Interim coach Everett Withers: It’s ‘business as usual’ for Temple as he preps for its last two games

A day after Temple announced that it was parting ways with football coach Stan Drayton, interim coach Everett Withers said Monday that the final two weeks of the football season would be treated like “business as usual” as the team prepares to visit Texas-San Antonio on Friday.

“Don’t forget, we did win a game on Saturday,” Withers said at a news conference of the Owls’ 18-15 victory over Florida Atlantic. “I’m extremely proud of our team, and we’ve got some kids that are very mature on our football team. They understand that this is a great sport but a tough business. I think they are handling all of this remarkably well.”

Withers, the defensive coordinator under Drayton, said the coaching staff did not meet with its leaders after the university announced that Drayton would no longer lead the program. Athletic director Arthur Johnson spoke to the team at about 11 a.m. Sunday, and the university announced Drayton’s dismissal shortly after.

Withers found out that he would be the interim coach later that afternoon while he was visiting with a recruit, he said.

Drayton had a 9-25 record in nearly three seasons as coach. The Owls are 3-7 this fall. In his weekly news conference leading up to Temple’s game against Florida Atlantic, Drayton spoke candidly for the first time about the university’s shortcomings in the name, image, and likeness environment (NIL). He said that if Temple gets a collective buy in from the top down and the football team has better financial resources, the program would “take off.”

Withers echoed a similar sentiment Monday, saying that teams from the Group of Five major conferences across the country will be faced with important decisions about how much they want to “invest in winning.”

“There needs to be people sitting down at each one of these universities,” Withers said. “Revenue sharing is coming. How much of that will keep you relevant? How much will you be able to put together in collectives in the NIL space? So what are you willing to do to win in today’s climate in college athletics?

“Players are getting paid today, and that’s not going away. We’ve let that toothpaste out of the tube, and we can’t put it back. So how does Temple get with the times and make a decision structurally — on our level of football — on how to get this done so we can remain relevant?”

Drayton was emotional in his postgame news conference after the Owls’ overtime win Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field. He brought his daughter to the podium with him when he answered questions and took long pauses when describing how proud he was of his players.

» READ MORE: Temple’s firing of Stan Drayton should open the door to dropping the football program

The coach also acknowledged the apathy surrounding the team to the average student on Temple’s campus and the “negativity” his players had heard on campus in recent weeks.

Despite Drayton’s show of emotions, Withers said he doesn’t think the coach knew that Saturday would be his last game.

“I’ve got a lot of gratitude for Coach Drayton,” Withers said. “I have always had a great thought of how he handles kids and players, and that is something that I have taken from him in the last couple years.”

Temple has two games remaining on its schedule and could be looking at a 3-9 record for the fourth consecutive season. The Owls will face UTSA (5-5, 3-3 American) on Friday looking for their first road conference win since 2019. Drayton went 0-10 in those matchups.

Withers said linebackers coach Chris Woods will assume defensive play-calling responsibilities. Woods served as the interim head coach at Texas State after Withers was firednear the end of his third season there.

This is not the first time Withers has served as an interim head coach; in 2011, he was defensive coordinator at North Carolina when head coach Butch Davis was fired over NCAA investigations, leading the Tar Heels to a 7-6 record.

Withers did not sound as if he anticipates returning to Temple next season. He did not talk about the conversations that coaches have had with previously committed recruits and said his focus was the final two games.

“I’m proud of the way the team practiced today,” Withers said. “They showed up early, they had the energy, they were very attentive on the job descriptions, so we expect to clean up things that we didn’t do correctly and go out and have an even better practice tomorrow.”