New Temple football coach K.C. Keeler quickly improved his previous teams. Can he do it again on North Broad?

Throughout Temple’s search for its newest football coach, one detail the university leadership emphasized to potential candidates was the need for patience regarding the school’s name, image, and likeness approach along with revenue sharing.

As the transfer portal and NIL collectives continue to shake up college athletics, the need for program stability becomes even more paramount. And stability is a word that defines the career of K.C. Keeler, who will be introduced as Temple’s 18th football coach at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Keeler, a 65-year-old from Emmaus, Pa., was the head coach at Delaware and Sam Houston State (in Huntsville, Texas) for more than a decade each. It took him only two seasons to lead the Blue Hens to a Football Championship Subdivision national championship in 2003, and seven with the Bearkats to win the 2020 FCS title.

Keeler has posted winning records in 27 of his 31 seasons as head coach, which dates to his nine seasons at Rowan, which made five appearances in the Division III national title game in a seven-year period.

» READ MORE: Temple hires Sam Houston State’s K.C. Keeler as its football coach

In taking over a Temple program that has finished 3-9 in each of the last four seasons, on-field improvement will be just as important as putting down strong recruiting roots in the Philly and South Jersey areas. In just two seasons since moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision, Sam Houston State made massive jumps in its on-field production, improving both its offensive and defensive rankings.

Besides a consistent track record of winning, here’s what Keeler brings statistically to North Broad Street.

Making the jump from the FCS to the FBS presents its challenges. The Bearkats finished 3-9 in 2023, their first season in the higher division, and struggled offensively. Keeler’s offense was ranked 119th that season, with 311.4 yards per game, including the sixth-worst rushing attack per game (88.9) and per attempt (2.9).

For comparison, Temple ranked five spots ahead of the Bearkats at 95.7 rushing yards per game, with a 3.5-yard average per carry.

But that ranking changed drastically this year. Sam Houston, which has a 9-3 overall record this season (6-2 in Conference USA), had a top-30 rushing attack, averaging 190.2 yards per game. The Bearkats’ total yardage ranking improved to 97th (354.7 yards per game). The Owls, meanwhile, had the seventh-worst rushing average per game this season (92.8) and ranked 125th in total offense (308.8).

One big component that Keeler’s offenses bring is a dual-threat mentality at quarterback. Sam Houston State’s second-leading rusher was quarterback Hunter Watson, who finished with 623 yards (4.1 yards per attempt). The backfield used a by-committee approach, with two running backs eclipsing more than 450 rushing yards, led by Jay Ducker’s 719.

In three seasons under head coach Stan Drayton, only one Temple running back, Edward Saydee, rushed for more than 450 yards in a season. Saydee gained 639 yards in 2022.

The Owls’ passing attack (216 yards per game, 82nd) was far more potent than Sam Houston State’s this season (164.4, ranked 123rd), but Temple averaged nearly eight more passing attempts per game. Keeler will likely bring an offensive scheme focused heavily on the run, and the Owls could return all three running backs in junior Terrez Worthy, redshirt junior Antwain Littleton, and sophomore Joquez Smith.

One area that Temple will need to address is rushing defense, ranked second-to-last in the nation, allowing 226.5 rushing yards per game. Sam Houston State improved from their 2023 ranking of 92nd (162.9 yards) to 56th(142).

Overall, Keeler’s defenses showed improvement in nearly every category. The Bearkats’ defense was 88th in yards allowed per game in 2023 (394.4) but cracked the top 20 in that category this season (316.1), including the No. 11-ranked passing defense (174.1).

» READ MORE: Temple’s football season ends with loss to North Texas, finishes 3-9 for fourth consecutive year

Temple’s pass defense was just outside the top 30 this season (191.2 yards per game) but had the 11th-worst scoring defense (35.4 points per game) and struggled to create turnovers (1.3 per game, tied for 69th). The Bearkats sat 21st in points allowed (20 per game) and ranked inside the top 20 in turnovers forced per game (1.8).

Creating negative plays was a big reason for Sam Houston State’s improvement. The Bearkats finished with 26 sacks (tied for 57th) and 67 tackles for losses (tied for 62nd) while Temple had only 14 sacks (tied for 128th) and 46 tackles for losses (tied for 129th).

Keeler excelled in recruiting for Sam Houston State by bringing in players from within Texas According to On3 Sports, across the 33 pledges from high school and college transfers in the program’s 2023 recruiting class, 24 were from Texas. That trend continued in the Bearkats’ 2024 recruiting class, with 25 of the 31 signees coming from the Lone Star State.

Both of those recruiting classes ranked near the middle of the pack in Conference USA. The trend was flipped for Temple under Drayton in that same time frame. In 2023, just 11 of the 36 Owls signees came from Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New Jersey, according to On3 Sports. That number was even lower in the 2024 recruiting class, with just nine of the 44 signees.

» READ MORE: Temple’s plans to build a football stadium appear ‘dead,’ even as President John Fry reaffirms his commitment to the football program

Keeler will need to recruit locally to find success on North Broad. That was the recipe for Matt Rhule’s four yearswith Temple, from 2013 to 2016, including 10-win seasons in 2015 and 2016. And with the emergence of Syracuse’s program led by Camden’s Fran Brown and Elijah Robinson and their commitment to recruiting the Philadelphia and South Jersey area, recruiting locally could be a tall order for Keeler and his staff.