Jordan Montgomery to camp at Temple
Jordan Montgomery is thinking about staying home.
The 6-foot-2 ½, 215-pound edge rusher and linebacker from Roman Catholic High School received a scholarship offer from the previous staff and remains one of Temple’s top targets in the 2023 recruiting class.
Montgomery first met Temple defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach D.J. Eliot at one of Temple’s junior days this spring.
“The coaches are nice and genuine,” Montgomery told Owlscoop.com. “It’s like a family over there.”
Montgomery finds Temple appealing because staying close to home would make things easier for his family, and he knows some of the players.
Montgomery grew up watching Temple football. He remembers going to his first Temple game at Lincoln Financial Field in 2012 or 2013, he said.
Including Temple, Montgomery has received offers from Syracuse and Maryland. He expects to announce a verbal commitment this summer. Even though he plans on committing this summer, the three-star recruit mentioned he could still decide later on.
Montgomery was named to All-Catholic Second Team in 2021.
He earned it.
“The first thing I do, I play smart. So days leading up to the game, I watch film, and I study my opponent,” Montgomery said. “Then, on the field, I play smart. Just keep playing smart and be the player I am.”
“If I hear about a team and the team has a good offensive lineman, (offensive) tackle, running back, quarterback, you know, you just watch them and see how they play,” Montgomery added. “You try to find a weak spot that player has and during the game, you attack that weak spot.”
Temple envisions Montgomery playing outside linebacker in Eliot’s system. Some teams have recruited Montgomery at middle linebacker, but he prefers to rush the quarterback as an edge rusher.
And he is reasoning for that is simple.
“Sacks,” Montgomery said. “You keep getting sacks, you know, the stats are better because sacks is - I am not going to say it is the main thing - but as soon as you get a sack, it’s like a feeling you get.”
Montgomery spent his first two seasons of high school at Bishop McDevitt before transferring to Roman Catholic as a junior. Bishop McDevitt made the PIAA playoffs in back-to-back years, and Montgomery contributed to those defensive units as a freshman and sophomore.
He believes Roman Catholic will bounce back from last season’s 3-7 record, and he expects them to compete for a PIAA State Championship.
He knows what it takes to win.
“The whole team has to have heart and buy into it,” Montgomery said.
College coaches want Montgomery to play around 230 pounds. He is returning to Temple’s campus this weekend for new head coach Stan Drayton’s first football camp on May 29.
And while he’s there, he could potentially talk to the staff about setting up an official visit.
“I am not sure yet,” Montgomery said. “I am going to slide to the camp and talk to him about it.”