D.J. Woodbury Sr. spent his first four seasons on Temple Football’s roster attempting to earn his spot in the linebacker rotation. He often found himself taking a back seat to Jordan Magee and Yvandy Rigby, single-digit captains who were staples for the Owls.
They showed Woodbury Sr. the ropes, mentoring him during their four seasons together. Woodbury Sr. shined in the limited playing time he received before a leg injury took him out in a 48-26 loss to Tulsa on Sept. 29.
Magee and Rigby both took their talents to the NFL, with Magee being selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft by the Commanders and Rigby signing with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent. When Woodbury Sr. returned for spring camp a few months later, the linebacker room was looking for a new leader.
Woodbury Sr. took the leadership position with authority, entering his fifth season following in his mentor’s footsteps.
“He’s that calming voice of experience and voice of reason in the room,” said linebackers coach Chris Woods. “He’s always chirping at guys. I’ll say something in a meeting, and he’ll be paying attention. He has a lot of pride in our unit about how we want to represent ourselves, and he preaches my message constantly to those guys.”
The Burlington City, New Jersey, native first joined the Owls in 2020 and is one of the few players recruited under former head coach Rod Carey who remains with the program. He traveled across the Delaware River to a school that has been blooming with stellar linebacker play since the middle of the 2010s.
NFL all-pro linebacker Haason Reddick and multi-year veteran Tyler Matakevich put the Owls on the map under former head coach Matt Rhule. Once the pair left for the NFL, Shaun Bradley and Chapelle Russell took their place. The four helped put Temple on the rise — while making NFL rosters once their college careers finished.
Magee and Rigby followed behind while Woodbury Sr. watched, hoping to have the same impact. Instead, Woodbury Sr. made his impact on special teams, picking up tips and tricks along the way.
“It’s been a cycle,” Woodbury Sr. said. “Temple has always had great linebackers. It’s been a trend.”
Woodbury Sr. started to crack into the lineup towards the end of the 2022 season, racking up 10 tackles against Navy on Oct. 29, 2022 and finishing the season with 15. He began to hit his stride in 2023, racking up 24 tackles in a five game stretch in defensive coordinator Everett Withers’ scheme.
However, an injury cut his season short. His time off the field gave him a chance to get his mind in the right place during the offseason. While he had the talent to make an impact, he had to improve mentally to take the next step.
“D.J. has taken on that leadership role, but he had to first take care of himself,” said head coach Stan Drayton. “Wasn’t a whole lot of playtime experience again, he got hurt a year ago, and, you know, he’s transitioning into that position let’s not forget that piece of it. He’s doing a phenomenal job of taking care of his business so that he can be the leader that he’s capable of becoming, you know, but it had to be in that order.”
When Woodbury Sr. came back for fall camp at the end of July, it was like a switch had flipped for him. The maturity change was evident and the coaching staff took note of it. The change earned him the honor that his mentors earned before him; a single digit.
The way he saw the game was more nuanced and slowed down. Defensive tackle Allan Haye saw the change firsthand. The two had a conversation where Woodbury Sr. talked about the difference in how he sees the game of football.
The new attitude earned him a nickname; Old Man Woodbury.
“D.J. has had an unbelievable camp,” Woods said. “Just the most schematically solid guy in my room, and it’s not even close. D.J. has his style, he’s old man Woodbury in that room. He kind of handles things a little bit differently.”
Woodbury Sr. enters his last season as an Owl looking to break through in his first year as a starter while applying what he learned from his NFL mentors.
“Everything [Jordan Magee] taught me, I’m trying to teach younger guys,” Woodbury Sr. said. “Trying to keep the trend going with great success and in that room and great leadership in that room.”
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