Owls 'pressing the reset button' as spring ball begins
With an influx of 23 new scholarship players and the desire to move past consecutive three-win seasons, Temple took to Chodoff Field Tuesday for the Owls’ first spring practice.
In fact, head coach Stan Drayton called it “a pressing of the reset button.”
The third-year head coach told reporters in a Zoom conference call following practice that there are no depth charts as of now for a roster that’s looking to replace nearly 60 percent of its starters from last season.
In following a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday practice schedule that will take the program up to its April 13 Cherry and White spring game, Drayton will be acclimating two new assistant coaches in wide receivers coach Tyron Carrier and defensive tackles coach Kevon Beckwith, the latter of whom joined the staff as veteran assistant and defensive coordinator Everett Withers switches to a 4-3 base defensive front.
The Owls were beset by injuries, especially on defense, during a 3-9 2023 season. When asked about the health of the team, Drayton said some players are either not practicing or limited as of this week. He said defensive tackle Allan Haye, who missed the last seven games of last season with a season-ending leg injury, is still recovering and mentioned that other players might be on “a pitch count” as they try to get fully healthy.
“We figure by mid-spring, we should have a lot of our guys back,” Drayton said.
Drayton said redshirt-junior wide receiver John Adams, a walk-on who started to emerge last season with 15 catches for 149 yards and two touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury back on Nov. 18 at UAB, is “doing well” and “on schedule” as he recovers from what Drayton said was a major injury.
“It’s still taking him some time to get back,” Drayton said of Adams, who played football and ran track nearby at South Jersey’s Deptford High School. “He’s back on two feet and running and all of that good stuff. Still not ready for the change-of-direction stuff, but he’s definitely on track.”
Temple’s first day of spring ball sounded very much like a typical first spring practice in the way Drayton described it.
“Offensively, we throw some formations at these guys,” Drayton said. “And defensively, we’ve got to make the adjustments with motions, that kind of stuff. It’s just a matter of those guys hearing the install for only two times now, and now they’ve got to go execute it. It’s going to take a little bit of time.”
You can watch Drayton’s Tuesday press conference with reporters here.
Coming up next
Check back with OwlScoop.com tomorrow for a story on redshirt-junior wide receiver Ian Stewart, the lone single-digit player on Temple’s roster who also spoke with reporters following Tuesday’s practice.
Defensive coordinator Everett Withers is set to talk to reporters following Thursday’s practice.