Jordan Magee passes the eye test as one of Temple’s best defensive players, and the junior linebacker's stats from 2022 - 50 solo tackles, 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble - back that up.

And after wearing his single-digit No. 6 last season as one of the Owls’ anointed leaders, Magee said second-year head coach Stan Drayton wants him to embrace that role more as spring practices kicked off this past week.

“He wants to push me to be more of a vocal leader,” Magee said of Drayton. “I’m not really a talkative guy outside of football. I really keep to myself. Inside football practices and around the facility, he wants to really make sure I’m communicating with my teammates, just being a single digit, and being the guy to speak up when needed to be.”

Magee, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound graduate of Delaware’s Dover High School, led the Owls with 86 total tackles and finished with 9.0 tackles for a loss.

Although the Owls lost Kobe Wilson to the transfer portal, Temple’s linebacker room returns several key players, including Yvandy Rigby and Jacob Hollins, and the Owls also have several promising young players in Magee’s estimation.

“I think we all stand out in our own ways,” Magee said. “Yvandy Rigby, that's my guy. I love playing next to him. That’s my brother. We also have some young guys coming up, Corey Yeoman, London Hall and Johnny Pergine. We're just trying to bring those guys along under us, so that once we leave, they can have the spotlight.”

Temple’s defense brought in several new faces this offseason to a defense that led the American Athletic Conference in sacks with 38 but also allowed 29.3 points per game and finished eighth in the conference in rushing defense, having allowed 192.6 yards per game on the ground. Transfers like former Miami defensive lineman Allan Haye, former Florida linebacker Diwun Black and safeties Kamar Wilcoxson (Florida) and Tywan Francis (Colorado State) could shore up those deficiencies from a season ago.

In speaking with reporters Thursday, defensive line coach Antoine Smith praised the team’s linebackers but also attributed the Owls’ run-stopping struggles to open-field tackling issues and the team’s lack of athleticism.

Through two practices, Magee and Smith have seen improvements in that department with the new additions and the development of returning players.

“I’ve definitely seen a lot from the new guys that came in,” Magee said. “Right now, we’re working on [the] rotation, because spring ball is just to really see what guys can do…We’re all playing as a team right now and that’s the important thing, because we all got one goal in mind, and that’s to win a championship.”

Smith, who’s never short on optimism, said he’s confident that the Owls haven’t reached their potential ceiling.

“Get ready to watch something special,” Smith said. “Our defense has not played to the level that we can play to. This year, we’re going to bring you something different.”

Front page photo by Don Otto