Temple coach Stan Drayton’s staff begins to crystalize with hires on both sides of the ball

Temple football coach Stan Drayton plans to drill his core values into his team and build a physical, tough program that controls the tempo.

Since his hiring on Dec. 15, Drayton has been searching for a staff to fit his vision. His first priority was looking for coaches connected to the area.

“We’re going to find coaches who can really develop the run game,” Drayton said. “I believe [in] being exposed to the run game — we’ll build our offense around that. Defensively, we’re going to be an attacking-style defense. Everything we do from a systematic standpoint will support who we are as a university.”

Unlike former coach Rod Carey, who brought most of his staff with him from Northern Illinois, Drayton’s staff has few connections to Texas, where he spent the last four seasons as running backs coach.

Here’s a look at who Drayton has hired on his staff thus far:

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach: Danny Langsdorf, a former quarterbacks coach at Colorado, has been in the coaching scene for 25 years, with experience coming from the college and NFL levels.

Before coaching at Colorado, Langsdorf served as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for Oregon State (2005-13) and Nebraska (2015-17). Langsdorf was also quarterbacks coach for the New York Giants in 2014, when Eli Manning threw for 4,410 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Offensive line coach and run game coordinator: Chris Wiesehan, who was Temple’s offensive line coach for five seasons (2014-18), returns to North Broad. Wiesehan left Temple before Carey was named coach in 2019.

While at Temple, he was known for training his linemen to play multiple positions and sent eight players to the NFL, including 2017 second-round pick Dion Dawkins, a Buffalo Bills guard.

Wide receivers and running backs coaches: Two coaches from Carey’s era will serve on Drayton’s staff. Thad Ward, who came from Illinois in 2019, will remain wide receivers coach. Preston Brown, hired as director of player personnel in July, has been moved to an on-field role as a running backs coach.

Brown is known for his local ties to the area after spending six seasons as head coach for Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden. He led the program to back-to-back South Jersey Group 3 titles in 2018 and 2019.

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Tight ends and special teams coach: Adam Scheier, former special teams coordinator at Rutgers, brings 26 years of collegiate experience, including 22 years working with special teams. Before Temple, Scheier worked at Bowling Green (2009-13), Ohio State (2017), Texas Tech (2018), and Mississippi State (2019). In his last season at Bowling Green, Scheier served as the interim head coach in place of Dave Clawson, who left for a head position at Wake Forest.

Co-defensive coordinators and safeties coach: Drayton’s defense will be headed by D.J. Eliot, whose college coaching experience dates back to 1999. Eliot became Temple’s co-defensive coordinator after three seasons as Kansas’ DC. His prior stops in that role also include Colorado and Kentucky.

His co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach will be former Villanova defensive coordinator Ola Adams. The Reston, Va., native brings experience recruiting out of local high schools extending into Maryland, Washington, and his home state.

Adams joined Villanova in 2015 and took over defensive coordinator duties in 2019. Under his tutelage, graduate linebacker Forrest Rhyne became the program’s first player in 28 years to be named Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year.

Linebackers coach: Chris Woods will be charged with coaching Temple’s linebackers. He is reconnecting with Eliot from their time at Kansas the last two seasons. The Milton, Mass., native also served as Oklahoma’s defensive quality control coach and appeared in three bowl games from 2015-17.

Defensive line coach: Drayton hired Antoine Smith from Colorado State to fill this job. Smith joined the Rams’ staff under former Temple coach Steve Addazio in 2020 before being promoted to assistant coach the following year.

Smith has previously coached defensive lines at Boston College, Texas State, and James Madison. In 2019, the Eagles finished fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in tackles (101).

Cornerbacks coach: Drayton’s defensive staff is rounded out by Jules Montinar. In his one season at Florida coaching the same position, the Gators finished atop the Southeastern Conference in pass defense — after finishing ninth the year before.

Early in his career, he spent two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant under Nick Saban, including Alabama’s 2013 BCS National Championship.

Chief of staff: Everett Withers, along with director of football operations Tory Tekyl, are the only hires whose time at Texas overlapped with both Drayton and Temple athletic director Arthur Johnson.

Withers served as a head coach at North Carolina (2011), James Madison (2014-15), and Texas State (2016-18). More recently, he was an analyst at Texas (2020), then Florida International’s defensive coordinator (2021).

The Charlotte, N.C., native has been a “trusted confidant” of Drayton for many years, according to a release.

Director of football operations: Tory Tekyl spent the past two seasons as assistant director of football operations and director of player development at Kansas. Before that, she was the director of operations for the Longhorns under Tom Herman (2017-19).

» READ MORE: Temple’s coaching staff showcases ‘collaborative effort’ during Aaron McKie’s COVID-19 absence

Director of player personnel: Temple’s new director of player personnel and pro liaison is J.T. Hill. The Centre, Ala., native was a recruiting specialist for the Crimson Tide from 2016-19, helping solidify the best recruiting class in the nation in 2017 and 2019.

Strength and conditioning coaches: Drayton’s staff is rounded out by three strength and conditioning coaches.

Chris Fenelon will lead the group after three seasons as a member of Ohio State football’s strength and conditioning staff. During his tenure with the Buckeyes, he saw two Big Ten Championships and two College Football Playoff appearances.

Andrew Brooks, who comes from the U.S. Army Combat Aviation Brigade, and Helix Elite Performance founder Bruce Johnson will be Fenelon’s assistants.

“I’m very excited to work with Chris, Andrew, and Bruce,” Drayton said. “Each one brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in preparing student-athletes to compete at their very best. They have worked with outstanding athletes and helped them reach levels they never would have without their guidance.”