Rhule to be named head coach

BREAKING NEWS: As of Saturday night, Matt Rhule officially accepts offer to become Temple's 26th head football coach ... press conference on Monday ... I already updated Temple football Wikipedia page ...

Matt Rhule motions to his PSU teammates to get a good look at the worst
helmet in the history of college football after a sack of a Temple QB.

Some people dream about Jessica Cristobal, I dream of Matt Rhule.
(Hey, I can't pick my dreams, they just happen.)
In this latest one (true dream, not a made-up one), Rhule is addressing a group of Temple supporters and members of the press at his "introductory" press conference in the Howard Gittis Room at the Liacouras Center.
The team is going wild in the background and all during the conference nobody can hear what Rhule is saying because of the noise the group is making amongst themselves.

Jessica, we hardly knew ye

The newspaper and TV guys along the first row are shrugging their shoulders and pointing to their ears.
Suddenly, Bill Bradshaw goes to the podium, takes the microphone from Matt and says: "Guys, I know you are excited but please give Matt a chance to talk. This is his day. It's rude to be talking while he's talking. OK, Matt."
Then Bradshaw hands the microphone back to Rhule and a spitball flies by Bradshaw's ear.
Then I wake up.
Unless Temple re-opens its coaching search, something like this will happen on Monday around noontime, with or without the noise or the spitballs.
This just  in: Temple won't be re-opening the coaching search and Matt Rhule will be named head coach on Monday. Rhule is the current assistant offensive line coach of the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
Just as there were red flags surrounding past hirings (like Jerry Berndt going 0-11 before he was hired and DC Ron Dickerson giving up 55 points in his last game), a coach this well-liked being hired is a huge red flag to me.
I would like someone to ask Bradshaw why Temple didn't reach out to Ball State coach Pete Lembo (it didn't), but I doubt that question is going to come up or be answered on Monday.

"The biggest thing I would say: I am blessed to be at Temple and I love Temple"
_ Matt Rhule

I'd rather have an ass-kicking Bill Belichick-type than a "players' friend" Andy Reid-type any day of the week.
People tell me Matt can be quite the disciplinarian but I will have to see that for myself in the next few months.
I keep hoping something good comes out of this. Maybe Matt brings in Adam DiMichele to be his QB coach. Maybe he brings back Bruce Francis to show the wide receivers how it is done. Maybe he can convince DC Chuck Heater and Heater's son-in-law, Sean Cronin, to stay. Give Heater Kevin Newsome to play free safety and Heater becomes the best DC in the country again and Temple gets another first-round NFL draft pick.
Still, it all comes down to winning. To me, that's all that matters.
I felt even in Steve Addazio's final days that nothing short of seven wins in 2013 was acceptable.
I'm holding Matt Rhule to those same standards. I hope he holds himself to that standard.
I hope he holds the players to those standards.
To me, the success or failure of Matt Rhule's selection as next Temple coach rests on that record. Nothing else.
Until then, when it comes to Matt Rhule, I've moved from Northeast Philly to Missouri: Show me.
Jessica Cristobal, we hardly knew ye.

Waiting for that puff of smoke from Mitten Hall

 Workers put up the smokestack for the big announcement at Mitten Hall.

Two hours after this post, Steve Addazio was hired by BC.

Nobody does it quite like the Vatican when it comes to hiring announcements.

The last time a big hiring happened in St. Peter's Square, thousands of people waited outside for a puff of smoke announcing a new Pope.
Got to wonder what happened during that interview process.

"Your resume said you were in the Hitler Youth?"
"Yes."
"Then you were in the German Army?"
"Yes."
"Then you were Hitler's driver for eight months?"
"Yes."
"Can you win?"
"Yes."
"Not a problem. You're hired."

Inquirer's Mike Jensen's choice is the most logical one.

As important as that hiring was for that organization, what's going on inside Mitten Hall today and tomorrow is for this one.
Temple University is hiring a new head football coach and this is what's at stake:
Hire a proven winner and Temple goes from 4-7 to 9-3 seasons and increases attendance at Lincoln Financial Field from the 25K range of the past three seasons to 35K and beyond. With that come increased contributions and an overall university endowment in the bottom half of the nation moves into the top half.
That's all.
Hire someone who MIGHT win and risk going from 4-7 to 3-9 or worse. If that happens, the only thing rattling around LFF on Saturday afternoons will be tumbleweed, not people.
Do you want to take that chance, even with a popular former assistant coach who is well-liked by the current players and the parents? Or a popular former Temple player who has never run a BCS program or recruited a single player?
I don't.
No one knows who is the leading candidate at this point, but this much is clear: Temple got burned by a blustery-talking assistant coach from a big-time program the last time and is not likely to go down that road again.
Also expect that a name will surface who might not be among those mentioned so far.
You need only to look at Boston College for an example of that. Steve Frauddazio, err, Addazio was named head coach by BC a week ago today at 4:30 p.m., even though at 2:13 the same afternoon he was not mentioned as a finalist by ESPN Boston writer Brett McMurphy (see inset).
Pete Lembo of Ball State is the one guy who has NOT been mentioned by anyone, so I fully expect that Lembo could be named head coach sometime tomorrow.
Lembo is one of really two "proven winning head coaches" available for Temple to hire at this point. The other is Bowling Green's Dave Clawson.
And neither one of those guys were ever in the Hitler Youth.

Tomorrow: The Haves, The Have-Nots and the Might-Haves

Latina: The Harold Stassen of TU candidates

Breaking News: ESPN reporting Mike MacIntyre to be named Colorado coach ... Temple would be wise to scoop up Pete Lembo, Dave Clawson or Mario Cristobal now ...
John Latina (left) has the persistence of Harold Stassen. 

Clawson has the Midas Touch wherever he goes and Temple fans would give thumbs up to that choice

You can say a lot of things about the current coaching candidates at Temple University but John Latina holds the patent on the word perserverance.
Latina is the Harold Stassen of Temple head coaching candidates. Stassen, a former Mayor of Philadelphia, ran for President of the United States in 1944, 48, 52, 64, 68, 76, 84, 88 and 92.
For reasons known only to him, like Stassen, Latina keeps throwing his hat into the ring and Temple keeps humoring him (and maybe themselves) by interviewing the guy.
Latina applied for the Temple head coaching job when Arians left, when Jerry Berndt left, when Ron Dickerson left, when Bobby Wallace left and when Al Golden left.
 Latina must know by now he has no shot but keeps applying anyway, even enlisting Bruce Arians' support this time.

Clawson's plusses:
1. Head coach and has been CEO of a program and terrific on game day
2. Won everywhere he's been
3. Coached in the Philly area before
4. Beat Addazio with half of Daz's talent

Sorry, John, I'd rather have Bruce as Temple's next head coach but I know that has the same chance of happening as you getting the job.
In Mystery Science Theater, there was once a great line about Harold Stassen: "You'll never win. You'll always lose. You're Harold Stassen."
To me, guys like Latina and Ohio State running backs' coach Stan "Definitely Not The Man" Drayton throwing their hats into the ring only serve to muddle up the process.
They have to know they are not getting the job, but wasting Temple's time interviewing them does not do the Owls any favors. Temple needs to move and move now.
My favorite guy for the job is current Bowling Green head coach Dave Clawson.
I wrote on Saturday that either Mike MacIntrye or Clawson were 1 and 1A but I wasn't sure which was the 1 and which was the A.

SI's Pete Thamel is on top of the search.

After careful analysis of their coaching histories, now I am.
Clawson has the Midas Touch wherever he goes. As an offensive coordinator at Villanova, Clawson was 12-1. As Fordham head coach, that school had its best season since Vince Lombardi. As Richmond head coach, he stockpiled enough talent for Mike London that the Spiders won the FCS National Championship. MacIntrye really did it at only one place. MacIntrye also has a "George O'Leary" issue, listing being a two-time defensive coordinator at Temple University (1997 and 1998) on his resume (from the official San Jose State website). MacIntyre was never the defensive coordinator at Temple. He was the defensive backs coach. Ron McCrone was the defensive coordinator in 1997 and Raymond Monica was the defensive coordinator in 1998.

USA Today chimes in on the Temple job.

Clawson has no such credibility issues. Now, at Bowling Green, he has the Falcons in what was once the Eagle Bank Bowl playing MacIntyre and San Jose State. I hope now neither guy shows up for the game.
With MacIntrye at Colorado, and Temple leaning toward hiring a guy with head-coaching experience, Clawson is clearly No. 1 and Mario Cristobal is No. 2.
There's a big dropoff to No. 3 and you should need a parachute to get to guys like Drayton, Latina and former Owl defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio.

Inquirer's Mike Jensen on Dave Clawson

Tomorrow: Waiting for a puff of smoke outside Mitten Hall

Coaching Carousel stops at Temple

Heck, Clawson would be a great sell for a Temple fan base irate with Steve Addazio leaving because Clawson beat Addazio last year with half of Addazio's talent

When Bill Bradshaw finally sits down and hammers out a short list for Temple head coaching candidates, the good news is that the Coaching Carousel seems to have stopped at 10th and Diamond and a couple of good men fell off.
Just as of a couple of days ago, it looked like Dave Clawson, the Bowling Green head coach, might be headed for Cincinnati, robbing Temple of a prime choice of coaching beef. That job went to Texas Tech's Tommy Tuberville instead.
Good for Temple because Clawson is a much better fit for the Owls than Cincy. Heck, Clawson would be a great sell for a Temple fan base irate with Steve Addazio leaving because Clawson beat Addazio last year with half of Addazio's talent. Clawson has Philadelphia-area ties, having been a longtime coordinator for Andy Talley at Villanova.
Clawson then built a FCS champion at Richmond, giving Mike London all the players he needed (Al Golden-style) before heading to Bowling Green. Now, at Bowling Green, he has the 8-4 Falcons in a bowl game.
It also looked as though San Jose State head coach Mike MacIntrye could be headed to either Cal or USF but Louisiana Tech's Sonny Dykes got the Cal job instead and Willie Taggart got the USF job.
Again, good for Temple because MacIntyre kicked Dykes' backside with San Jose State talent last week.
MacIntyre could still be in line for the Colorado job, but that is looking more of a longshot now that former Super Bowl coach Jim Fassel threw his hat into that ring.
Taggart's getting the USF job is doubly good for Temple because another head coach with solid credentials, Mario Cristobal, was rumored to be in line to take over that job.
The Wisconsin job is still available but there are strong indications that Notre Dame co-defensive coordinator Bob Diaco is the solid choice to replace Bret Bielema, who went to Arkansas.
If Temple should hire a "head" coach, and I really think that's the only way to go at this juncture of the program, possibly the best three candidates fell off that carousel and right into Bradshaw's lap. When Bradshaw hired Golden, he needed a program-builder. When he hired Addazio, he needed a recruiter. With the talent already in place, now needs a proven head coach who can get the most out of the talent and establish Temple as a national brand.
I can't believe three of the best men on a crowded coaching carousel at the beginning of this week are still around at the end, but I'm glad they are.
According to any objective empirical analysis, these three guys have all proven to be better head coaches than Steve Addazio:

MacIntyre might bring to Philly something TU fans haven't
seen in two years: A forward pass.

MIKE MACINTYRE _ Is familiar with Temple, but probably would be blown away with the facilities now, which are 100x better than they were when he was a defensive assistant in 1997 and 1998. He had San Jose State, a program with a history worse than Temple's (the Spartans almost dropped football three years ago), 10-2 and ranked No. 24 in the country. He's just what Temple needs, a guy who can outcoach the guy across the sidelines from him. Temple did not have that with Addazio. It would with MacIntyre. Now would MacIntrye, whose son is a hotshot California quarterback, want to come here? Why not? He interviewed at USF. We can confirm that, but can't confirm reports that he was in Thursday to interview for the Temple job. I hope he did and I hope he's interested. Maybe he'll bring his son along to play for my other alma mater, Archbishop Ryan (Raiders need a quarterback, too).
DAVE CLAWSON _  MacIntrye is either No. 1 or 1A.  I'm not sure which because of Clawson, who could be the 1 to MacIntyre's 1A. Clawson is familiar with the Owls, having coached against them in the MAC. He's familiar with Philadelphia, having coached at Villanova.

This is our guy

He's had the Midas Touch with every team he's coached, from leading a powerhouse Villanova offense to stockpiling the talent for FCS champion Richmond to leading Bowling Green into a prestigious bowl game. Remember, he beat Addazio's best team with half of Daz's talent. He would be an easy sell to the Temple fan base. He would have the Midas Touch at Temple, too.

Was going to put a photo
of Mario here, but decided
on his wife Jessica instead.

MARIO CRISTOBAL _ One year ago, he was one of the hottest young coaching prospects in the country, after taking obscure Florida International University to two bowl games. A rash of injuries this year cooled his stock a bit and he was, in my mind, hastily fired after a 3-9 season. Still, I think Cristobal, with the Owls' current talent (not even counting the recruiting class) could have Temple at least 7-4 in 2013. Last year, Cristobal finished second in the running for the Rutgers' job to Kyle Flood and would probably like nothing better than to send the Scarlet Knights off to the Big 10 with a BE loss in Piscataway next year. Married to the beautiful Jessica Cristobal. Could have also explained the 3-9. As much as I love Temple, if I was Temple head coach and married to her, that would explain me going 3-9 because I  might be late for a lot of practices.
All three would do a better job than any current assistant coach on Temple's radar screen, even the legendary assistant offensive line coach of the New York Giants.

Tomorrow: The $17 million gamble

Red Flags and Temple hirings

This is the only (somewhat) Red Flag I care about.

If Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw listens to the players, chances are better than even he'll be sitting with the one or two who might come back and watch the Owls in an empty stadium a couple of years from now

If they made a movie about the current Temple football head coaching search underway, they'd probably call it "Eight Days in December."
Good title, a take-off from the 1962 novel thriller "Seven Days in May" by Charles W. Bailey.
Eight days because that's how long the last coaching search took and I don't think this one should take any longer than that.
 Seven Days in May had a red flag theme, about a President (played in the movie by the late, great Henry Fonda) whose nuclear disarmament policy caused a revolt among the generals who feared a war with a red flag country (the then Soviet Union).
 This one has a red flag theme, too, the "non-CEOs", meaning players, trying to tell the CEO how to do his job.

'If Temple can get San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre, a former Owls assistant who built something quickly in San Jose, I wouldn't worry about how long he stays. That's exactly the kind of hire Temple needs to make.'
_Mike Jensen, Philadelphia Inquirer

What's that Dick Vermeil said when the fans booed Ron Jaworski?
"If you listen to the fans, it won't be long before you're sitting with them."
Good line, Mr. Vermeil.
That also applies to the players.
Players play and athletic directors pick coaches.
If Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw listens to the players, chances are better than even he'll be sitting with the one or two who might come back and watch the Owls in an empty stadium a couple of years from now.
 I hope Bill Bradshaw, like Henry Fonda, sticks to his guns and hires the best proven head coach out there, with the best proven head-coaching record and heeds this red flag.
I also hope Matt Rhule gets a head-coaching job at a lower level (the Kent State and Ball State jobs will be available) and then proves his worth to Temple by building a proven head coaching record, like Darrell Hazell and Pete Lembo did.
If he does, I will personally climb to the top of the Bell Tower and wave the Matt Rhule Flag after Mike MacIntrye, Pete Lembo, Dave Clawson, Mario Cristobal, Ken Niumaltalolo, Bill Cubit or Tom O'Brien lead the Owls to a couple of BE titles and bolt for Tennessee. (I think there are a couple of high-character guys in that group who will stay, though.)
And it will be a Cherry Flag, not a red one.
Other red flags ignored in past Temple hirings:

The Red Flag File

JERRY BERNDT _ For some reason, Temple President Peter J. Liacouras was enamored with Berndt, who never had a real record as a winning head coach before. RED FLAG: He was 0-11 with the Owls (Rice Owls) the year before he was hired by the Temple Owls. He also got to go 1-10 with the Temple Owls, making him the only head coach in history to go a combined 1-21 for two teams named the Owls. Berndt could not recruit his way out of a paper bag.

RON DICKERSON _ Joe Paterno, no big lover of Temple football (thank God in retrospect), urged Dickerson not to take the Temple job. When Dickerson was adamant about taking it, Joe supported Dickerson, saying that "Ron is the best defensive coordinator in the country." RED FLAG: The "best defensive coordinator in the country" allowed 55 points in his last regular-season game, a bowl loss to Clemson. Dickerson was in over his head as a CEO. He could recruit, but he couldn't coach his way out of the same paper bag Berndt recruited from.

 BOBBY WALLACE _ The man won three Division II titles, but those were Division II titles, taking the scraps of players not wanted by the big Southern schools like Auburn and Alabama. Because he was hooked into the Southern recruiting system, he found some good players for that level. Those kind of players would never work for Temple and Wallace found out that the hard way. RED FLAG: He didn't have the level of drive or commitment needed to succeed at football's highest level, no desire to live in the Northeast and Temple wasted eight years of their fans' lives as a result.
In these eight most important days in Temple hiring history, going over the red flag mistakes of the past might be the best way of avoiding a big one now.