With preseason camp just a week away, first-year Temple head coach Stan Drayton and five of his players - right tackle Adam Klein, nose tackle Xach Gill, tight end David Martin-Robinson, linebacker Jordan Magee and defensive end Darian Varner - spoke with reporters Thursday at the team's Edberg-Olson Hall football facility.
You can listen to all of Thursday's audio here.
Drayton, who spent the previous five seasons at Texas as the Longhorns' associate head coach and run game coordinator, takes over an Owls program that went 3-9 last season and was predicted to finish last in the league's preseason media poll.
During Thursday's session at Edberg-Olson Hall, a few themes continued to emerge.
-- The players seem happier with a new staff and new strength and conditioning staff.
-- The team feels closer and enjoys being in the building more.
-- Several of the players who spoke Thursday talked about being in better shape.
-- And lethargic and conservative special teams play, something that had plagued the Owls during the last three seasons under former head coach Rod Carey, could be a thing of the past.
'Fourth down is a critical down," Drayton said. "You get four of them, and special teams plays the fourth one most of the time, and it's critical. Our best players will play, whether they're starters or not starters. We'll put our best available players on special teams. We're trying to win the game on special teams.
"It's critically important. It is a major piece, and our players, I think, have already bought into that, the way they've put the time in. Not only within their side of the ball, but they're putting the time in with the offseason to have a better understanding of what's being asked of them schematically on special teams.
Klein, who told OwlScoop.com Monday that he will play right tackle this season, said Thursday that returning for his fifth season was a priority.
Klein, an Episcopal Academy graduate who is playing for his third head coach at Temple, said coming back meant taking care of "unfinished business."
'I don't think I wanted to leave Temple on that note," Klein said, referring to last season. "A big thing I think was I haven't played to my highest ability yet. I think over the years, I I think I've had a couple of good years, but I've had a couple of years where I was not exactly where I wanted to be in my playing ability. I think especially this year with (offensive line) Coach (Chris) Wiesehan coming back and the new staff, it was kind of like a renewed energy, and something I could look forward to going into this last year, and I think that made me really excited."