Head Coach: KC Keeler is entering his 1st season as the head coach of the Owls. He was previously the head coach of Sam Houston going 97-39 with the program, leading them to a FCS championship and into FBS capped off by a 9-3 record last year. Keeler also has experience in the area when he was the head coach at Delaware, he won a FCS championship and led the Blue Hens to 2 others while he was there. Temple got themselves a proven winner.
Program Outlook: Temple is a program in a tough spot, they’re in Philadelphia which is a pro sports town and they’re also landlocked making an on-campus stadium impossible. Success hasn’t been impossible though. With Steve Addazio, Matt Rhule, Geoff Collins and Manny Diaz (ok just kidding about Diaz he was only the HC for like 2 days) the Owls had a great run of success. This was highlighted by a 10 win season in 2015 when the Owls hosted College Gameday against Notre Dame. It didn’t last and Temple fell apart again, now they need to find their way back.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Temple ranks 85th in the country returning 50.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. This is to be expected with a new head coach. A reset from a team that struggled isn’t a bad thing. Key players include QB Evan Simon, he took over the 3rd game of the year and never looked back. The passing game was surprisingly productive, but also because it had to be. Simon will have competition as the well traveled Gevani McCoy came over after spring ball, he is more mobile but has to work more on accuracy and don’t rule out Robert Morris transfer Anthony Chiccitt. RB Jay Ducker follows Keeler from Sam Houston and Johnny Martin from Stony Brook are good backs who can help rejuvenate the run game along with returning starter Terrez Worthy. Temple’s defense will have lots of transfers to try to fix a unit that struggled miserably. The secondary might be a strength, Javier Morton is really good and Youngstown State transfer Jalen Castleberry will help out. Temple went to war with New England schools at LB, UConn plucked away Tyquan King and as a result Temple grabbed Jalen Stewart from UMass to replace him! Temple was extremely bad at both running the ball and stopping the run, there’s really nowhere to go but up in the trenches.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Temple’s schedule is really difficult. Their best opportunity for momentum is early, they get a tone setting game to open against UMass and then they face Howard who struggled to a 4-8 record last season. Temple finishes out the non-conference with an extremely random home game against Oklahoma and a road game against Georgia Tech. Temple’s AAC schedule is rough, while most teams happened to draw a good balance, Temple faces 6 of the better teams in the conference and only 2 teams that are in similar rebuilds. Making matters worse, Temple plays both of those winnable games on the road! Temple might have a better team this season but this schedule could result in the record not showing it.
Final Thoughts: Temple fans have been through a lot lately, but the good news is they brought in a proven winner. KC Keeler was such a huge move for the Owls program and I believe he will get them on the right track… eventually. The schedule is rough, the rebuild needed is extensive and while there were a few strategic portal adds Keeler is more focused on high school recruiting so he won’t be taking shortcuts. The coaching staff is very good and it still may take some time but the future of Temple Football looks bright.
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