Temple special teams coordinator Brett Diersen has some holes to patch up heading into preseason camp between youth at the kicking position and inconsistency among the rest of the unit.

Temple’s special teams group was highlighted by the high-yielding play of Adam Barry a year ago -- a seven-game resume that was largely a bounce-back year for the junior punter.

He finished third in the conference in average yards punted per game with 44, which was a significant jump from finishing dead last in the conference the year prior.

True freshman Rory Bell took over kickoff and FG/PAT responsibilities in week four of last season against Tulane, replacing Will Mobley. He registered his first career field goal, splitting the uprights from 22 yards out. That kick would ultimately be the lone points the Owls put up in a 38-3 road loss.

Bell wound up converting all five of his field goal attempts, but his longest was a modest 30 yards. He'll have to push out his range this season, and preseason camp could tell us if Bell, who had previously been listed as the only kicker on the roster, will have some competition in former Penn Manor High School kicker Liam Hart.

According to Football Outsiders, Temple ranked 110th in the FBS in kickoff return efficiency, 126th in kickoff efficiency, 113th in punt return efficiency, 81st in punting efficiency and 95th in field goal efficiency. The Owls did only play in seven contests and were heavily depleted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but largely struggled to field a dependable unit.

Diersen, who splits his duties between special teams and outside linebackers, told reporters during spring practice that his philosophy moving forward is to keep his game plan as simple as possible.

“You have to understand with special teams, let’s take a linebacker for example, where is his mindset? It’s playing defense,” he said back in April. “So if I make special teams completely boring and very, very hard, he’s not doing that. You can put him out there, but he’s not executing. So I think that’s where I’ve gone as a coordinator. Let’s keep this as simple as possible.”

The Owls have struggled to find any kind of consistency executing on special teams. Heading into preseason camp and their first full-schedule season in two years, it will be compelling to see if they make any strides with Diersen’s evolving perspective on the position group.

Now in his third season coaching at Temple, after replacing Ed Foley in 2019, he’s become more aware that most of the guys in the special teams unit are predominantly focused on their primary positions.

As for who will be standing in the back on kick and punt returns, the Owls have some depth to work with at that position. Graduate receivers like Jadan Blue or Randle Jones could find themselves in the mix. Both have experience on the Owls’ return team.