Saying Temple Football struggled immensely in 2023 would be an understatement.
The Owls rounded out the year with a third consecutive 3-9 record and finished near the bottom of the American Athletic Conference yet again. To make matters worse, Temple was gutted by the transfer portal, losing many of its key contributors like single digits E.J. Warner and Jalen McMurray.
The position group that was hit the hardest was the secondary, which had already majorly regressed last season after being a bright spot in 2022.
The Owls finished tenth in the AAC in passing yards allowed, giving up 243 per game in 2023 after allowing just 198 per game in 2022. McMurray departed for Tennessee while safety Tywan Francis graduated and safety Alex Odom left the team in November.
The Owls went portalling to find replacements for the departures, and now have a dramatically revamped secondary. The new faces they managed to bring in have garnered high praise from head coach Stan Drayton, who heads into his third season with more depth than he’s ever had in the past.
“That group has definitely gotten better,” Drayton said. “There’s better personnel back there. There’s a higher football IQ back there. I just think that with the elevation of talent, you’re starting to see and reap the benefits of execution happening at full speed, with not a lot of guys making a whole lot of mistakes.”
Here’s a look at what new faces will become staples of the secondary this season.
ANDREAS KEATON
Keaton transferred to Temple this offseason by way of Western Carolina. He proved himself to be a tackling machine during his three seasons with the Catamounts, leading them in tackles in 2022 and 2023.
The senior safety has been the team’s most talked about transfer in fall camp and wasted no time showing why. Keaton has drawn the highest praise from Drayton, and he instantly became one of the leaders in the Owls’ locker room.
“Keaton is a guy who has been consistent from the time he’s gotten here,” Drayton said. “He learned the system in a hurry, and because of that, he’s been very influential to his teammates, making sure that they kind of take on his same approach and how he approaches his preparation. He’s set the standard of respect.”
That praise allowed him to be named a single-digit captain after just eight months on campus. The honor selects players that not only have production on the field, but demonstrate leadership and it is the highest you can receive in the Cherry and White.
Keaton was never thinking about being named a captain and was solely focusing on learning the system, he said. This past weekend, the coaches voted on players that lead by example to earn the honor.
He was joined as a single-digit recipient by fellow defensive back Elijah Deravil, and now will have the chance to be one of the anchors on Temple’s defense.
JAVIER MORTON
Morton spent the past two seasons on former Temple head coach Matt Rhule’s Nebraska Cornhuskers. The safety only found action in two games for the Cornhuskers and finds himself adjusting to numerous changes following his transfer to Temple.
He is expected to be slotted next to Keaton and has spent the offseason adjusting to going from role player to a starter. Morton took to the new role, becoming one of the more vocal players on defense — something the staff has taken note of.
“He’s a leader. He’s a bulldog,” said defensive backs coach Dominique Bowman. “He’s a tough kid, but obviously he hasn’t played a bunch of ball so he can’t sit there spectating and just come in right away and be perfect. So he’s learning, he’s getting better, he’s getting stronger.”
Morton played cornerback with the Cornhuskers but made the switch to safety when he arrived in Philadelphia. The change has opened his eyes to another dimension of the game and he is ready to make an impact in the Cherry and White.
“At first, it was kind of difficult,” Morton said about the position change. “Safety’s opened my eyes so much to football because I have to know so much, I gotta know what the linebackers are doing. It’s forcing me to learn, like, the game of football itself.”
TOREY RICHARDSON
The seventh-year cornerback comes to Philadelphia after spending three seasons at UTEP. Richardson said he hasn’t taken any particular player under his wing, but hopes the younger athletes will look up to him.
“It’s kind of weird I’m in this position,” Richardson said about being a veteran player. “But I mean, everything happens for a reason. I still love the game, and go out there and play hard and everything. That’s why I still do it.”
Temple has seven new faces in the secondary and spent most of the offseason learning the scheme and playstyle of each player to be able to make strides in 2024.
Now just three days away from the improbable task of upsetting Oklahoma, the unit has gelled and is looking to make an impact on the field this coming season. The coaching staff feels like they have improved, now they have the chance to show it and make the last two seasons a distant memory.
“The good thing about having new guys is this, they have no idea about the last season,” Bowman said. “They hear about guys saying they picked to finish 14th and whatever. They don’t know that, they don’t want to hear that.”
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