Throughout his two seasons as Temple Football’s head coach, Stan Drayton has seen more failures than successes. The Owls have put up a putrid 6-18 record in his two seasons roaming the sidelines and signs point in the same direction for his third.
But when Drayton addressed the media at the American Athletic Conference media day in July, he was confident about the fortunes of his team.
“I’m excited about this football team,” Drayton said. “I know we’ve embarked on a couple of tough years, but I’m excited about this football team. As we embark on this landscape that we are in, and you hear a lot of the horror stories we have to endure as coaches from time to time, there are some positives to come out of this.’”
Safe to say, he might be one of the only ones excited.
The Owls were picked to finish last in the American Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll and their entire roster has been gutted by transfers and injuries the past two years. The claim could now be made that one more down year might send Drayton packing.
But has Drayton been given a fair shake at competing in the AAC? Probably not. If the Owls do make a change this offseason, Drayton shouldn’t have every finger pointed at him.
WHAT HE INHERITED
The former Texas Longhorns running backs coach stepped into a situation that was hanging by a thread. He was tasked with rebuilding the team after former head coach Rod Carey left the program in disarray and was subsequently fired from the team.
The Owls went to five straight bowls games from 2015-19, and the expectation might have been to recreate that success instead of rebuilding the team as a whole.
Before former head coach Al Golden took control of the program in 2006, the Owls had just one winning season since 1990. Then they ripped off eight in just 13 years after 2006, cracking into the AP Top 25. But to get those results it took patience.
It took Golden three losing seasons before he finally got over the hump and former head coach Matt Rhule didn’t get the elusive AAC title until 2016, his fourth year at the helm.
The two head coaches after Rhule — Carey and Geoff Collins — had lingering recruits that stayed on North Broad and even though they made Bowl games, they couldn’t replicate the former NFL coach’s success.
LILY PAD SCHOOL
The entire landscape of college football has changed since Drayton was hired. Now coaches rely on the transfer portal when building a team. While Temple has brought in transfers of their own, that talent hasn’t matched up to what they’ve lost.
Former defensive lineman Darian Varner, a single digit in Drayton’s first season, left at season’s end for the lights of the Big Ten at Wisconsin, and linebacker Kobe Wilson departed for former AAC-member SMU. Wilson led the Mustangs in tackles in 2023 and was named to the All-AAC second team.
The same happened in 2023 when cornerback Jalen McMurray and offensive lineman Victor Stoffel found new homes at Power Five schools. To make matters worse, the Owls lost quarterback E.J. Warner to fellow AAC member Rice in the offseason.
When the Owls have a chance to recoup, the acquisitions are often subpar. Most of the incoming players come from JUCO programs, and the power conference transfers are underperforming players looking to transfer down for more playing time.
While it might be easy for bigger-name schools to seek equal or better talent, the same can’t be said for the Cherry and White.
THE CULTURE HE’S BUILT
Temple might not be winning games, but they’ve practiced what Drayton has preached — something that couldn’t be said three years ago. He cultivated a new feeling of optimism in the locker room that wasn’t felt in past years.
At the end of last season, Drayton wanted to get away from the stressors of coaching and take a vacation with his family to recoup after the grueling four-month season. The task of letting go of the team for a few weeks was harder than he thought. One night he found himself texting defensive tackle Demarick Morris.
Morris let Drayton know the players were okay and Drayton went on his vacation. Both the coaching staff and the players are on the same page heading into their week one matchup against Oklahoma despite three tumultuous 3-9 seasons.
There is no telling what Drayton’s fate is at the end of the season, but the Owls head coach has attempted to make the most of the situation he walked into when he took the job.
“[The players] are of the mindset of changing the narrative,” Drayton said. “We’re not trying to find excuses for the past. We’re not looking through the rearview mirror. We’re looking ahead.”
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