Last season was one to forget for Temple defensive tackle Demerick Morris.
After Darian Varner’s transfer to Wisconsin, Morris hoped to step up for the 2023 season and help steady Temple's defensive line. Things came crashing down, however, when Morris injured his foot in August and missed the first 10 games of the season.
Temple’s defensive lineman did not return to the field until the team’s penultimate game against UAB on Nov. 18. Morris then played in Temple’s regular-season finale the next week where he finished with five tackles in the Owls’ 45-21 loss to the Tigers.
Those two games were the only in-game action the graduate student received, which allowed the Chicago native to redshirt. Heading into 2024, Morris is just happy to get back onto the field again.
“I've been feeling pretty good,” Morris told reporters last week. “Getting back used to just playing football and loving it. Getting bruised and banged up last year kind of took a toll on my body physically and mentally. But this year is a different year so my mindset is in a way better place.”
It’s been an adjustment for Morris, who was taken away from the game most of last season. Even when he returned last season, there was still some rust to get off and some minor mistakes that a healthy Morris wouldn’t commit.
“Definitely a part of the process,” Morris said. “When you go from doing something regularly every day and then it's taken away from you…you're not going to be the same as you were five or six months ago when you were fresh and new.”
Morris’ injury was one of a number of negative storylines for Temple’s defense last year, as the Owls took a step back underneath new defensive coordinator Everett Withers’ scheme. After finishing the 2022 season as a Top 10 program in both sacks and tackles for a loss, the 2023 Temple team finished No. 92 in the nation in sacks.This season, the Owls are expected to fully transition back to a 4-3 base defense. The base defense change should help the Owls bounce back, Morris said
“It just helps us work more vertically, play football at the speed that we really want to play at,” Morris said. “It helps everybody stop second guessing. Helps a lot of guys just go more to an attack instead of react type style of football.”
He won’t have to do it alone either.
Miami (FL) transfer Allan Haye joined Morris on the injury list after Temple’s loss to Tulsa but is now healthy and ready to return. Hayes had started started every game prior to his injury and showed potential for the Owls. Georgia Tech transfer K.J Miles missed all of last season but is also now back on the field. Miles, a former highly-touted prospect who collected offers from schools like Georgia, Alabama and Auburn out of St. Peter's Prep, has garnered praise from not just Temple’s coaches but the players as well. Temple also added Latrell Jean, a proven starter at the AAC level, from FAU and Sekou Kromah, a prolific JUCO product from from Monroe College, to help bolster a defensive tackle group that also returns Conlan Greene, who started a number of games last season as a true freshman.
In an ideal world for Withers's defense, the additions and returns should give the Owls something they didn’t have last year — depth on the defensive line.
“It feels good knowing that we got guys that we can put out there when I come off the field,” Morris said. “that is going to be the same standard and it's going to be the same work ethic. It's going to be the same result.”
“It just feels good that coaches went out to go get these guys and bring them,” Morris added. “Everybody is evolving, everybody's building a good brotherhood. We're building great chemistry out there in the field.”
During the offseason, Temple added Kevon Beckwith as the defensive tackles coach. Beckwith, who spent least season at SEMO, joined returning defensive line coach Larry Knight, who returned to the Owls after four years with Georgia Tech.
“Those guys helped me understand football a lot more,” Morris said. “You can't just be out there just playing football. You actually have to understand what you're doing and why you're doing it.”
Due to last year’s redshirt season and the free COVID year, Morris could return for the 2025 season or leave the program after this year. Regardless of whether or not this is Morris last year with the Temple logo on his helmet, Morris had the opportunity to reflect on his growth during his time in North Philadelphia
“Just loving the game for what it's done,” Morris said. “Coming into college, I was very hesitant trying to understand the game of football. As I've gotten older and played in a lot of games and… going through staff changes, you learn a lot as a player. You learn a lot about yourself, and you just learn that you have to grow regardless.”