Matt Rhule Has Already Changed Temple

These aren’t your older brother’s Owls.

This Temple team has a completely different feel to it than Temple teams of the recent past. In my last column, I wrote about how Temple will likely win its next three games, and I really believe it will.

Look at its schedule. After its close loss at a sneaky good Navy team, Temple has a month and a half of weekends that include Delaware State (honestly Brett Favre and his buddies from the Wrangler commercials could give them a run), UConn (averaging 1.9 yards per carry as a team and completing around 52 percent of its passes), and Tulsa (gave up 50 points to Florida Atlantic).

Anybody that follows Temple or the AAC in general has to agree that the Owls have a serious shot at starting out 4-1. But we quickly forget how bad Temple was last year. At 2-10, it was one of the least relevant teams in the nation, not to mention one of the most brutal to watch. For anybody to expect it to win any games, let alone three straight, is a win in itself for coach Matt Rhule and company. Just two games into this season—one of them being a loss—how did Temple win us over so quickly?

It’s simple to say P.J. Walker is the answer, and maybe he is. The duel-threat quarterback has been the leader they need (62.7 completion percentage, four passing touchdowns and leads the team in rushing yards). His 2013 output would suggest he’s just about on pace to improve on his success as a freshman.

You could say coaching is the answer as well. Rhule is in his second year now; and nobody expected a first-year coach to have instant success when he was changing a system from run-first to pass-first. He completely revamped the dreadful secondary, his prayers for a stable offensive line were answered, and he brought in a four-star tight end transfer from Florida. He also brought in a sneaky-impressive crop of freshmen.

In one offseason, Rhule essentially took a 2-10 Temple team that other teams could describe as “essentially a bye week” to a legitimate threat to win the conference. How did he do this?

First, he made Temple’s biggest weakness in 2013 (secondary) one of its biggest strengths in 2014: He brought in three transfers (two safeties and a corner) to start. He also courted freshman corner Sean Chandler, who might be the best freshman defensive player in the AAC.

Second, he turned the Owls’ thinnest position (receiver) into one of their deepest. Three of Temple’s top four receivers graduated. I called this unit an area needing major improvement heading into the season. Rhule disregarded age and set an open competition at wide receiver in camp to see who would build the most chemistry with Walker. The answer was all of them—so far, seven receivers have more multiple receptions in both games.

Third, he looked to the future. Temple has already received a verbal from four-star cornerback Kareem Ali. Days later, they got three-star running back Chappelle Cook. Both players claimed they chose Temple from other schools such as Maryland and Pitt because the Owls are up-and-coming.

It has only been two games, but change is clear. We don’t look at Temple the way we used to. This year is different. The “Temple bye-week” is no more. Expectations are positive. The future is now.

Rhule has changed Temple, and Temple has changed us.