Temple University Athletics

Bruce Arians

Owls in the NFL – Conference Championship Weekend

1.25.21 | Football

By: Cameron Markt

PHILADELPHIA – NFL Conference Championship Weekend gave us two hard-fought contests and concluded with a slew of former Temple coaches heading to the Super Bowl.

On Sunday afternoon, the #5 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers and its coaching staff full of Temple products traveled to face the #1 seed Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game and came away with a thrilling 31-26 victory, sending the Bucs to their first Super Bowl since 2003. The Bucs are only the fifth team in NFL history to win three straight road playoff games to advance to the Super Bowl.

This will be the first Super Bowl appearance as a head coach for Bruce Arians, who was the head coach at Temple from 1983-88. Arians has also appeared in two Super Bowls as an assistant coach, winning in both 2006 and 2009 with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Four Tampa Bay assistant coaches who played for Arians at Temple had stellar coaching performances in the game. Defensive coordinator Todd Bowles led a defensive unit that had another spectacular day, forcing two turnovers that turned into 14 points for Tampa Bay. Special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong coached a unit that converted its only field goal attempt in the fourth quarter to give Tampa Bay an eight point lead that they would not give up.

Running back Leonard Fournette, under the tutelage of coach Todd McNair, had a key 20-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter to give a Tampa Bay a 14-7 lead. Tampa Bay cornerbacks coach Kevin Ross led a unit that forced a key interception of Aaron Rodgers in the second quarter, which led to a Tampa Bay touchdown right before halftime. Two Tampa Bay assistant coaches also coached with Arians at Temple in the 80's. Safeties coach Nick Rapone led a unit that had four pass breakups in the game. He also helped to coach safety Jordan Whitehead, who forced a fumble at the beginning of the second half, leading to a Tampa Bay touchdown and a 28-10 lead. Quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen helped coach Tom Brady, who threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns, as Brady advanced to his 10th Super Bowl.

Also on the Tampa Bay coaching staff is assistant defensive line coach Lori Locust, who attended Temple as a student. She coached up a unit that had five sacks and eight QB hits in the game, keeping Green Bay's offense out of sync. Locust will become one of only three women, along with Tampa Bay's assistant strength and conditioning coach Maral Javadifar, to coach in a Super Bowl, after Katie Sowers did it last year with the San Francisco 49ers. On Sunday night, offensive tackle Dion Dawkins, linebacker Tyler Matakevich, and the #2 seed Buffalo Bills faced the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Unfortunately, the Bills were not able to advance to the fifth Super Bowl in franchise history, falling 38-24 to the Chiefs. Dawkins blocked for an offense that totaled over 360 yards, and Matakevich was again a leader on special teams as he has been all year as the Bills capped off their best season since 1993. However, Kansas City boasts a couple of Temple alums as well. Tim Terry, who played linebacker at Temple in the 1990s, is the Chiefs' director of pro personnel. He's seeking his third Super Bowl victory. Chiefs' linebacker coach Britt Reid was a graduate assistant for Temple in 2011-12.
 
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Players Mentioned

66

Dion Dawkins

OL
/ Football
8

Tyler Matakevich

LB
/ Football

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