Smith: Temple's Gateway to the West

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The Gateway Arch in St. Louis represents the city known as the Gateway to the West.
Move that about 300 miles to the Northeast and put it in Pittsburgh for Temple's purposes.
Former Gateway head coach Terry Smith is proving to be one of Matt Rhule's most productive hires so far.
Look at the list of the six "hard" verbals so far and it is peppered with Smith's Pittsburgh-area ties.
Today is a good day to talk about those ties for two reasons:
Scout.com is reporting today that Lenny Williams, Sto-Rox's outstanding dual-purpose quarterback, is about to commit to Temple and the Owls are coming off their first-ever camp held in the Pittsburgh area this weekend..
That would be great news because Williams would be the Owls' most high-profile recruit out of the Pittsburgh area since Victor Lay signed out of Aliquippa. (Adam DiMichele, also from Sto-Rox, would have qualified but he was technically a Penn State recruit and a transfer from a Florida JC.)

The website 247.com's list of hard Temple verbals.

As a senior at Sto-Rox, DiMichele threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 36 touchdown passes.
Thirty-six TD passes.
By comparison, recent Temple recruits Chester Stewart (DeMatha, Md.) and Vaughn Charlton (Avon Grove, Pa.) had 17 and nine touchdown passes during their senior years.
We'll see what kind of numbers Lenny Williams puts up in the TD-throwing department his senior year, but I'm willing to bet it'll be closer to 36 than 17.
Williams would be the fourth Temple verbal from the Pittsburgh area this season, joining the Gateway duo of Delvon Randall (safety) and interior linebacker Brenon Thrift and Renaissance Christian Academy athlete Troy Simons.
Smith, DiMichele and Rhule all were in Pittsburgh this weekend, spreading the Temple gospel.
Evidently, they found a few believers and that can only be good news for Temple fans going forward.

New TU coaches saving lives and laptops

Adam DiMichele will probably go to his grave in 70 years or so as the only QB to play for Temple, the Eagles and the Soul.


About a year ago at this time, Adam DiMichele was starting training camp with the Soul.
On Wednesday night, he was saving one.
DiMichele has come a long way since being the best Temple quarterback of the post-Hardin/Arians Era (sorry, Henry Burris) and the journey has taken him full circle back as an Owl graduate assistant. From being the first Temple quarterback to ever throw a touchdown pass for the Philadelphia Eagles (to a guy named Gibson, no less), to the Canadian Football League, to the MVP of the Erie (Pa.) arena team, to the Soul and now back to Temple.
On the way to class on Wednesday night, DiMichele came across a Temple senior in distress.
"I think I just saved a life," DiMichele posted on his Facebook page.


Matt Rhule didn't save a life, but he did save a laptop this morning.

Pressed for details from his friends, he explained:
"I was walking to class tonight, and was on the phone with my brother Dom," he said. "So I come to the red light and was waiting for it to change so I could cross.
"I look to my left and there's a guy laying on his back on the steps. Everyone just walks by him ...  I looked a little closer and realized he was unconscious. I tried to wake him up by basically screaming at him.
"I got my phone out and called 911. (I) felt like I knew exactly what to say and where I was but I didnt have a clue. Another bystander came over to me and we both talked about what we needed to do. He realized the guy was having some sort of convulsions or something (mind you, I am no doctor at all)  but he said that the guy was basically throwing up while laying down and that we needed to sit him up before he choked on his own (volmit).

Maybe that should be the new slogan for 2013: "Temple Football. Recruiting fans, one at a time."

"My heart was racing, I never really saw anything like this in person, or helped anyone like this before  so we sat him up a bit, made sure to try and be as cautious and safe as possible. Well, he ended up immediately throwing up. He came back around a few minutes later and didn't remember too much at all.
"He remembered going to work out, and not feeling good on his walk home so he sat down and rested, and the next thing he remembers is us waking him up. I don't know if  I necessarily saved his life or what not but he was very thankful for me helping him."
DiMichele later said it was an experience he'll never forget.
"It was crazy," he said. "I was nervous, but I'm glad I made the decision to help him when I did."
Fortunately, the EMAs arrived and told DiMichele he did the right thing and they took the senior to the hospital and everything turned out to be just fine.
As an aside, DiMichele may have recruited another fanny for the Lincoln Financial Field seats this fall.
"He told me he would certainly come to some Temple football games this fall," DiMichele wrote.
This morning, head coach Matt Rhule chased down a guy at the airport and gave him back a laptop the man left at security. Hopefully, Rhule had time to give a season-ticket sales' pitch as well. Either way, both coach DiMichele and coach Rhule generated some good Karma the past couple of days and at least two more fans.
Maybe that should be the new slogan for 2013:
"Temple Football. Recruiting fans, one at a time."