Temple has quietly built Power 5 coaching pipeline
As Geoff Collins gets set to take the job at Georgia Tech, the coaching pipeline Temple has built for Power 5 schools has been extended.
After Paul Johnson announced his retirement, Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt surfaced as a notable candidate at Georgia Tech. But building buzz through this week that Temple head coach Geoff Collins would get the job has come to fruition, with the school announcing the move on Friday.
Collins went 15-10 over two seasons at Temple, with bowl bids after each season. Tight ends coach Ed Foley, who is also special teams coordinator and assistant head coach, will coach the Owls in their upcoming bowl game.
Temple does not stand out as a football power. But they have won at least eight games six times in the last 10 seasons, in three conferences and under four head coaches. A fifth head coach is coming next year, but don’t let that invite the idea of instability.
Geoff Collins to Georgia Tech is announced. Temple has become Steppingstone U to Power Five jobs: Golden, Addazio, Rhule, Collins. The good news about that: they've identified good coaches on the rise, as opposed to the earlier decades of continually hiring the wrong guy.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) December 7, 2018
Al Golden, after going from one to eight wins over his five seasons (2006-2010) at Temple, moved on to take the job at Miami (as in “The U”). Steve Addazio followed him for two seasons, and despite a 4-7 campaign in 2012 moved on to Boston College where he has led the Eagles to five bowls in six seasons.
Matt Rhule took the Owls’ football program to another level during his four seasons as head coach, with 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016, before taking the job at Baylor. Last year’s 1-11 mark was pretty much expected as Rhule reset the culture and roster, but the Bears are 6-6 this year and headed for a bowl game. With a season on his resume as an assistant with the New York Giants (2012), Rhule is a potential candidate for NFL head coaching jobs.
The results of recent Temple head coaches at bigger schools have been mixed, and dependent on where expectations sat or currently sit. Golden was not a great success at Miami, with a 32-25 record over four-plus seasons, and Addazio is a .500 coach at Boston College (38-38). Rhule is still building it back up at Baylor though, while Collins will return to his home state for his new job and he’ll get a couple season before a real verdict comes in.
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Collins was able to somewhat maintain what Rhule left behind at Temple, after what had been a general cycle of reset and rebuild (1-11 in Golden’s first season, 2-10 in Rhule’s first season). Foley is taking the baton now, with his second game as interim head coach over 11 seasons at Temple coming in the Independence Bowl.
But no matter who gets the permanent gig, it’s probably only a matter of time before a Power 5 school comes calling for the Owls’ head coach again.