There are just 10 days remaining until Temple travels to Norman, Oklahoma to open up its season against the nation's 16th-ranked team.
The Owls have their work cut out for them but, by all indications, they're up for the challenge.
“We’re ready,” defensive tackle Latrell Jean said at Temple’s media availability on Tuesday. “We’re getting better every day. We’re attacking practice every day. We’re definitely going to be ready in 10 days.”
You can also listen to the audio from the media availability below.
Here are other key takeaways from Tuesday’s media availability with Jean, safety Javier Morton, and wide receivers Ian Stewart and Antonio Jones.
Coaching staff’s influence was pivotal in Jean’s arrival
Latrell Jean has two family members on the Owls roster in his cousin Jamar Taylor Jr., a freshman wide receiver, and walk-on cornerback Tyrell Jones, but those connections were not a key factor in his decision to choose Temple.
The relationships Jean formed with defensive tackles coach Kevon Beckwith and Temple coach Stan Drayton are what made Temple the best place for him, Jean said.
“Coach Beckwith and really my relationship with him,” Jean said. “How he sees me as a player, how he wants to help me mold the things that I need help on. Coach Drayton, there’s nothing negative that anybody on this team says about him. I asked a couple of players, ‘What do you think about Coach Drayton?’ Everybody loves Coach Drayton and I love Coach Drayton. He’s a man of his word, and he’s a man who cares about us.”
The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Lakeland, Florida native is entering his final season of eligibility after finishing with 24 tackles, 4.0 TFL and a sack last season for FAU. He also recorded the first pick-six by an FAU interior lineman since 2014.
Jean also crossed paths with Temple’s current defensive coordinator Everett Withers, who spent a few months with FAU last season prior to returning to Temple. The foundation Jean had with Withers and the new relationships with Drayton and Beckwith made the decision to transfer to Temple a “no-brainer”.
Morton's transition to safety
Javier Morton played two seasons at Nebraska on special teams and as a cornerback. But when he arrived on North Broad Street in the spring he was not opposed to being moved to safety.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound defensive back spent the summer learning the defensive scheme and acclimating to the new position, which was not easy for him at first.
“It was kind of difficult,” Morton said. “At cornerback, you’re not required to know a lot. You know Man, Cover Two, Cover Three. … Safety opened my eyes so much to football. I have to know so much. I got to know what the linebackers are doing. I got to know the D-line when to call a chase. It’s forcing me to learn the game of football itself rather than just my position.”
Learning the schemes from the safety position wasn’t the hard part for Morton. Over the summer Morton, focused more on the fundamentals of his new position, learning how to help the corner on his side, make plays and work on all his techniques.
Morton believes that all that work in the summer has paid off for him and couldn’t be happier with the change.
“Now in fall camp, it’s just about executing and playing fast,” Morton said. “I’m able to play fast, I know the whole scheme front to back. It’s just about going out and making plays now. This has been the best transition. Safety is probably one of the best things that I did with my career. I love it.”
Stewart excited about new single digits
Staying healthy on the field has been an issue for Ian Stewart since arriving at Temple, as the Michigan State transfer has missed 13 of Temple's 24 games the past two seasons.
One thing that has never been an issue, however, is Stewart’s leadership ability.
Stewart was awarded a single digit heading into the 2023 season and enters this year as the only returning single-digit from last season. Despite all the turnover, Stewart hasn’t let it change his leadership style.
“I just try to be me every day,” Stewart said. “I didn’t want to step outside of my role of what made me a single-digit. There’s a standard here and we’re setting that standard. We’re the only people that can set our standard of excellence. Knowing that, just making sure that everyone, including myself, meets that standard. Not just some days, but every day. That’s the only way that we’re going to get to the championship level that I see ourselves being.”
While Stewart is the only returning single digit, the team recently voted on a new set of players to join Stewart in the leadership role of a single digit and an announcement is expected Friday for the recipients.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound receiver is excited to have more single digits to uphold the standard. He also believes that there are many people in the locker room that are worthy of it.
“The direction of this team and the leadership is at an all-time high since I have been at Temple,” Stewart said. “I’m just excited to see who those guys are.”
Stewart also mentioned that he is healthy physically and mentally heading into the season stating “Everything feels great.”
Jones' strong relationship with Carrier
New Temple wide receiver coach Tyron Carrier brought Antonio Jones, one of his breakout receivers at Grambling State last season, when he arrived at Temple in the spring.
After just one catch in five games as a true freshman in 2021 and nine games in 2022 as a kickoff returner, Jones broke out for the best season of his career in 2023 and finished with career highs in receptions (43), receiving yards (595) and touchdowns (two). One of his most notable games came against LSU when he finished with seven receptions for 81 yards against the No. 14 ranked Tigers.
“It was a patience thing that I had to go through,” Jones said. “When I finally got my opportunity from the coaches, I kind of just took it and ran with it.”
In Jones’ time at Grambling State, he developed a connection with Carrier. Jones felt like he could trust Carrier after he gave him an opportunity and wanted to continue to ride with him wherever he went.
Carrier has helped develop Jones in their time together and Jones believes that Carrier’s charisma and caring personality is a huge reason for why they have a good connection.
Jones said Tuesday that the injury that kept him out of spring ball was a broken fibula he sustained in the final game of last season with Grambling. He knew he would miss the spring and that March and April would be about getting mental reps more than anything else.
Now that he's back out on the field, he knows that blocking out the thought of getting hurt again has to be part of his process.
"I still think about it here and there," Jones admitted, "but it means you've got to play through it and change your whole mindset, because you're not hurt anymore, so you just have to switch your mind and keep going."