As Temple quarterback Evan Simon walked to the front of the room for his press conference at Edberg-Olson Hall following the Owls’ annual Cherry and White spring game Saturday, a voice chirped at him from the back of the room.
The booming voice belonged to Cam’Ron Stewart.
The pair have known each other since Stewart was at Governor Mifflin High School near Reading and Simon was at Manheim Central High School near Lancaster. They played at Rutgers together for three seasons before coincidentally transferring to Temple in 2023.
When Stewart went up for his presser, he recalled his high school days when posed the question about what lies ahead for him in 2025, a position change from defensive end to a mix of rush end and linebacker.
“In high school, when I used to play against Evan Simon, I played outside linebacker, so it's not that much of an adjustment to me,” Stewart said. “I feel like my teammates, like Ty Davis, Tyrese Whitaker, they helped push me along. So, I feel like this outside linebacker position is pretty dope. I can take charge.”
Stewart became a starter last season on Everett Whithers’ defense before an injury at UConn last October took him out for the rest of the season. Now, he is trying to find his way in new defensive coordinator Brian Smith’s scheme. The former Rice defensive coordinator had stints in the NFL and at Michigan and has brought a new scheme that has been more pro-oriented.
That change turned Stewart, who played defensive end during his three seasons with the Scarlet Knights and first season with the Owls, into a linebacker. The Shillington, Pennsylvania native essentially has the same job as he did before—rushing the passer - but will now have the added pressure of dropping back into coverage.
The change has been a breath of fresh air for the former three-star recruit.
“So our defensive structure is like 3-3-5 (three down linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs in the base formation), so I'm playing more of the outside linebacker,” Stewart said. “It's pretty dope, new system for me, because at my previous club I was always a hand- down guy.”
While switching positions has been a learning curve for Stewart, he has also had to deal with coming back from a lower-body and spent the first couple of spring practices limited without doing full contact.
Once he worked past those restraints, he jumped into a defensive group that has been impressive all spring. Stewart, Davis and Whitaker spent most of camp relentlessly pursuing whichever quarterback was under center. The trio also showed their pass-rushing ability by stuffing running backs Jay Ducker and Joquez Smith in the backfield on multiple occasions.
Saturday’s Cherry and White game brought more of the same.
The defense gained the upper hand on the Owls’ offense for the entire game. Temple scored just a single touchdown on the day, which came on the Owls’ final offensive possession. (Simon did technically score on a 14-yard run earlier, but head coach K.C. Keeler blew the play dead at the 5 for more situational work, and the drive later stalled.) Stewart and company had two goal-line stands, stopping Ducker twice on fourth down.
“Growing up as a kid, fourth-and-1, ball’s on the 1-yard line, I feel like that's just the best time for the best player on the field to shine,” Stewart said. “There's guys that are older and they're speaking up for younger guys. So the fourth-and-1 was, it was a huge play. I'm just happy to see that we could stop the offense, especially in the situation.”
Stewart played a part in the effort, finishing tied for second with five tackles Saturday. While he has found his role in Smith’s new defense, the most important part for him is that he is back on the field and healthy again.
“This feels great,” Stewart said. “Last year, I got hurt against UConn. I’m just happy to be back out there with my brothers.”
Under Withers, Temple ranked 123rd out of 133 FBS teams in scoring defense and 131st in rushing defense. They were a poorly-coached unit with communication breakdowns. While Stewart has noted the defense has looked completely different compared to last season, there is still plenty of work to be done before preseason camp in August.
But it has been a step in the right direction.
“I feel though it's Coach Smith,” Stewart said. “Coach Smith puts us in the best position for the defense to always evolve. We have great guys in the front end and also in the back end.”
