Temple news, notes and looming questions after one week of spring football

Stan Drayton’s two daughters called to wish him happy birthday early on the morning of March 11. So eager for his first day of spring football as head coach, the significance of the day slipped Drayton’s mind.

The Temple coach has 14 practices before the Cherry and White spring game on April 9 at Edberg-Olson Hall. Until then, he will attempt to gain a better understanding of his personnel before scouring the transfer portal this summer to fill positional needs.

After 28 years of coaching running backs, Drayton admitted he’s had to stop himself from gravitating toward that position group. Everett Withers, his chief of staff, has helped remind him to allow his coaches to coach.

“It feels absolutely weird,” Drayton said. “I’m used to honing in on five or seven guys … It’s a broader scope that I’ve taken for granted as a position coach but it’s been a fun experience as a head coach.”

Here are a few updates and questions yet to be answered through Temple’s first week of spring practice.

On the first day of practice, Drayton mentioned two standouts: defensive tackle Xach Gill, who missed last season because of an injury, and offensive lineman Adam Klein, a sixth-year senior.

Gill and Klein caught Drayton’s attention with the communication and energy. After witnessing how they lead their respective position groups, Drayton believes they can help shape the program’s cultural rebuild.

“Any time you can sit there and say some good things about your offensive and defensive line play during the course of practice,” Drayton said, “then things are trending in the right direction.”

» READ MORE: How Zach Hicks and Hysier Miller transitioned from freshmen to Temple’s ‘face of the program’

Drayton later expressed his concern about the depth at safety. He saw a lack of production, but a “pretty good effort.”

Following the departures of Amir Tyler (graduation) and M.J. Griffin (transfer portal), the group has less experience. The current safeties include Alex Odom, DaeSean Winston, and Jalen Ware.

Drayton was impressed with quarterback D’Wan Mathis’ eye coordination and ball placement. He also thought Mathis executed well adjusting on the run. Last season, Mathis threw for 1,223 yards and completed six touchdowns.

“When you’re talking about an athlete like that, who can extend the play with his feet and make plays with his feet,” Drayton said, “there’s a lot of potential in that young man.”

Drayton alluded to three tight ends — James Della Pesca, David Martin-Robinson, and Jordan Smith — as players who could potentially contribute. He described the group as a “bright spot on offense.”

Drayton highlighted the versatility of those three and added that they’ll bring additional depth to special teams. Martin-Robinson saw limited time last fall after suffering a season-ending injury against Rutgers on Sept. 9. Smith and Della Pesca appeared in all 12 games.

Drayton saw little leadership in the wide receiver room. With Randle Jones (graduated) and Jadan Blue (transfer) no longer in the program, the group lost two single-digit starters. But receivers like Jose Barbon, Amad Anderson, and De’Von Fox could fill those spots.

“There’s no guy that’s standing out right now,” Drayton said. “I can’t sit there and say there is one guy right here showing great leadership. They are just all out there. I think there needs to be a guy that steps ahead of the group.”

Drayton hasn’t been one to sugarcoat his opinions through the first week of spring practice. After meeting with reporters on Thursday, he stepped down from his podium and muffled, “We got a lot of work to do, guys,” as he left the room.

The first-year coach said no running backs have separated themselves from the pack. Edward Saydee, Kyle Dobbins, Malik Cooper, and Trey Blair each returned to the fold from a season ago. How that depth chart will start to shake out heading into the summer is yet to be seen. But Saydee took a bulk of the load last season with 87 carries, almost twice as many as the next man, Tayvon Ruley.

» READ MORE: Temple ‘underachieved’ yet again and struggled to provide Mia Davis with support

With the center position previously held by C.J. Perez now open, Drayton mentioned Klein as a potential candidate to take the spot. Wisdom Quarshie and Richard Rodriguez could also see practice reps before a starter is named.

“I do appreciate [Klein]’s leadership at that position,” Drayton said. “He’s a guy that doesn’t flinch, knows what he’s doing.”

Temple returns a good portion of its defensive personnel. The big question there will be how quickly they come around to defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot’s new scheme. Last year’s group gave up 37.5 points per game and allowed an 80% fourth-down conversion rate over 12 games.

“We have a mission every day. We’re chasing greatness,” Drayton said. “I know they don’t know everything we need at this point to go win a championship, but whatever they don’t know, we need to substitute that with effort and a great attitude.”