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| I think Steve Addazio will be more loyal to our kids than Al Golden. |
It had nothing to do with Temple and everything to do with Steve Addazio the person.
He mentioned Florida.
In a 40-minute press conference when he was introduced as the new head coach at the University of Miami, Al Golden did not mention Temple once.
That snub by Golden really gored my goat.
Heck, if I was Golden I might have said:
"I want to thank Bernard Pierce,who gave me my two biggest wins, against UConn and Navy, and I want to thank Adam DiMichele, without whom I would not have won nine games in my second and third seasons. Most of all, I want to thank my Temple kids."
The first part of that would have been true and the second part of that would have been nice. That he said neither gave you a glimpse into Al Golden the man.
There is no doubt in my mind that if the Owls would have been fortunate enough to play in the New Orleans Bowl, Golden would have already flown the coup and taken half the staff with him before the bowl game and left the Owls with Matt Rhule and two grad assistants coaching against Troy
I always thought Al Golden looked after Al Golden first and Temple a distant second.
There is no doubt in my mind that if the Owls would have been fortunate enough to play in the New Orleans Bowl, Golden would have already flown the coup and taken half the staff with him before the bowl game and left the Owls with Matt Rhule and two grad assistants coaching against Troy.
No doubt whatsoever.
I like Steve Addazio The Man better.
Can Steve coach?
We won't find out until the Villanova game nine months from now.
Temple returns 14 starters from a team that beat a BCS league chanpion and won eight games. Villanova loses 16 starters from an FCS team that lost six games.
If Temple doesn't hammer the living shit (excuse my French) out of Villanova, Addazio can't coach worth a damn. If Temple wins, 35-14, he's a good coach.
If Temple wins, 55-3, he's a great coach.
I'm hoping for greatness.
He already earned my respect as a man on Thursday with some casual offhand remarks he made about his Florida kids.
Addazio mentioned Florida a few times which was, to me, a good thing and bodes well for his future loyalty to Temple.
That tugged me at the heartstrings.
He mentioned the opportunity Urban Meyer gave him to run the program and thanked him for it.
Most of all, he mentioned the special bond he had with his players that dicates he coach them one more time in the Outback Bowl.
"I'm getting ready for a bowl game," Addazio said. "I've got a bunch of players anxious to get started and I owe that to them and to the University of Florida to be there with them."
Could you imagine Al Golden saying the same thing about his Temple players and coaching them in a bowl game after he got the job at Miami?
I didn't think you could.
