K.C. Keeler was well aware of the challenges that awaited him when he was hired as Temple’s next head coach on Dec. 1. Most importantly, he knew he had to transform an offense that had been stagnant for nearly five years under former head coaches Rod Carey and Stan Drayton.
Last year, the unit ranked 121st in the country in scoring and put up an underwhelming 92.8 rushing yards per game — 126th in the country.
Keeler immediately went to work putting together his staff, hoping to construct a group capable of bringing the offense to life. He settled on someone he had only met in person once — and coached at a program two time zones away.
Montana State offensive coordinator Tyler Walker was tapped as the guy Keeler wanted to lead his offense. Walker had orchestrated a potent rushing attack in Bozeman, Montana, which grabbed Keeler’s attention. The pair met just one time but shared a mutual friend in Oregon head coach Dan Lanning.
“I had previous relationships with coaches that had worked with Coach Keeler before,” Walker said. “It was definitely a wild month, that’s for sure. I had known that I was taking the job for like a month, so a lot of stuff going on was trying to win a national title. So it was a wild month. It was, but it was worth it.”
Lanning gave Keeler a call to send him in Walker’s direction. The hiring was the first puzzle piece to the 2025 Temple offense. Now that the entire staff is set, Keeler is looking for the offense to set the tone for the culture that Temple is looking for.
“When it’s fourth and half a yard, you can’t put five wide receivers in the field,” Keeler said. “That’s not gonna fly here. I mean, there’s a toughness Temple built on 10th and Diamond. So there’s already a brand here created, I love the brand. I’m not gonna try changing the brand.”
The toughness that Keeler emphasized is expected to be brought through the running attack — the Owls’ main weakness last season. Keeler and Walker plan on reverting to a playstyle where the run comes first which will open up the passing game.
Walker’s offense last season was spearheaded by its running game. Montana State’s 15-1 record came by the ground game, where it racked up 4,719 yards to go with 53 rushing touchdowns. Both were the most at the FCS level and something the Owls will look to emulate.
Temple may have found its main ball carrier in the transfer portal, with former Sam Houston running back Jay Ducker following his coach to Temple. Ducker gives Temple a power back that will take charge in the running back room. He led the Bearkats in rushing yards last season and had 300 more yards than Temple’s leading rusher Terrez Worthy.
“Jay runs with a hardness, a toughness, a lot of extra yards after contact,” Keeler said. “You want that kind of physical running back.”
Montana State had three 1,000-yard rushers in 2024 and the coaching staff expects the Owls’ offense to create the same formula. Worthy, a speedy back that can bounce off Ducker’s skillset, is back with the Owls for now but could enter the transfer portal when it reopens after spring practice concludes. Running back Joquez Smith is also back and gives Temple another versatile back that can keep opponents guessing.
“There’s not one cut-out mold that can be successful in this offense,” Walker said. “We have guys that are home run hitters, that are speed guys and that can take it the distance. I think the guys in that room have everything they need for our offense to be successful in the run game.”
Sam Houston’s offense played the same way as Montana State’s last year by leaning on rushing the ball. For both teams, the run opened up the passing game and Temple will lean into that philosophy to have success. The Owls’ offense will be without last year’s leading receiver Dante Wright but will be looking to have success by getting their tight ends involved.
The Owls will focus largely on the play-action passing game with its heavy running attack in an attempt to keep defenses on their toes. Both Keeler and Walker’s teams put an emphasis on effective passes to move the chains last season.
Bobcats’ quarterback Tommy Mellott completed 68% of his passes last season and spread the ball out to everybody. Mellot had five receivers with at least 20 catches, including players out of the backfield, and Temple will look to incorporate the same.
Temple quarterback Evan Simon was less efficient than Mellot, completing just 59% of his passes. Simon also lacks the mobility that Mellot and Sam Houston quarterback Hunter Watson have, but if Simon is under center in 2025 Keeler will mold the offense to fit his abilities..
Expect the offense to have shades of what the Owls looked like in 2023. Temple was able to use the short and intermediate passing game to dish the ball out. The team had three receivers with 500 yards through the air and tight ends became a focal point. From there, the Owls will be able to go back to the running game, which will be its bread and butter this season.
“We want to be balanced,” said running backs coach Andrew Pierce. “We also understand that we have to establish the run to allow us to be balanced and throw the ball down the field and be explosive.”
The Owls’ roster might look different by the time the season starts. The quarterback situation is still something to keep an eye out for. While the staff is open to tailoring the offense around Simon, they might also find a quarterback whose skill sets match gave them success at their last pit stops.
“I don’t know what kind of team we have right now, we’re gonna find out,” Walker said. “I think that’s the big thing about that, it’s not like we got to have this, or we got to have that, we got to have this. There’s a lot of different things that will keep this thing going the direction we want to go.”
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