Point Pleasant Boro offensive lineman Cole Skinner commits to Temple

Point Pleasant Boro High School offensive lineman Cole Skinner announced his verbal commitment to Temple Monday at noon, giving the Owls and first-year head coach Stan Drayton their 12th commitment from the 2023 class.

In addition to his own recruiting efforts, Drayton will have a few people to thank for landing the 6-foot-5, 300-pound New Jersey standout, who chose Temple over Coastal Carolina.

There’s Drayton’s offensive line coach Chris Wiesehan, Skinner’s lead recruiter. Fifth-year offensive lineman Adam Klein, Skinner’s host on his official visit last month, played a big role, too.

And Drayton can even thank the wisdom of Rutgers commit John Stone, an offensive lineman from New Jersey’s Washington Township High School.

When Stone and Skinner attended a Rutgers camp earlier this spring, Stone said something to Skinner that stuck with him and kept Temple atop his list. Skinner took his official visit with Temple from June 10 to June 12 and told OwlScoop.com that he was, for the most part, silently committed to the Owls after that visit despite taking an official visit to Coastal Carolina late last month.

“(Stone) was telling me how his first offer was from Rutgers,” Skinner said in an interview with OwlScoop.com on Sunday prior to announcing his verbal commitment. “And when he was talking to me, he said that since they were the first program that offered him, he trusted them and he committed right away. I really started to listen to that.

“And after the Temple official, I was like, ‘He's right.’ So that's when Temple became a little bit bigger than Coastal.”

Skinner’s first Division I offer came from Temple back in late March, and the Owls have been the favorite the whole way, it seems.

“They were the first person to want me, so they can trust me,” Skinner said. “They trust me on this. They want me so that was another thing that helped a lot.”

Skinner’s Temple official visit reaffirmed what he already felt about the program.

“The thing that led me to Temple was the family mindset,” said Skinner, who plays tackle at Point Pleasant Boro but projects to move inside to play guard at the college level. “They really preached family and sticking up for each other and being there for each other and holding each other accountable. I really got to see that firsthand when I went there. Even though it's a new coaching staff with Coach Drayton as a head coach, it was crazy to see how much the players have already changed because of him. They were amazing people. The hosts that I was with were amazing. The players really loved it.”

And in doing his due diligence and checking references on the coaches, Skinner went to Klein, his official visit host.

“I asked because they might just be putting on a show for me, the coaches,” Skinner said. “So I was talking to the players, and I asked (Klein), ‘Out of the three coaches you’ve had (Geoff Collins, Rod Carey and Drayton), who was your favorite? And he said, Coach Drayton was, and he hasn't even had him for a full season yet. So that's just crazy how a coach can come in, and already be someone's favorite out of three coaches, and he hasn’t even coached him in a full season. That really just showed me he really is like that.”

Wiesehan, who worked previously at Temple under Matt Rhule and Collins, followed Collins to Georgia Tech and spent three seasons there before returning to North Broad Street to work for Drayton. His relationship with Skinner started during a Junior Day earlier this spring, and the veteran assistant has made his intentions clear the whole way, with a little bit of persistence sprinkled in.

“Ever since the first day he called me, every time I've talked to him, it’s been, ‘Yo, you ready to sign the papers yet?’” Skinner said of his relationship with Wiesehan. “When I was on the official, I didn't commit on the official; I committed after that. But on the official, any time I was going up to my room, he’d say, ‘When you come back down, get ready to sign the papers (National Letter of Intent.) We’re signing you.’ He's very good recruiter. Very good coach. I can tell that already. I've heard that from other players, but he's a very good guy. It's just crazy.”

When Skinner talked to OwlScoop.com early last month prior to his official visit to Temple, he detailed the story of sustaining a back injury as a sophomore that almost led him to quit the game before his friend Matt O’Donnell and his trainer, Val Barnaby, encouraged him to stick with it.

Two years later, Skinner is glad he did. He has his college decision out of the way and can take some time on July 4 to celebrate it.

“I was just thinking of that as I was writing my commitment (message for social media Sunday) before I post it,” Skinner said, “and it was because I was thanking my trainer. And I wrote that he brought back the love of the sport. And I just sat down and I thought, ‘Wow, I was almost going to quit.’ And then here I am. And it just brought a smile on my face, because it's just a long way that's come, and it's not it's not over yet.”