A week into preseason camp, it’s a little easier to be optimistic about your team and position room when you’re 0-0 and haven’t lost a game yet.
But Temple defensive line coach Larry Knight seemed genuinely pleased with his group, repeatedly complimenting their work ethic and improvement when he spoke with reporters Monday on Zoom.
After a 2022 season in which Temple led the American with 38 sacks, the Owls only tallied 22 last season, a number that tied with Florida for 92nd in the FBS. That, in part, helped give opposing quarterbacks more time to throw and take advantage of a Temple that already had its flaws.
Temple defensive coordinator Everett Withers decided to switch to a 4-3 base defense during the offseason. When asked last week about who his top pass rushers might be, he instead shifted the conversation to talking about how his defense must first focus on stopping the run before they can worry about who their top pass-rushers are.
The veteran assistant could, of course, send pressure from anywhere on the field, but he and Knight are looking at 10 defensive ends on Temple’s 2024 roster. Only four of them - Tra Thomas, Diwun Black, Tyrese Whitaker and Jordan Montgomery - are returners who saw game action last season.
When it comes to Thomas and Black, Knight admitted that sometimes their athleticism compensates for poor technique, but they've been working to become more technical.
“These are two guys that are really good athletes, but there has been some refining that's been needed to be done when it comes to their technique,” Knight, who previously worked on the Owls’ staff during Geoff Collins’ two-year head coaching tenure from 2017 to 2018, said. “Hand usage, eyes, feet, hips – those different types of things. So that's been really cool to see, especially with Diwun. Because you know how it can be when a guy is a really, really good athlete, they can get away with some bad habits. He’s been working to fix some of those things that are going to just make him even better along with him being a great athlete.
“Tra is that way as well. He's been that way since day one, so it’s been awesome to watch those guys develop those traits.”
There are three true freshmen - Russell Sykes, Sultan Badmus and Cameron Jones - in the defensive ends group, and Knight is encouraged by what he has seen from them already. Withers praised Sykes last week in talking to reporters, and Knight echoed that praise Monday.
“One of our favorite things about Russell is the way he takes coaching,” Knight said of the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Sykes, a graduate of North Carolina’s Rolesville High School. “I know that may not sound like a fancy thing as far as flashing, but that's a big deal when it's a freshman that’s coming in and they realize they need to learn. And not only do they listen to you as a coach, but they listen to their teammates. … He's already big and athletic, so we’ve been playing around with him with some position flexibility and some hybrid stuff, so we’ll see how he continues to progress.”
Badmus, a 6-3, 265-pound Bowie (Md.) High School product, is also standing out.
“Sultan Badmus - he is very smart, he's very strong and he's very coachable,” Knight later said when asked what other freshmen have impressed him so far. “We are very excited about him. We’re excited about Cam Jones. He's working through some things physically that he was dealing with coming from high school, so he's progressing as well. Sultan is taking a lot of reps. Yelling at him and screaming at him a lot. Hard coaching that he's taking and he's developing every day. So that’s exciting.”
The size of some of the Owls’ defensive ends has been noticeable throughout the first couple of practices, raising the question of whether they will eventually make the move to defensive tackle. It’s certainly possible for heavier players to stay on the ends if they’re athletic enough, and Knight did say that he didn't like having his big ends leave him and move to the inside, which has happened to him in the past.
But the different body types do bring more versatility.
“It’s always a good thing when you can have guys with certain body types that have athletic ability because now you have options,” Knight said.
“I've had a guy in the past (like) Keion White (at Georgia Tech), who ended up being a second-round draft pick. He was 6-4, 285 pounds, and he was still able to play defensive end and sometimes he played some “Jack,” Knight added, referencing the hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker spot. “. … We just like those body types because that's why we’re used to having here at this place. That wild boys tradition. Those big, rangy athletes that can grow and move inside. Or if they are the type of guys that can grow and maintain their speed and athleticism, they can stay outside and be big ends.”
Front page photo by Don Otto.