Three years into his tenure as Temple’s athletic director, Arthur Johnson has yielded a wide range of mixed reviews from fans. Johnson’s first day at Temple was Nov. 1, 2021 and he has faced the most scrutiny for the university’s relationship with name, image and likeness.
Developing and navigating the department through NIL changes has not been the only thing that Johnson has been tasked with during his time at Temple.
Johnson has overseen a massive coaching overhaul in his three years. He has hired 11 new coaches that oversee 13 of the 18 varsity sports. Finding a successful coach is not easy, and while Johnson has some drawn negative NIL reviews, a majority of his coaching hires are showing early signs of success and pointing the programs in the right direction.
“You have to evaluate everything,” Johnson said about his hiring decisions. “It’s not just wins and losses. It’s looking at student-athlete development, the academic side and the administrative side. And then do I see our student-athletes having a good experience.”
Here is an in-depth review of some of Johnson’s most notable coaching hires.
STAN DRAYTON
Drayton was hired as the head football coach on Dec. 15, 2021, and was the first significant hire Johnson made during his tenure. The former Texas running backs coach wasn’t necessarily dealt an easy hand, being forced to pick up the pieces left by former head coach Rod Carey.
Drayton inherited a program that had gone backward on the field and completely lost its culture. A massive rebuild was in the cards no matter who Johnson hired, but Drayton’s tenure has largely drawn negative reviews from fans.
Drayton has compiled just an 8-25 record and is 3-18 in American Athletic Conference games. The Owls have not won a road game under Drayton and have often looked overmatched against most FBS competition.
While the on-field results have yet to show for Drayton, he has, by all accounts, turned around the culture of the program after the tumultuous Carey era.
Temple sits at 2-7 and 1-4 in AAC play midway through Drayton’s third season. It remains unclear how much longer of a leash he will be given with the program but the Owls have been largely outmatched against AAC opponents in his tenure.
ADAM FISHER
Fisher came to Temple prior to the 2023-24 season and was tasked with what looked like a sizable rebuilding job. The first three months of last season seemed to show that was the case. The Owls endured a 10-game losing streak in the middle of the season and were sitting in the basement of the AAC. However, Temple’s fortunes changed once the conference tournament rolled around.
The Owls went on a shocking run to the AAC championship before falling to UAB in the final. It was an out-of-nowhere feat for a team that went just 12-19 in the regular season and was in the middle of a gambling probe investigation.
Temple lost key pieces to the transfer portal in the offseason but Fisher was able to reel in even better replacements. He put together an impressive transfer class headlined by guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. and the best freshman class in the AAC.
Now in his second season on North Broad, the expectations are quickly rising for Fisher and the Owls. Temple was picked to finish sixth in the preseason AAC poll and is off to an impressive 2-0 start. Fisher, for now, seems like a home run hire.
DIANE RICHARDSON
Richardson has arguably been Johnson’s biggest success story so far. The former business CEO was brought in from Towson in April 2022 and has made a seismic impact on the women’s basketball program. But pastures were not greener right away.
Richardson’s first season was mired by injuries and a lack of depth, only having eight players at her disposal in the back half of the 2022 season. As a result, the Owls limped to the finish line with an 11-18 record. But the Owls took off the following year with a full roster.
Temple finished 20-12 and won a share of the AAC regular season championship — its first since 2011-12 when it won the Atlantic 10. The dream season came to an end in the AAC semifinals, but 2023 gave a glimpse into what was possible with Richardson at the helm.
LINDA HAMPTON-KEITH
Hampton-Keith was brought on as head Volleyball coach in January 2022 and was tasked with reinvigorating a historically dominant program. After a tough first season, Hampton-Keith orchestrated a highly successful 2023 season that saw Temple go 10-2 in nonconference play and play a match in the Liacouras Center for the first time ever.
The Owls stumbled to a 17-14 finish following conference play last season, but they showcased the direction Hampton-Keith had the program heading. Temple has taken a step back record-wise so far in 2024, sitting at just 13-15, but played a much harder nonconference schedule.
Overall, Hampton-Keith has a 40-50 record at Temple and is 16-37 in the AAC. She has been crucial in the development of outside hitter Taylor Davenport, helping her switch positions and become one of the best players in the conference. While the record does not show progress, Hampton-Keith has the program pointed upward.
“We’re gonna go try and play a level of volleyball that we know is necessary to move the needle in this conference,” Hampton-Keith said. “So yeah, we might take some hits in the win-loss column, but we’re actually making progress from a standpoint of how we’re progressing as a team. The win-loss column may not look as pretty, but our volleyball looks better.”
MICHELLE VITTESE
Vittese began her Temple tenure prior to Johnson’s hiring, but it was Johnson that kept her around long-term. Vittese was named the interim field hockey head coach for the 2021 season and led Temple to its first winning record in conference play since 2015.
Johnson removed Vittese’s interim tag just a few weeks after he was hired, and the former Olympian has continued to find success. She led Temple to a 13-6 record in 2022 and an 11-8 record in 2023 — the first time the program had consecutive winning seasons since 2014-15.
The 2024 season has been the most successful for Temple and Vittese. The Owls ripped off seven straight wins, including three straight wins against ranked opponents for the first time in program history. Temple finished the 2024 season 11-7 overall and 5-2 in conference play and came one goal away from an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Vittese has compiled an overall record of 41-32 and has a 16-11 record in Big East play. The Owls haven’t missed the Big East tournament under Vittese but they have failed to advance past the semifinals in all four seasons.
BRYAN GREEN
Green was hired as the men’s soccer head coach in December 2022 and underwent significant roster turnover in his first season. There were obvious growing pains in the first half of the 2023 season but things began to look up near the end of the season.
Temple picked up all three of its wins in October, highlighted by an upset win against then-defending national champions Syracuse. The Owls finished with a 3-8-4 record and 2-4-2 in conference play, just one point shy of the AAC tournament and progress seemed to be on the horizon.
Green’s second season saw the Owls vastly improve again. He led Temple to a 5-6-5 record and a 2-3-2 conference record. Most importantly, Green got Temple back into the AAC tournament for the first time since 2020.
“A mercenary team goes out and recruits guys for a year, and then if you have a good year, great, but then you got to go do it all over again,” Green said. “So we’re hoping to build something that we could sustain for years to come as we keep growing.”
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