Temple is just about halfway through spring ball, seven practices into the 14 the team will conduct through mid-April before the Owls host their annual Cherry and White spring scrimmage on Saturday, April 12.
And it might be the program’s last, new head coach K.C. Keeler said following Tuesday’s late-afternoon practice.
“I think this will be the last spring game for college football,” Keeler told a handful of reporters. “I think we're going to move more to a pro model, more OTAs and those kinds of things. If you think about it, because of the portal, your roster is really not all together until June, so why not do some more things in June with the guys in terms of OTAs and those kind of things versus the time you're spending in the spring? Make the spring more conditioning and walkthroughs and those kinds of things. So again, I think you'll see we're going to NFL model. I think you'll see us go to an NFL model in a lot of ways.”
Keeler started to broach the topic when he was asked about which players flashed during the team’s scrimmage periods this past Saturday. The veteran head coach began to praise his defensive line before drawing back a little bit, pointing to the next NCAA transfer portal window opening up from April 16-25.
“The defensive line, they're just a bunch of animals up there,” Keeler said. “There's some really good players up there. So there's, like, four or five and playing really well. But all in all, like I said, I don't like to point out too many guys. We live in the world of the portal, and you start talking about … that's why guys aren't having spring games. They really do not want their guys exposed to the possibility of someone taking them. So that's why, sometimes you'll be surprised, coaches will get a little evasive.”
Eight days ago, Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he would like to scrimmage another college team for the program’s April spring game, and former Temple assistant and current Syracuse head coach Fran Brown quote tweeted a report on X to say that he would take his team to Boulder for three days.
Keeler said Tuesday that Penn State has asked Temple about potentially doing something similar.
“Penn State reached out, and we're talking about possibly doing something like Syracuse and Colorado are doing,” Keeler revealed. “And I'm thinking to myself, ‘Do I really want my guys out there? They have some good players. And so that's kind of where we are now. It gets a little bit more secretive (when coaches are asked by reporters about players) this time of year when the portal’s opening up.”
Keeler and quarterbacks Evan Simon and Anthony Chiccitt spoke with reporters following Tuesday’s practice. You can listen to those interviews below and stay tuned for more spring football coverage.
- ATH
- CB
- APB
- CB
- RB
- PRO
- WR
- TE
- DB
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