Just two days after the firing of head coach Stan Drayton, Temple had its weekly player availability Tuesday. Tight end James Della Pesca and linebacker D.J. Woodbury spoke with the media over Zoom about the fallout and where the team goes from here.
Both had nothing but positive things to say about their former head coach, but they know they need to keep their focus and move forward despite the surprising firing.
“Obviously, we’re sad about the situation,” Della Pesca said. “We all had tremendous love for Coach Drayton and what he’s done for us and tremendous respect. But right now, we’re really just focused on this week. The event happened and we’re saddened by it but with the love for each other in this brotherhood that we have, I think we’re in a good place. A better place than I thought we would be in too. I think we’re just going to go out and fight like we have been this whole season.”
The team routinely comes in the day after games to get treatments and check-ins. Because the Owls are on a short week with Friday's road game at UTSA coming up, they were already set to have certain team meetings.
But early Sunday morning, the players received a message on their team app that there was a mandatory team meeting.
“We were all pretty shocked,” Della Pesca said. “(The meeting) still didn’t really change the schedule. But, as we got closer to the meeting, we kind of felt like something was going on. The whole situation was a little surprising.”
Temple Athletic Director Arthur Johnson called the meeting and broke the news to the players. When asked if the players were given the opportunity to articulate ideas to Johnson about what the program needed and what Drayton's successor would need to be successful, Della Pesca and Woodbury gave differing answers.
Woodbury said that Johnson didn’t ask for their feedback and that they didn’t give any to him following the news. Della Pesca had a different answer.
“Absolutely,” Della Pesca said. “He’s an open-door cut person. I know, personally, before I leave this university, I’m going to talk to him about that situation.”
After Johnson delivered the news to the team, Drayton told the players to not forget the things he taught them and reiterated that he wants the best for them moving forward.
The players then went to Drayton's office to say goodbye.
“We said how much we appreciate him and what he’s done," Della Pesca said, "including his wife and his daughter. Just thanking them for everything and best of luck in their endeavors.”
Now that defensive coordinator Everett Withers has taken over as the interim head coach, linebackers coach Chris Woods will take over as the defensive coordinator.
Woodbury and Woods have worked closely together for the last two seasons and have built a strong relationship. Woodbury is excited for him to get the nod and spoke highly of his capabilities.
“I think Coach Woods is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Woodbury said. “His smartness that he leads the player [with] is incredible. Now that the whole defense gets to see it, it is just going to make him shine more. He’s one of the best coaches.”
You can listen to the full audio with the players here.
Looking at UTSA
The Owls have a short week with Withers at the helm as interim head coach and, with all the uncertainty and commotion in the program, Temple still needs to focus on its matchup against UTSA on Friday.
The Roadrunners (5-5) sit at the middle of the pack in the American Athletic Conference in scoring defense at 32 points allowed per game. UTSA has the AAC's 13th-ranked passing defense, having allowed 287 yards in the air per game.
“They’re a veteran crew,” Della Pesca said. “They’re good. They’re a chippy defense for sure. I think we can definitely attack their backend for sure.”
With just two games left and bowl eligibility completely out the window, there isn’t much left for the Owls to play for except for each other. Woodbury knows this and is focused on enjoying these last two games and taking in the moment with his teammates.
“I got another opportunity to go out with my brothers and win,” Woodbury said.
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