Why Temple coach Stan Drayton believes his leadership council will help build resolve

Temple football coach Stan Drayton meets every week with his staff to review film and plan for the next game. Then Drayton gathers 14 players who collectively form the Owls’ leadership council.

The leadership council consists of at least one player from every position group, with each member focused on feeling out the locker room’s morale and serving as a liaison between players and coaches.

“Here I am, 51 years old. These guys are still in their young 20s,” Drayton said. “I may be missing something. We may have a little bit of a social gap, a little cultural gap, and I need people like [Jordan Magee] and [Adam Klein] here within our leadership committee to be able to bridge those gaps for me.”

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That understanding is part of what has made Drayton’s working relationship with players fluid in his nine months on campus.

Leadership councils aren’t common. As Drayton pointed out, not many coaches are willing to take a step back and hand responsibility to players. However, Drayton understands he is no longer in the classroom on weekdays and on the field in pads on Saturday.

“[Drayton is] seeing everything that we go through,” Klein said, “but you’re not going to be doing everything that we have to.”

Drayton, who put together his first leadership council this year, said he selected players who represent the program effectively. But he plans to allow the group to evolve throughout the season, with players potentially being removed if they do not meet expectations.

“Not everybody who started off on this committee is still on this committee,” Drayton said. “You have to earn that just like everyone else. We earn our keep every single day around here.”

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Drayton has delivered a consistent message of hard work and competition to his locker room, and members of the leadership council are expected to give maximum effort and push their teammates to improve.

“Coaching-led teams can be good, but player-led teams can be great,” Magee said. “For example, like the leadership committee, we can relay [Drayton’s] message and get that out to the team and bring everybody together as one.”

How each player leads is different. Magee said he leads by example, while he described Klein and David Martin-Robinson as vocal leaders.

“We have a young Jalen McMurray in this committee, who is a guy who is fearless in that [role],” Drayton said. “Is he a rah-rah loud-talking [guy]? No, he’s not. He is kind of one of those guys that brings you in close, and he is in your ear telling you how to do it the right way. And then by example, he shows that every single day.”

After he was hired, Drayton watched film and noticed the 2021 team failed to fight through all four quarters. Temple (2-3) lost a tough conference game to Memphis on Saturday, giving up 24 consecutive points in the second half.

Temple’s previous regime reeled after tough results, so Drayton wanted his first year to set a new standard.

“Now, we have a team full of guys regardless of what the scoreboard is saying, these guys, they fight,” Drayton said. “They overcome adversity together. They are pulling people along with them through tough times. We are rallying off of tough times with the motivation to do better the next day.”