve ever had both individually and as a team,” Wallace said. “It goes hand in hand. I have to keep the same tough mentality throughout and I have to help lead these guys to that goal.”

In the long grind that is a collegiate football season, according to Wallace, toughness will be the key to success on a team that will have to rebuild its offensive line after last year.

“We have to be Temple tough,” Wallace said. “We have to keep grinding and working hard all year long. We do that, and we’ll be successful as a group.”

-Drew Parent

Training Camp Day 3: Tragedy and Toughness

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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

Addazio calls off media post tragedy

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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.

Addazio talks change at Big East Media Day

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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.”

Temple comes up short in preseason poll

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According to the powers that be in the Big East, Temple has a long journey ahead to make some noise in its new conference. In the 2012 preseason media poll, the Owls recieved 41 points and were ranked last in the conference at eighth place.

Louisville recieved 24 of a possible 28 first place votes and is the overwhelming favorite to win the conference after tying for the title last year. The Owls will match up with the conference favorite in Kentucky on Nov. 3.

A school that Temple might be looking to extract some revenge on also placed highly in the conference. After knocking off the basketball team in the first round of the NCAA championship, the University of South Florida football team received the other four first place votes and sits at second in the poll. The Owls will look for a rematch on Oct. 16 at Lincoln Financial Field.

Owls collect preseason recognition

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Five Temple football players have been named to the preseason All-Big East Conference teams produced by College Sports Madness. The only Owl to be named to the first team was junior defensive tackle Levi Brown.

Senior running back Matt Brown, expected to receive significant playing time with the departure of Bernard Pierce to the NFL, was named to the second team along with fellow senior, safety Justin Gildea. Brown also received third team honors at the kick return position.

Seniors Martin Wallace (offensive line) and Brandon McManus (place kicker) rounded out the thrid team squad with Brown. McManus was also named to the 2012 College Football Performance Awards Preseason Watch List is coming off a career year in which he set Temple season records for punting average and extra-points made.

In its first season back in the Big East, the Temple squad coached by Steve Addazio will look to assert its presence early as it takes on rival Villanova in the first game of the season on August 31 at Lincoln Financial Field.

For a complete list of the All-Big East teams, check http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/4503

-Ibrahim Jacobs

Penn State players interested in Temple

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Per the NCAA sanctions handed out to Penn State in light of the cover up imposed by top university officials to protect a now-convicted child sex offender, any Penn State football player may transfer from the university and play for another school immediately. According to one source, some players are looking to move in-state.

Kevin Newsome, a Nittany Lion from 2009-10 who announced his transfer to Temple in January 2012, said that he has spoken to former teammates about the possibility of Penn State players coming to play at Temple.

“There are a couple of guys that have talked to me about Temple,” Newsome said. “There are a couple of guys that are interested.”

Though Newsome refused to name anyone specifically, he said he has received multiple phone calls from players asking him about Temple since the NCAA sanctions were announced.

“Temple is a rising team,” Newsome said. “A lot of people, especially from Penn State, see that Temple is a hard-working team and it’s on the rise.”

Newsome said through the conversations that he’s had, the overall impression that he’s gotten is that most Penn State players want to stay in State College, Pa.  However, he said Temple would stand to gain a lot from Penn State transfers.

“I definitely think a lot of players at Penn State would be a good fit at Temple,” Newsome said.

Newsome completed 14 of 24 passes for 144 yards in two seasons at Penn State. He will officially become a member of the football team’s roster at the end of July.