Temple University Athletics
Training Camp: Day 1
8.4.12 | Football
Owls Ready for New Challenges
VIDEO
Addazio
Coyer
Photo Gallery
by Kami Mattioli, Owlsports.com columnist
Step onto campus as of late, and you're almost guaranteed to spot a multitude of construction sites as Temple looks to improve the Main Campus experience for students and visitors.
As pedestrians dodge the concrete jungle gyms full of orange cones and caution tape marking the rebirth of the rest of campus, one thing's for certain at 10th and Diamond: the rebuilding of the Temple football program is finally complete.
And no, that's not a reference to the completion of the $10 million Edberg-Olson expansion project -- rather, an allusion to the player personnel set to roll out for the team's re-admission into the BIG EAST Conference in three weeks.
As the new-look Temple Owls squad took to the field to kick off training camp on Saturday, the excitement among rookies and returnees was electric enough to cut through the heavy August haze.
In a fashion typical of opening day, the players weren't dressed in pads. There was no tackling. Instead, Steve Addazio walked his troops through the basics: how to break the huddle and execute a few simple plays.
“It's really a fundamental assignment-tempo type of day,” Addazio explained. “The thing that makes football different than other sports is at the end of the day, there's not a lot of meaning until you put some shoulder pads on.”
Shoulder pads or not, returning quarterback Chris Coyer was hard-pressed to contain a toothy grin when asked about how he felt returning to 10th and Diamond to kick off a new season.
“First and foremost, it's really great to get back on the field,” Coyer said. “We've all been anxious and waiting for the day to get here.”
After losing a handful of players quintessential in re-introducing honor to the Temple football name this off-season, the familiar faces of returnees warmly welcomed their new counterparts, already united under one common goal: to continue that success in a new conference.
In order to move forward, it's sometimes necessary to evaluate how far you've come.
That mentality rings true in this case, particularly for the team's seniors.
It wasn't always easy to wear the signature Temple “T”, according to senior DB Vaughn Carraway, who reminisced on his freshman season in 2008 when the team went 5-7 in the MAC.
“We came from nothing,” Carraway said, dredging the memories from the recesses of his memory. “We came from people walking by [the practice facility] and throwing rocks at us. Now there's a lot of hype coming into the BIG EAST this season. We're just ready for the opportunity.”
With a new team, a new, expanded practice facility and a new conference affiliation, it's hard not to feel the hype to which Carraway and his peers continually refer. But Addazio stressed that fans shouldn't confuse the hype with the team's sense of urgency to establish itself in a powerhouse conference.
“There's always a sense of urgency,” he explained. “When you're a competitor, it doesn't matter whether you're playing Team X or the worst team in the world. You got a lot of pride. You want to play at a high level and compete at a high level, no matter who you play or when you play. You've got to have that mindset. A champion does, a competitor does, a great player does.”
And so, too, does a program with the versatility to rise from the ashes of its former self, reconstructed.
Addazio
Coyer
Photo Gallery
by Kami Mattioli, Owlsports.com columnist
Step onto campus as of late, and you're almost guaranteed to spot a multitude of construction sites as Temple looks to improve the Main Campus experience for students and visitors.
As pedestrians dodge the concrete jungle gyms full of orange cones and caution tape marking the rebirth of the rest of campus, one thing's for certain at 10th and Diamond: the rebuilding of the Temple football program is finally complete.
And no, that's not a reference to the completion of the $10 million Edberg-Olson expansion project -- rather, an allusion to the player personnel set to roll out for the team's re-admission into the BIG EAST Conference in three weeks.
As the new-look Temple Owls squad took to the field to kick off training camp on Saturday, the excitement among rookies and returnees was electric enough to cut through the heavy August haze.
In a fashion typical of opening day, the players weren't dressed in pads. There was no tackling. Instead, Steve Addazio walked his troops through the basics: how to break the huddle and execute a few simple plays.
“It's really a fundamental assignment-tempo type of day,” Addazio explained. “The thing that makes football different than other sports is at the end of the day, there's not a lot of meaning until you put some shoulder pads on.”
Shoulder pads or not, returning quarterback Chris Coyer was hard-pressed to contain a toothy grin when asked about how he felt returning to 10th and Diamond to kick off a new season.
“First and foremost, it's really great to get back on the field,” Coyer said. “We've all been anxious and waiting for the day to get here.”
After losing a handful of players quintessential in re-introducing honor to the Temple football name this off-season, the familiar faces of returnees warmly welcomed their new counterparts, already united under one common goal: to continue that success in a new conference.
In order to move forward, it's sometimes necessary to evaluate how far you've come.
That mentality rings true in this case, particularly for the team's seniors.
It wasn't always easy to wear the signature Temple “T”, according to senior DB Vaughn Carraway, who reminisced on his freshman season in 2008 when the team went 5-7 in the MAC.
“We came from nothing,” Carraway said, dredging the memories from the recesses of his memory. “We came from people walking by [the practice facility] and throwing rocks at us. Now there's a lot of hype coming into the BIG EAST this season. We're just ready for the opportunity.”
With a new team, a new, expanded practice facility and a new conference affiliation, it's hard not to feel the hype to which Carraway and his peers continually refer. But Addazio stressed that fans shouldn't confuse the hype with the team's sense of urgency to establish itself in a powerhouse conference.
“There's always a sense of urgency,” he explained. “When you're a competitor, it doesn't matter whether you're playing Team X or the worst team in the world. You got a lot of pride. You want to play at a high level and compete at a high level, no matter who you play or when you play. You've got to have that mindset. A champion does, a competitor does, a great player does.”
And so, too, does a program with the versatility to rise from the ashes of its former self, reconstructed.
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