Temple University Athletics
Senior Spotlight: Jalen Ware
11.23.22 | Football
     Every year, players from a variety of different schools look to transfer to find a better opportunity for their career. Most players transfer between FBS level schools; however, many teams look to find that diamond in the rough from a school outside of the FBS. Temple did just that with safety Jalen Ware.Â
    Ware found a home at Temple when he transferred after three seasons at Copiah-Lincoln Community College all the way down south in Mississippi. The weather and culture up north took Ware a while to get used to but he said that the people surrounding him really helped to make himself comfortable. "The adjustment took me a while to get comfortable up here, the weather for sure. The culture, the people, and everything is different. But I feel like I transitioned here well because of the people I was around."Â
    The senior, however, took no time getting comfortable on the football field. Ware decided to transfer to Temple in 2020 for a better opportunity. "Just the opportunity, I just felt like coming from Mississippi to a big city like Philadelphia, it would expand on the people I knew and give me a better opportunity to get to where I need to be." Ware has taken advantage of every little bit of his opportunity here at Temple. He has lettered in the prior two seasons, starting in 17 games,  including two interceptions in back-to-back games late in 2021.Â
    Now in the year 2022, the final year of his college career, the team changed essentially the entire coaching staff with head coach Stan Drayton, defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, and safeties coach Marvin Clecidor now at the helm for Ware. "[They] really helped with focusing on the little details, they made me just rewind and just focus on the little things I can better in." The change saw an improvement in Ware and his defense, something Ware credits to the team just loving each other. "It is really just loving on each other, everybody on the field even the backups, having the connection with the players is the biggest thing that we have really improved upon is everybody getting on the same page and we just love each other."Â
    Temple finishes its season with a home game vs. East Carolina, giving Ware one final chance to make his impact on the field. "I need to finish the season with some interceptions, if I can get some interceptions, it'll be the icing on the cake." Ware said about any goals he has for the final game of the season.Â
The Mississippi native does have plans to try to achieve his dream of playing in the NFL, however, he does have a calling for another career. "Obviously, the NFL is always my biggest dream. My family is a military family, so I always have that in the back of my mind. So, it's really either football or serve."Â
    Coming to Temple is something that Ware will always value, "I am just glad that I chose Temple because it put me in the right space to set my life right to where it needs to be."
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    Ware found a home at Temple when he transferred after three seasons at Copiah-Lincoln Community College all the way down south in Mississippi. The weather and culture up north took Ware a while to get used to but he said that the people surrounding him really helped to make himself comfortable. "The adjustment took me a while to get comfortable up here, the weather for sure. The culture, the people, and everything is different. But I feel like I transitioned here well because of the people I was around."Â
    The senior, however, took no time getting comfortable on the football field. Ware decided to transfer to Temple in 2020 for a better opportunity. "Just the opportunity, I just felt like coming from Mississippi to a big city like Philadelphia, it would expand on the people I knew and give me a better opportunity to get to where I need to be." Ware has taken advantage of every little bit of his opportunity here at Temple. He has lettered in the prior two seasons, starting in 17 games,  including two interceptions in back-to-back games late in 2021.Â
    Now in the year 2022, the final year of his college career, the team changed essentially the entire coaching staff with head coach Stan Drayton, defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, and safeties coach Marvin Clecidor now at the helm for Ware. "[They] really helped with focusing on the little details, they made me just rewind and just focus on the little things I can better in." The change saw an improvement in Ware and his defense, something Ware credits to the team just loving each other. "It is really just loving on each other, everybody on the field even the backups, having the connection with the players is the biggest thing that we have really improved upon is everybody getting on the same page and we just love each other."Â
    Temple finishes its season with a home game vs. East Carolina, giving Ware one final chance to make his impact on the field. "I need to finish the season with some interceptions, if I can get some interceptions, it'll be the icing on the cake." Ware said about any goals he has for the final game of the season.Â
The Mississippi native does have plans to try to achieve his dream of playing in the NFL, however, he does have a calling for another career. "Obviously, the NFL is always my biggest dream. My family is a military family, so I always have that in the back of my mind. So, it's really either football or serve."Â
    Coming to Temple is something that Ware will always value, "I am just glad that I chose Temple because it put me in the right space to set my life right to where it needs to be."
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