John Di Carlo of Owlscoop.com has been on top of this situation from the start. From his latest article:
Temple will offer its head football coaching job to New York Giants assistant offensive line coach and former Owls assistant Matt Rhule, OwlScoop.com has learned. Rhule is expected to accept the offer, and a press conference to announce Rhule’s hiring is set for Monday morning shortly before noon.[...]
Rhule was also Temple’s quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator during the 2006 and 2007 seasons and helped the Owls haul in three top-ranked recruiting classes in the Mid-American Conference from 2006 to 2008. He has been the lead recruiter on several of Temple’s best players over the past several seasons, including former defensive end Adrian Robinson, who made the Pittsburgh Steelers roster as an undrafted rookie free agent this season, and kicker/punter Brandon McManus, who this season became the Owls’ all-time leading scorer. Rhule also helped land several of Temple’s promising young players before he left to join the Giants’ staff this season, including freshman linebacker and Big East Rookie of the Year Tyler Matakevich and sophomore Jalen Fitzpatrick, the Owls’ leading receiver.
This is exciting news for Temple as they have finally found someone who is willing to stick around and not use the position as a stepping stone. Rhule wanted the job the first time around and kept his home in the area when he went to coach with the New York Giants.
Most fans wanted him to get this job, most players – past and present – wanted him to get this job and, most importantly (duh), I wanted him to get this job.
Now that this issue has been settled we just have to figure out which teams Temple football will be associated with going forward. That’s just a minor detail, of course.
