Before he became Temple’s head coach, Stan Drayton recruited at three different programs in the SEC and another in the Big Ten. He’s more than used to some of the last-minute anxiety that comes with keeping recruits committed and making them feel good about signing their National Letters of Intent.

“To the final hour, to the final minute of the hour, you’re fighting,” Drayton said.

And as he sat at the Liacouras Center Tuesday night watching an Owls basketball game, he got another dose of that on the eve of National Signing Day.

“Here comes a few phone calls, and I had to walk out into the concourse to handle some calls,” Drayton said of his Tuesday night.

Temple signed 25 players Wednesday to National Letters of Intent – 20 from high schools, three transfers and two from the junior college ranks - as the Owls addressed several positions of need like running back, offensive line and the defensive backfield.

The three transfers – former Miami defensive tackle Allan Haye, Colorado State wide receiver Dante Wright and FIU running back E.J. Wilson – do not factor into Rivals’ recruiting rankings, which had Temple’s 2023 class at 67th nationally and fifth in the American Athletic Conference behind Houston, UCF, Memphis and Tulane as of Wednesday afternoon.

On paper, it looks like a solid – if not foundational – class for the future of the program. Running backs like Tampa Jesuit’s Joquez Smith and Harrisburg High School’s Kyle Williams could revamp a rushing offense that was the third-worst in the country this season, and local standouts like Roman Catholic High School outside linebacker Jordan Montgomery and Northeast High School defensive end Tyrese Whitaker could be future cornerstones for defensive coordinator DJ Eliot’s unit and show that Drayton’s staff can recruit local talent that received Power Five offers.

Temple reached into talent-rich Florida to sign six players and once again made an impact internationally, landing the signatures of Australian punter Dante Atton and tight end Peter Clarke, who played at London’s NFL Academy.

And as Drayton said, it all came with some last-minute closing.

“I had to really reassure some of our recruits on why they chose Temple in the first place,” Drayton said, alluding to the fact that other programs were trying to flip some of the Owls’ commits. “People are doing a great job of selling their programs and selling dreams and hopes for all these kids, and so it’s a tough decision for them at times, and I can respect that.

“So yeah, we had a couple. We had a couple where we had to fight tooth and nail to get them back on our side and we got ink on paper, so we’re good to go.”

You can listen to Drayton’s entire National Signing Day press conference here.

Temple signed a pair of important players in its class – former Georgia Tech verbal commit Gensley Auguste and former USF commit Darrell Sweeting – who were initially headed elsewhere. Auguste, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound defensive tackle, had offers throughout his recruitment from programs like Louisville, Syracuse, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, and the 5-10, 175-pound Sweeting will play cornerback at Temple. Drayton also described the Benjamin School standout from North Palm Beach, Florida as “a guy who is going to be a returner here, a guy who can flat-out run, a guy who is flat-out athletic. We had to fight to get him. That wasn’t an easy one. He comes from a great family.”

And although Temple had one of the top true freshman quarterbacks in the nation this season in E.J. Warner, it was important for the Owls to add talent, depth and competition there, and they did that in signing New Jersey standout Tyler Douglas from Ocean Township High School, the same program that produced former Temple commit, Pitt star and current Steelers starter Kenny Pickett.

The 6-2, 195-pound Douglas threw for 926 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for another 818 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.

“He, in my opinion, was like their whole team,” Temple offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf told OwlScoop.com Wednesday. “They won a lot of games this year, coming off a tough year last year. He carried that team, and I love that about him. He can run, he can throw. He’s smart. He’s competitive, and he’s looking forward to working with E.J., and I love that about him. He’s not afraid to compete with him, but he’s also encouraged and excited about learning from him, so that says a lot about the kid.”

Two players who had verbally committed to Temple – wide receiver Nathan Stewart from Maryland’s St. Vincent Pallotti High School and Anthony Baxter from Florida’s Riverdale High School – did not sign with the Owls Wednesday. Stewart told OwlScoop.com he plans to sign his letter of intent with Temple on Feb. 1, while Baxter’s plans were not immediately known as of Wednesday afternoon.

Drayton did say Wednesday that he expects to sign maybe five or six more players to round out Temple’s 2023 class. Maybe a “player or two on defense and probably four on offense,” Drayton said.

Some of those signees could come later on in the recruiting cycle, after spring practices, Drayton said.

“We’re not going to go out there and stretch and make a bad decision with what’s available out there to us,” Drayton said. “We still have the opportunity to go through the spring and see what’s available to us after the spring if there are some positional needs that we kind of discover after spring ball that we need to go out there and fill, so we’ll hold some of those spots throughout the spring.”