Temple football coach Stan Drayton talks the transfer portal, the new reality of college sports

It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s one that college coaching staffs are resigned to deal with.

In the case of Temple’s football team, that reality is the revolving door that has become the NCAA transfer portal, giving the athlete power to transfer in and out of programs. Many times, the programs losing players have committed a lot of resources to acquire and develop them.

Owls coach Stan Drayton understands that turnover affects a lot of programs like his, but he noted that the turnover does detract from continuity and consistency within a team — even if it stands to benefit the program finding and bringing players in.

“It’s not something I promote,” Drayton said during a rare offseason media availability on Tuesday. “Obviously, I want to grow old with a program. I know that if we have the ability to grow old together, we can sustain wins and success that way.”

Coming off a 3-9 season, Temple has had roster movement at a number of position groups. To compensate, Drayton said the program added 32 players.

Last month, defensive lineman Darian Varner transferred to Wisconsin. While Varner’s loss could be significant, the remaining Owls who entered the transfer portal were not impact starters.

As the transfer portal evolves from its October 2018 debut, teams have to replace key players each offseason.

“Sometimes things are going to hit you sideways with this portal,” said Drayton. “You may lose an older player, you may just lose a younger player by way of the portal. I do believe that’s the climate that we’re in right now until we put some type of regulation on when people can transfer and things of that sort. And we just kind of leave it open … for young people to make decisions like that regarding their football future.”

Heading into the offseason, Drayton targeted experienced players and developmental options to acquire through the transfer portal. This was evident in the additions of defensive back Tywan Francis from Colorado State and tight end Landon Morris from Utah.

Francis has one year of eligibility remaining and was a starter for the Rams. So his experience fills a short-term positional need for the Owls. On the flip side, Temple could develop Morris over the next four seasons. Morris arrived at Utah via the transfer portal after leaving Syracuse before his freshman season.

“You just took all that time to develop these athletes, and there’s a chance that you may have developed them for somebody else ... but unfortunately, it’s a reality in today’s world.”

Drayton said Temple’s roster is still low on numbers at certain spots. Heading into spring workouts, the team might have to adjust the workload and length of its practices.

At the conclusion of spring practices, the Owls could add more depth through the transfer portal to improve the numbers. In return, Temple could lose players to the portal who have been a part of the offseason program.

“You just don’t know who’s going to be there or not,” Drayton said. “You just took all that time to develop these athletes, and there’s a chance that you may have developed them for somebody else. So those are things that we are not excited to talk about, but unfortunately, it’s a reality in today’s world.”

The roster is permitted to have 85 players. Drayton said he plans to add some players to Temple’s offensive line and defensive lines.

“I feel great about what we have coming in from a quality standpoint, but we still need to add depth in those two positions,” Drayton said. “It can happen in the portal. It can happen next year. We’re not going to take quote-unquote low-hanging fruit just to get to a [certain] depth. We need quality football players that want to be here.”

Outside of the trenches, Drayton said the program might add more depth to the quarterback position.

Although roster movement is a part of college football for the foreseeable future, Drayton is excited for the players who decided to come back for his second season.

“That tells me that Temple is important to them,” Drayton said. “The guys that are here feel they have some unfinished business as a football team and as individuals within their development. They’re excited to change the narrative.”

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