Adam Klein looks back at an eventful five years at Temple
In his five seasons with the Temple football program, Adam Klein has played for three different head coaches, battled numerous injuries and played along the interior and the exterior of the Owls’ offensive line.
And after the Owls came up short in a 49-46 loss Saturday to ECU at Lincoln Financial Field in Temple’s season finale, Klein had a few moments during the postgame press conference to catch his breath and reminisce about his time on North Broad Street.
“I got here in 2018, it's been five long years,” Klein said. “I've seen the highest of highs and lowest of lows, so you know it's been a roller coaster of a ride. I can't thank Temple enough.”
Klein, who grew up about 25 minutes from Temple’s campus in Springfield, Delaware County and played at Episcopal Academy, was named to Athlon Sports’ American Athletic Conference preseason fourth team. The 6-foot-5, 293-pound graduate student was voted by his teammates as one of the five captains for the season and was also awarded with a single digit by first-year head coach Stan Drayton and his staff.
Klein started the season opener at Duke at right tackle but eventually settled in at center. He missed the Rutgers and Navy games with undisclosed injuries but returned to play in the Owls’ last four games. On Saturday, he snapped the ball to E.J. Warner and helped keep the pocket clean on a day when the true freshman set single-game program records with 45 completions, 527 yards and five touchdowns.
Klein verbally committed to Temple back in July of 2017, choosing the Owls over offers from programs like Virginia, Buffalo, Army, Villanova and Colgate, and Temple offensive line coach Chris Wiesehan was one of the reasons Klein committed to the Owls. He played 10 games under Wiesehan’s tutelage as a true freshman, played the next three seasons without him when Wiesehan left to join Geoff Collins’ Georgia Tech staff, and then found himself reunited with the respected veteran assistant when Wiesehan returned to join Drayton’s staff prior to this season.
“I have had a really, really strong relationship with him,” Klein said Saturday.
Forming a strong relationship with Wiesehan was not the only reason Klein chose to commit to Temple. Klein lost his late father, Kurt, when he was in seventh grade, and playing college football nearby where his mother, Patti, and his three older brothers - Kurt, Ryan and Erik - could make the quick trip down to Lincoln Financial Field became a priority.
“I had to become really close to my family,” Klein said, “and I wanted to stay as close as I possibly could.”
It was a full-circle moment for Klein on Senior Day that saw Klein’s whole family appear for his last collegiate game.
“Just getting to see all of them today, it’s just a culmination of all the things Temple has done for me,” Klein said. “Honestly, I couldn’t have made a better decision, and I'm so happy with what I chose, and I've loved this place for five years.”
Klein played in two bowl games - under Collins in the 2018 Independence Bowl against Duke and under his successor, Rod Carey, in the 2019 Military Bowl against North Carolina - but said he felt something different this season that he had not felt with the previous two head coaches before Drayton.
“I think, honestly, Coach Drayton is really bringing back that Temple tough mindset,” Klein said. “I think he embodies it himself as a person, and he brings that to the rest of the team.”
While Drayton has tried to get the most and best from his players on the field, Klein expressed his gratitude for how Dryaton wants the best for his players off the field as well. When Drayton was announced as Temple’s new head coach last December, Klein was home with his family during the semester break but made the trip back to campus.
He was the first player to meet Drayton prior to his introductory press conference.
“I love Coach Drayton,” Klein said, “and he's done so much for me to help me be successful not only on the field, but off the field, becoming a better man and a better leader so that I'm successful in my future.”
Where the road goes from here for Klein is the question.
Whether Klein receives an invitation to one of the showcase games for draft-eligible players remains to be seen, and he’ll at the very least have the opportunity to participate in Temple’s Pro Day in the spring. Klein is leaning toward a more patient approach for his future of playing football and seeing how the road paves out.
“I haven’t really thought about it too much,” Klein said. “I’ve been just trying to take it one step at a time, trying to play my best football each week, and kind of just let the other pieces fall into place. But I’ll definitely start to think about that more as the season ends and hopefully get that stuff figured out. And hopefully, if I’m blessed enough to get one of those invites, I’ll be very happy. But if I don’t, I’m just excited to do Pro Day and hopefully continue with football in the future.”