Tag Archives: football

Former football player Adrian Robinson dies Saturday

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Update No. 2:

Statement from coach Matt Rhule:

“The Temple football program lost a friend, a brother, and a wonderful young man today. Adrian Robinson was one of the greatest competitors I ever had the pleasure of coaching and I know he was an even better teammate. I first met Adrian as an 18 year old high school senior. I was so proud to see him back at Temple this spring finishing his degree and being a loving father to his new daughter.  He will always be a part of me and will always be a part of this program. Our hearts and thoughts go out to the Robinson family – his parents Terry and Adrian Sr., brother Averee and sister Aija, and his daughter Avery Marie.”
Statement from Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin Clark:
”The entire Temple University community is mourning the tragic passing of one of our former all-time great football players, Adrian Robinson. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this incredibly tough time.”

UPDATE: Robinson’s agency, Symmetry, confirmed the news on Sunday morning on Facebook

“It deeply saddens all of us to share with you that Adrian Robinson Jr. passed away last night at the age of 25. Adrian was a beloved father, son, brother, friend and teammate. We ask that you please respect his family’s privacy during this difficult time, and especially keep his daughter Avery Marie in your prayers. Thank you for all of your support and consideration.”

 

According to a report from Owlscoop.com, former football player Adrian Robinson died Saturday night at the age of 25.

The former defensive end was a 2011 team captain who appeared in every game during his collegiate career.

During his final year as an Owl in 2011, Robinson accumulated 52 total tackles and a team-high 13.5 tackles for loss as the Owls went 9-4, including a 37-15 win over the University of Wyoming in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl.

Robinson’s brother, Averee Robinson, is a junior defensive lineman with 20 career tackles and 2.5 sacks. He also has 2.5 tackles for loss and three fumble recoveries.

Robinson, who started 38 career games and was a 2011 and 2009 first-team All-MAC honoree, totaled 156 career tackles, 24 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss. He was also named 2009 MAC Defensive MVP by Sporting News.

Robinson was a graduate of Harrisburg High School and was one of five Owls to appear in the 2008 Big 33 game, an all-star football game that featured the top high-school football players from Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native had five stints in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and most recently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014.

Michael Guise can be reached at michael.guise@temple.edu or on Twitter @Michael_Guise

Training Camp Recap (8/12 – 8/15)

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Quarterback battle

The team’s quarterback battle has continued this week, as senior Clinton “Juice” Granger and redshirt freshman P.J. Walker compete with junior Connor Reilly for the starting job.

“We’re going to leave it as a competition,” Rhule said after practice Monday. “We’re going to keep this thing going until we make a decision as a staff.”

Rhule said that early in the week, Reilly was dealing with a sprained ankle.

“I think the biggest issue with [Reilly] is that he’s a little bit banged up,” Rhule said. “He’s struggling a little bit to get his feet underneath him to kind of move a little bit. Mentally I think he’s a tough kid. He knows that’s what this game is all about—a competition day in and day out.”

Meanwhile, Granger continues to make headway in his efforts to become this year’s starting quarterback.

“Juice is throwing the football really well,” Rhule said. “We know he can run, but he’s throwing the ball really well. They’re all getting better and better at it, so we’ll see what happens in the next scrimmage. But each day at practice, we’re grading and evaluating them.”

“We know we need to have three, four quarterbacks to have a chance to get through the season anyway,” Rhule added. “So, while it’s a competition to them, for us it’s just getting them ready to play.”

From WR to DE

Sophomore Romond Deloatch, who had two starts last year at wide receiver as a freshman, had quite an interesting week of camp.

After being late for a meeting, Rhule moved Deloatch to a different practice unit to “shake him up.” On Monday, Deloatch was playing alongside the defensive ends—and the Hampton, Va. native actually played well in his new role.

“He might have just been made at me so he said, ‘I’ll show you.’ He went ahead and had like five or six sacks. During camp you’ve always got to move some guys around. At the end of the day, we know we have to play Houston and they run 115 plays of three and four wides.”

“Even if a guy is going to start at receiver, if he can go out there and rush the passer, we’ll use him,” Rhule added. “We’re going to use everybody. If Bill Belichick can do it, we’re certainly going to try and do it.

Numbers

Originally a tradition that was used by former Temple coach Al Golden, Matt Rhule is bringing back the “one through nine tough guy jerseys.”

Rhule, who was an assistant coach for Golden for five seasons, will be assigning the numbers one through nine to the athletes on the team that he believes most represent toughness.

The first year coach announced today that senior defensive lineman Levi Brown was the first to be awarded, with the number nine.

Last season, Brown mostly played nose tackle and tallied 27 tackles with 3.5 of them being for a loss. Rhule cited Brown losing five percent body fat over the summer, and his overall leadership in camp as reasons for his choice.

Rhule says he plans on handing out the other eight numbers within the next few days, and each athlete will be recognized in front of the entire team.

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.”

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.