Preseason camp notebook: An introduction to Temple’s quarterback room

With Temple football’s preseason camp officially underway, OwlScoop.com is providing fans with a story after every press conference highlighting updates from the team’s players and coaches to best prepare fans for the start of Temple’s season on Sept. 2 when they travel to Rutgers.

On Tuesday, new quarterbacks coach Jake Landry, along with quarterbacks D’wan Mathis, Re-al Mitchell and Mariano Valenti, spoke to the media after the team’s sixth practice at SUNY-Maritime College football facility in The Bronx.

Tuesday’s press conferences revolved around two common themes: new faces in the quarterback room and the battle for the team’s backup quarterback spot.

The new faces include Landry, who transitioned from an off-field offensive analyst job— working mostly with the offensive line and tight ends— at the beginning of spring camp, and Georgia transfer quarterback Mathis who has already been named the team’s starter.

Landry played quarterback at North Dakota when current Temple head coach Rod Carey was there as the program's offensive line coach. Landry is focusing on getting the quarterbacks to operate as a group and not as individuals in meetings and on the practice field.

“We are a group in there,” Landry said. “We are going to push each other to be better at everything we are doing. I talk to them all the time about being very detailed, and to me, that is the biggest part of the quarterback position.”

Landry added he heavily emphasizes communication between players and coaches so the players know the “why” when executing plays a certain way as opposed to just knowing the “how.”

Improved communication between players and coaches is one of the biggest differences Mathis has noticed since coming to Temple, which along with his experience running multiple schemes at Georgia, has helped him grasp Temple’s offense quickly.

Mathis’ ability to create explosive plays was one of the main reasons he earned the starting job at the end of spring practices which seems to be carrying over to fall camp.

At Tuesday’s practice, Mathis found wide receiver Jadan Blue for two 50-yard touchdowns, according to the team’s Fall Practice Blog.

“I feel like as an offense, we are explosive, we are making plays,” Mathis said. “One thing we could tighten up is just execution as an offense. If you aren’t executing, you’re not going to be able to move the ball. Right now, the most important thing is executing.”

It seems Mathis has already established himself as a leader within Temple’s quarterback room, which he attributes to trying to be himself and focusing on competing rather than outside noise.

Although Mathis is entrenched as the team’s starter, the Owls’ have three quarterbacks competing to be his backup in Mitchell, Valenti and true freshman Justin Lynch.

Micthell might have an edge since he’s the only one who played last season. He appeared in just three games before getting hurt, in which, he completed 50 percent of his passes for one touchdown and two interceptions.

Mitchell is an effective runner and was consistently used as a running threat last season, but he said Tuesday there is currently no plan for him to get a running package with the first-team offense.

During fall camp, Mitchell is making the most of being away from Philadelphia while trying to work on his game.

“Something I’m looking to improve on is pocket presence, pocket awareness,” Mitchell said. “I think I’m taking the right steps in that direction. Then, obviously, knowing when to tuck the ball and getting the yards you can get.”

Valenti probably would’ve gotten a chance to play last season when Mitchell and former quarterback Trad Beatty got hurt, but he was forced to sit out due to NCAA transfer rules after leaving Northern Illinois.

“It was definitely really frustrating,” Valenti said about sitting out the 2020 season. “During the season, I was thinking it would be nice to play, but this guy has this guy, and then it came down to it, and there were really limited guys. Just not being able to play was definitely hard.”

Valenti describes himself as someone who likes to use his feet to get outside the pocket while trying to push the ball down the field. At Monday’s practice, Valenti found true freshman wide receiver and former St. Joe's Prep star Malik Cooper deep down the field for a 35-yard touchdown pass, according to the team’s Fall Camp Blog.

The “dark horse” candidate for the backup quarterback spot is Lynch, who played at Mt. Carmel in Chicago where his brother, Jordan Lynch, was the head coach. Jordan Lynch played and coached under Carey at Northern Illinois.

This familiarity gave Justin Lynch a leg up on most true freshman when learning Temple’s offense this offseason.

“A lot of carryovers happened for Justin from high school in terms of terminology and verbiage that he used that you typically don’t see from a true freshman that can come in and learn the terminology as quick as he has," Landry said. "He’s, frankly, had a two-year head start from his junior year of high school.”

Lynch has been named as a practice standout three times already, according to the team’s Fall Camp Blog, including when he threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Cooper on Aug. 5.

Temple learned the hard way last season how important backup quarterbacks can be, and the COVID-19 pandemic is still a factor making this competition important for fans to keep an eye on.