Earlier this month, Temple head coach Stan Drayton said he’s tough on his safety room.
The second-year head coach is expecting a lot out of the group this season because of their experience and leadership.
One of them, junior safety Alex Odom, turned out to be a single digit, and the position group as a whole is largely experienced, even if that experience comes from the junior college ranks with players like redshirt-junior Elijah Deravil (Garden City Community College) or the transfer portal like grad transfer Tywan Francis from Colorado State or redshirt-sophomore Kamar Wilcoxson, who spent the last three seasons at Florida.
Out of the 11 safeties listed on Temple’s roster, just four - Zylil Powell, Ihsim Smith-Marsette and walk-ons Brandon Taylor and Shamar Williams - are true freshmen.
Five others are all guys who received playing time for the Owls in 2022, led by Odom, a 6-foot South Jersey product from Kingsway High School who posted a career-best 75 tackles in 2022, good for third on the team in that category. In addition to Francis and Wilcoxson, Odom will get help from returning players like Deravil (34 tackles in 11 games last season), Brenyen Scott (18 tackles, 2 TFLs and a sack last season) fellow South New Jersey native Muheem McCargo (44 tackles, 4 TFLs and a sack in 12 games), and redshirt-freshman Sam Martin, a two-way standout at Staten Island’s Curtis High School who eventually emerged as Temple’s primary kickoff returner late last season.
Owls safeties coach Marvin Clecidor expects the experience of his group to be a main contributor to their success in 2023, but also understands they have to go out and prove it and deal with what comes their way as Temple is looking to make significant improvement after going 3-9 in Drayton’s first season.
“We do have a group of guys that have game experience at different levels, but every season brings new experiences,” Clecidor told reporters Monday on Zoom after Temple’s preseason practice at Chodoff Field. “I expect our guys to lean on the experience of the past. Things they saw in games for them to learn from and help them progress. But again, a new season brings new challenges, and there's always things to learn that’ll help them continue to progress their game.”
The unquestioned leader of the safeties group is Odom, who was one of seven Owls to be named a single-digit last week by his peers.
Clecidor sees the impact Odom has both on and off the field and feels like he was a perfect choice for the prestigious honor.
“The reason why Alex Odom got the single digit and got voted on by his teammates is simply because he's the same guy every day,” Clecidor said. “He’s a guy who cares about his teammates, he does things right on and off the football field, and he challenges people around him to get better…I’m proud of Alex because he's worked hard for it and he's a kid who really cares about Temple University.”
This past Saturday, the Owls played an intrasquad scrimmage, and the 6-1, 200-pound Wilcoxson, the Florida transfer, caught the eye of Clecidor.
Wilcoxson is entering his fourth year of college after spending three years in the SEC. Although he played sparingly at Florida, Clecidor believes Wilcoxson has plenty of knowledge to share with the younger Temple safeties, and that's exactly what he did on Saturday.
Clecidor was quick to highlight Wilcoxson when asked who stood out during Saturday’s scrimmage.
“He was helping some of the younger guys out, in terms of coaching up some of the freshmen,” Clecidor said. “Getting those guys to understand what their assignments are in certain plays…[Wilcoxson’s leadership] was on full display during that scrimmage. It was very encouraging to see. That was a positive out of Kamar Wilcoxson.”
The safeties will get their first opportunity to put their offseason work to use when Temple hosts Akron on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 2 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in the season opener.