Stan Drayton is impressed with Temple’s growth and unfazed by preseason rankings

Stan Drayton wasn’t bothered by Temple football’s last place ranking in the American Athletic Conference preseason polls. The first-year coach reiterated the Owls’ culture, which consists of a chip on your shoulder mentality.

“We’re not going to be motivated by the opinion of others,” Drayton said. “We’re just going to lock in and focus on what we need to do as a family.”

Drayton spent the winter, spring and summer connecting with recruits and meeting with returning players, hoping they’ll trust his system. The Owls, who went 3-9 under former head coach Rod Carey, were more willing to learn once they bought-in, and some say they have already seen improvement.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts might be the anti-Kyler Murray. Is that enough for the Eagles to succeed?

While acknowledging there’s plenty of growing room, Drayton said the players listen when asked to change workout programs or are expected to be more vocal.

“That comes at a hard task at times,” Drayton said. “There’s been plenty of tears on my desk. There’s been some tough conversations on some things… We’ve had to break through some walls, but they’re willing.”

Quarterback D’Wan Mathis is one of those players whose confident has grown, according to Drayton. The redshirt sophomore, who was named starting QB during spring practices in 2021, intended to enter the transfer portal in November with two games left in Temple’s season.

He then released a video on Twitter six days later saying “North Philly I’m back! Let’s do it!” recanting his prior pledge to leave North Philly.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound quarterback threw for 1,223 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions across seven games. Injuries complicated Mathis’ season. He suffered an ankle injury in the Owls’ Sept. 4 season opener against Rutgers and didn’t play in the final three games after aggravating the injury against East Carolina on Nov. 6. .

“He’s a guy who has developed confidence and trust in the people around him,” Drayton said. “Talking to teammates in their room to help him with this development.

“He’s stepped outside of his comfort zone to make sure that the players around him can trust him. To see him one day during the course of a workout, stand up in front of the team, and say those words like, ‘Hey, I’m a guy that you can trust.’ I think that was huge.”

Drayton mentioned there’s been more camaraderie in the quarterback room with the addition of Quincy Patterson, who previously played at Virginia Tech and North Dakota State and still has two years of eligibility left.

He feels Patterson, 21, has brought maturity and game experience that added good competition among the quarterbacks.

» READ MORE: Quincy Patterson just wants ‘a chance to compete’ for Temple’s starting quarterback position

While a starter has yet to be named, Drayton plans to give each quarterback an opportunity during practice. He expects the winner of the quarterback competition to be a player who commands the offense and serves an extension of the offensive coordinator. Whoever develops the fastest in those areas will likely become the starter, Drayton said.

“He can rally the troops and get everybody around him ready for the next play,” Drayton said of Patterson. “A guy who’s not afraid to hold himself accountable. These are all the traits of the quarterbacks that we’re looking for here at Temple. I am excited about the competition that we have in that room.”

Drayton has 13 players on the team’s leadership council. Of those, he named offensive lineman Adam Klein and defensive tackle Xach Gill as players who have stepped up and changed their approach this offseason. He challenged Klein to attack his weaknesses, and he responded by working with the strength and conditioning coaches to become stronger and shifting his diet.

“My body has changed over the past year,” Klein, a 6-foot-5, 293-pound lineman, said. “I think it was a little bit sloppy the past couple years and that’s led to injuries… We just found a plan taking me to a spot where I’m at today, I think my body is at the best point it’s felt for a long time.”

Several players said head strength and conditioning coach Chris Fenelon, who previously served at Ohio State as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, has helped them get in better shape this offseason.

Defensive tackle Darian Varner, who was 295 pounds at the end of last season, is now down to 260 pounds. He said the relationship between the players and the strength staff is the biggest difference, but the training has also increased in intensity.

With Temple about a month out from its Sept. 2 season opener against Duke, Drayton said he’s so excited he could do a backflip in anticipation. But his team isn’t quite ready to pad up just yet.

“We’ve grown in the offseason,” Drayton said. “They’re loving each other more, they care about each other a lot more… In my experience, when those things are existing within a program, we tend to win ball games so we’ll see how that looks.”