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The downward spiral of Temple Football - relevant or not?

ghost2

ghost2

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A post in the WEZ got me thinking about this - as the wheels finally begin to come off the Temple football program (3-6, lost 4 straight, outscored 161-54 in that stretch), can we view this as the "Al Golden Effect" starting to wear off, or it is too early to say that? If their recent horrible-ness is in fact due primarily to Golden's departure, then I believe you could view Temple football as a microcosm of any long-term rebuilding project.

Golden's record and stats at Temple have been posted time and time again here, but I think it also telling to look at the back-end of his career there as well (no homo.) During Addazio's reign as HC, the Owls are 12-10 and falling fast. If, in the next year or two, Temple goes back to being...well...Temple...can we extrapolate anything from that for Miami's future?



I for one am still very optimistic about this program. When the season started, I figured 7-5 is about where we'd be. I thought we'd beat one Carolina school, one Virginia school, and lose to KState, ND, and FSU (I had no idea that two of those teams would be legitimate NC contenders, though.) I think in 2013 we're looking at 8-4 as our floor and 10-2 as our ceiling. There's still a lot to look forward to this season, but let's be honest - this entire year was all about PROCESS for Golden and Co. Last year it was weeding out the undesirables and the dead weight, and this year is about instilling the now-infamous proverbial "process" in this very young team. And we are starting to see glimmers, folks.

Eddie Johnson, Deon Bush, Olsen Pierre, Duke, Malcom Lewis pre-injury, even the recent relevance of Clive Walford all point to a more mature, physical, and just plain entertaining football team in 2013 and beyond. I'm gonna enjoy watching these kids grow up. And I think the rest of the CFB world will too.
 
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I haven't followed them closely, but Addazio won 9 games last year with Golden's players.

This year, they moved from the MAC to the Big East, so a drop-off was to be expected.

Phil Steel picked them to finish last in the Big East, and here's what he said about them in the pre-season:

"Temple was arguably the best team in the MAC the last three years but did not win a single conference title. They did, however, make it to a couple of bowl games and dominated Wyoming in last year's New Mexico Bowl. Temple will struggle with their step up in competition to a BCS conference as they have just eight returning starters (three fewer than the next closest Big East team). They are by far the most inexperienced team in the league but Coach Steve Addazio will have them performing to their highest potential and there is decent talent here. Temple does get four of the Big East games at home with just three on the road."
 
good point CAA, I had forgot about the move to the Big East. That definitely plays a factor. I'll be curious to see how they do in that conference over the next 3-4 years.
 
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Solid post. My own private predictions for this year were 7-5/8-4. A crappy loss last Saturday will probably see us go 7-5. Although, more loses are admittedly a possibility. What counts for this year and beyond is the foundational core that will carry the team to any future success. Golden was right when he said that you need 'coal shovelers' people like Haggens who will block on just about every play, ST players who know they exist on Saturdays to remain in a lane and hit a guy behind the 20. You simply cannot haul in every 4/5 star guy in the nation and build a super team. Your core of talent must be surrounded by system buying coal shovelers that know their role. The roster as it stands today has a tremendous ceiling. If we can match what we did in recruiting last year then this team can be good sooner rather then later. Given realistic recruiting expectations and our current roster, I see us going 8-4/9-3 next year and contending for the ACC. 2014 could be a huge year (Think Notre Dame this year), I can see 9-3/10-2 though realistically. Honestly 2015 seems like the real year to make a run for a Title. But much depends on recruiting between now and then.
 
CanesAreAble said:
I haven't followed them closely, but Addazio won 9 games last year with Golden's players.

This year, they moved from the MAC to the Big East, so a drop-off was to be expected.

Phil Steel picked them to finish last in the Big East, and here's what he said about them in the pre-season:

"Temple was arguably the best team in the MAC the last three years but did not win a single conference title. They did, however, make it to a couple of bowl games and dominated Wyoming in last year's New Mexico Bowl. Temple will struggle with their step up in competition to a BCS conference as they have just eight returning starters (three fewer than the next closest Big East team). They are by far the most inexperienced team in the league but Coach Steve Addazio will have them performing to their highest potential and there is decent talent here. Temple does get four of the Big East games at home with just three on the road."
Click to expand...

I think the bolded part is very important.
 
Excellent post. Too much negativity going around here after the loss. His work at Temple should keep people excited about what Golden potentially can do at UM! I'm excited for next season. Just about every young kid he has brought in is delivering and that is promising!
 
I think what makes this year's team so infuriating is how ridiculously bipolar we are. One minute Morris is setting offensive records, the next he's throwing a 2 yard swing pass into the dirt. One day we force 4 turnovers and actually hold a couple teams under four-digit rushing yards, the next it's back to making every RB look like Tecmo Bo Jackson...

As a fan, it makes you want to tear your hair out, but that's what you get with young teams. All of the suddenly, a couple guys get injured/suspended, and you're counting on guys that just started shaving yesterday to stop a 220-lb running back and remember five different zone pass-offs.
 
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sebastian91 said:
ghost2 said:
I think in 2013 we're looking at 8-4 as our floor and 10-2 as our ceiling.
Click to expand...

This is a pipe dream. 8-4 would be a fantastic result next year. 10-2 would be the greatest coaching job of all time.
Click to expand...

If possible I think the ACC could be even worse next season FWIW. Certainly nothing out there to think the competition will be much better than this year so 8-4 is a decent place to start I think. We will have the tougher games on the road though and this team just hasn't proven much of anything as far as being a road team so you could be right.
 
When you look at the development of players phsically, emotionally, and how much 'Shannon's guys' have stepped out after basically being written off by the old regime, there is no way you can not believe the future is bright in Coral Gables.

I was amazed to read about Brandon McGee being a leader on this team. Not only have he totally surpassed any expections with the way he's played on the field, he also has developed into a vocal leader that others look up to. Just two years ago, he consistantly missed tackles and was known as a 'track guy'.

Then you look at Davon Johnson. He came in with alot of "stud" WRs and was conidered by the previous staff to be the worst of the bunch. Even Kendal Thompkins played more than DJ. He was moved to DB and then back to WR and now is arguably the most consistant WR we have.

We may not agree with Golden on everything, but the man develops the players who "buy in". When the young kids we have now get caught up to game speed (physically and mentally).. WE BACK! I saw 8-4 next year, 11-1 the year after....
 
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