One word for the new staff: Interesting

New Temple WR coach  Terry Smith could provide a, err, Gateway to  WPIAL recruits.

Temple's loss is Arizona's gain.

My Sainted mom, in Heaven since Jan. 14 of 2011,  used to tell me that if I don't have anything nice to say about someone don't say anything.
Most times I remember what she said but the few times I don't, I usually regret it.
So, with that in mind, I'm going to write about the new Temple football coaching staff today and, to borrow a phrase from the Four Tops, this is going to be short.
It looks pretty much complete with a tweak or two remaining.
One of the current recruits used the word "genius" when new coach Matt Rhule informed him of the potential members of the staff back in December.
I prefer the word "interesting" instead.
So far, the people who've told Rhule "I'll be there" include Brandon Noble (defensive line), Allen Mogridge (special teams), Ed Foley (assistant head coach) and Fran Brown (promoted from graduate assistant, probably DBs).
Genius might have been a more appropriate word if names like Bill Cubit (now offensive coordinator at Illinois), Nick Rapone (now DB coach of the Arizona Cardinals), Chuck Heater (now defensive coordinator with Marshall) or Nick Rolovich (now OC with Nevada) were either coming to or staying at 10th and Diamond.

Hopefully, Marcus Satterfield points TU in the direction of the end zone

Heck, I know for a fact that Heater, Rapone and Rolovich gave the jobs some serious consideration and Rapone, whose daughter goes to Temple, really wanted the DC job. A guy who runs the Western Michigan website assured me that he had word from "a very good source" Cubit declined the head coaching job at Western Illinois to pursue the OC job at Temple. Cubit is from Sharon Hill, so that makes sense.
Whatever happened in all of those cases is now water under the bridge.
All I care about is the Temple bridge holding up.
The good news is that I'll take Rhule all seven days of the week and five times on Saturday over "we have to be able to run the ball for 200 yards a game" Steve Addazio.
It's the rest of the staff that has me scratching my head.

Matt Rhule could have endeared himself
to hundreds of ex-Temple players and
probably thousands of Temple fans
and given himself a great DC by hiring
Nick Rapone, who was interested in the job.

So that's why I'm calling this staff interesting.

There's a lot of ifs involved.
If new wide receivers' coach Terry Smith, former highly successful Gateway head coach, can build a pipeline to some of the better WPIAL talent that Pitt had been getting in the past and redirect the flow East to Temple, that could  be a significant hire. Temple has been getting talent out of the WPIAL in the past, but prospects who typically held offers to only schools like Kent State and Bowling Green. Pitt plucked a kid out of George Washington High in Philly last week. It's time for Temple to launch an effective full retaliatory strike in Pitt's backyard.

If anybody can get that done, it's Smith.
Still, this is the first time I can ever remember Temple hiring a high school coach for its staff.
My thoughts on Phil Snow are well-chronicled below. I'm crossing all eight fingers and two thumbs that Temple is getting the 2001 Snow, not the 2012 Snow.
If Temple is getting the 2001 Snow, who had the UCLA defense ranked near the top of the PAC-10, that's a plus.
Marcus Satterfield took obscure Tennessee-Chattanooga into the national rankings in points scored and total offense in 2011, so I'm hopeful there. Yet the Mocs (yeah, that's their nickname) slipped back into the middle of the pack offensively in the Southern Conference in 2012, so that's a concern.
If Temple gets the 2011 Satterfield, not the 2012 one, things could get interesting for the Lincoln Financial Field scoreboard operator in 2013.
And that's the nicest word I can use for now.
Interesting, not if.