Eye on the Prize
The Temple football program has gone through some tough times lately after having one of the more successful runs in school history less than a decade ago.
In 2015 Temple advanced to the championship of the American Athletic Conference before losing 24-13 to Houston. That year the Owls opened the season with a 27-10 win over Penn State. The Owls also lost a narrow 24-20 loss to Notre Dame before a sold-out crowd at Lincoln Financial Field. ESPN’s Game Day crew came to Philadelphia that day to televise their highly popular college football pregame show.
The next year the Owls won the AAC title, defeating Navy, 34-10 in the title game.
Temple remained highly competitive after the aforementioned 2015 and 2016 seasons when the Owls were 10-4 both seasons. Temple went 7-6, 8-5 and 8-5 during the next three years. That final year in 2019 Temple earned its fifth consecutive bowl appearance.
Then the bottom fell out beginning in the Covid-shortened season when the Owls were 1-6. After going 3-9 in coach Rod Carey’s third season in 2021, he was fired and replaced by Stan Drayton.
During Drayton’s three years, Temple went 3-9 each season. The Owls were 3-7 this past season when Drayton was fired.Article continues below
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With that as a backdrop, Temple was looking for somebody to turn around the program.
The Owls hired a proven winner in K.C. Keeler, who has won at the Division III, FCS and FBS level.
Keeler was at Sam Houston during the past 11 years and led the school in the most difficult of transitions from the FCS to FBS level. This year in only its second season competing in Conference USA, Sam Houston went 9-3.
In 11 seasons at Sam Houston, Keeler was 97-39.
He is the only coach in NCAA history to lead two FCS teams to a national title, winning in the 2020-2021 season with Sam Houston and 2003 at the University of Delaware.
Keeler began his head coaching career at Rowan University, where in nine seasons he was 88-21-1 and led the Profs to five NCAA Division III championship games. Even though Rowan didn’t win any of those, advancing to the finals was quite a feat.
He then became head coach at his alma mater, Delaware and went 86-52 from 2002 through 2012. Delaware advanced to the FCS championship game three times, winning one and was a playoff team four seasons.
After a year off, where he worked for NFL Films, Keeler took over the Sam Houston program and eventually guided the Bearkats to six NCAA tournament berths.
He has not only been a winner at all his stops, but a big winner. His teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 17 times and won 11 conference championships, while making it to the NCAA title game nine times. Keeler’s overall record is 271-112-1.
Temple will present a major challenge for Keeler, but he has shown in the past he not only knows how to build winning programs, but programs that compete for a national championship.
That’s not to say that Temple will be competing for national titles, but if the Owls are competitive in the AAC, that would be a major step in the right direction. During that five-year run from 2015-2019, Temple was always a potential contender in the AAC.
Keeler will have to be given some time to build his program, but he told the media during his opening press conference that he expects to win.
“I told our team today, ‘don’t think we are going to rebuild, we are getting this done now,’” Keeler said in his introductory press conference at Temple. “There is no reason we can’t compete for conference championships.”
He then later added, “It’s my opportunity and my job to take us to a championship sooner rather than later.”
He has never cared about putting pressure on himself with high expectations. Keller will bring a winning attitude and culture to Temple, and his track record suggests that it can work.
Photo: Courtesy of Temple University
In 2015 Temple advanced to the championship of the American Athletic Conference before losing 24-13 to Houston. That year the Owls opened the season with a 27-10 win over Penn State. The Owls also lost a narrow 24-20 loss to Notre Dame before a sold-out crowd at Lincoln Financial Field. ESPN’s Game Day crew came to Philadelphia that day to televise their highly popular college football pregame show.
The next year the Owls won the AAC title, defeating Navy, 34-10 in the title game.
Temple remained highly competitive after the aforementioned 2015 and 2016 seasons when the Owls were 10-4 both seasons. Temple went 7-6, 8-5 and 8-5 during the next three years. That final year in 2019 Temple earned its fifth consecutive bowl appearance.
Then the bottom fell out beginning in the Covid-shortened season when the Owls were 1-6. After going 3-9 in coach Rod Carey’s third season in 2021, he was fired and replaced by Stan Drayton.
During Drayton’s three years, Temple went 3-9 each season. The Owls were 3-7 this past season when Drayton was fired.
advertisement
With that as a backdrop, Temple was looking for somebody to turn around the program.
The Owls hired a proven winner in K.C. Keeler, who has won at the Division III, FCS and FBS level.
Keeler was at Sam Houston during the past 11 years and led the school in the most difficult of transitions from the FCS to FBS level. This year in only its second season competing in Conference USA, Sam Houston went 9-3.
In 11 seasons at Sam Houston, Keeler was 97-39.
He is the only coach in NCAA history to lead two FCS teams to a national title, winning in the 2020-2021 season with Sam Houston and 2003 at the University of Delaware.
Keeler began his head coaching career at Rowan University, where in nine seasons he was 88-21-1 and led the Profs to five NCAA Division III championship games. Even though Rowan didn’t win any of those, advancing to the finals was quite a feat.
He then became head coach at his alma mater, Delaware and went 86-52 from 2002 through 2012. Delaware advanced to the FCS championship game three times, winning one and was a playoff team four seasons.
After a year off, where he worked for NFL Films, Keeler took over the Sam Houston program and eventually guided the Bearkats to six NCAA tournament berths.
He has not only been a winner at all his stops, but a big winner. His teams have qualified for the NCAA Tournament 17 times and won 11 conference championships, while making it to the NCAA title game nine times. Keeler’s overall record is 271-112-1.
Temple will present a major challenge for Keeler, but he has shown in the past he not only knows how to build winning programs, but programs that compete for a national championship.
That’s not to say that Temple will be competing for national titles, but if the Owls are competitive in the AAC, that would be a major step in the right direction. During that five-year run from 2015-2019, Temple was always a potential contender in the AAC.
Keeler will have to be given some time to build his program, but he told the media during his opening press conference that he expects to win.
“I told our team today, ‘don’t think we are going to rebuild, we are getting this done now,’” Keeler said in his introductory press conference at Temple. “There is no reason we can’t compete for conference championships.”
He then later added, “It’s my opportunity and my job to take us to a championship sooner rather than later.”
He has never cared about putting pressure on himself with high expectations. Keller will bring a winning attitude and culture to Temple, and his track record suggests that it can work.
Photo: Courtesy of Temple University
Author: Marc Narducci
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