Who Should Temple Hire as Their Next Football Coach?
It's been a crazy and disappointing week for Temple football and their fans. If you have not heard, Temple's Head Coach, Matt Rhule, decided to accept an offer to be the Head Coach at Baylor University. Rhule took the Owl program from a 2-10 team in his first year to a team that won back to back East Division titles and one conference championship. Unfortunately for the Owls, the Baylor job was one that Rhule could not pass up even though he said he had Temple improving every year. So, Temple now needs to find his replacement who can continue to move the team in the right direction. In the last few days, a few names have popped up in Temple's search for their now coach. The most popular candidate among players and around Temple is Phil Snow who is the current Defensive Coordinator. Snow has done a great job with this defensive and over the past two years it has been a top 10 defense in the country statistically. Although Snow seems like a good choice, Temple needs to do some more research and see who is available outside of the program. A name most Temple fans would like is Charlie Strong, who was just fired from Texas. Even though was fired, Strong would be an ideal candidate for Temple with experience at Louisville and a national program like Texas. Strong is a players coach and he would be a good recruiter in the Philly area an beyond. Strong is currently in some serious talks with USF right now but Temple should approach Strong with a good enough offer for him to considering coming to the Owls. Another candidate who has garnered some strong attention is Old Dominions Head Coach Bobby Wilder. Wilder helped Old Dominion to a 9-3 record this season and a bowl bid for his team. Although Wilder isn't the most flashy candidate, the Owls have met with him and are considering him for their vacancy. Finally, a long shot candidate would be Lane Kiffin who is currently the Offensive Coordinator at Alabama. Getting him to Temple would be huge for the program but will Temple be enticing enough to leave the best college football program in the country? Maybe not, but it sure worth the shot at taking him from Alabama. So, with these few options, who should Temple hire as their next coach? I would lean towards Charlie Strong unless he is already committed to USF. If they can't get strong, go hard at Lane Kiffin and if not him, Phil Snow makes the most sense for a few years until you can bring in another big name. I don't see Wilder being a great fit considering he's coming from a smaller program. Temple needs to try and make a splash but sticking with Phil Snow would not be worst case scenario.
