Temple University Athletics
American Athletic Conference Media Day and Preseason Poll
7.28.22 | Football
DALLAS – The American Athletic Conference is holding its annual Media Day on Thursday, July 28. All 11 teams will be featured throughout the day beginning with an address from Commissioner Mike Aresco at 10 a.m. ET. Live coverage of the event will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Temple's portion of the show can be viewed here. The show also featured Temple's Wisdom Quarshie interviewed on issues surrounding SAAC (video).
Aside from the show participation, several Owls took art in media day with the Philadelphia/Temple media. Here are interviews with Stan Drayton (video), Xach Gill (video), Adam Klein (video), David Martin-Robinson (video), Jordan Magee (video), and Darian Varner (video).
In addition, the conference has released its Preseason Media Poll. Houston (7 first place votes), Cincinnati (10), and UCF (7) anchor the first three positions, followed by SMU, Memphis, East Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa, South Florida, Navy, and Temple.
Temple begins fall practice on Wednesday, August 3, and opens the season on Friday, September 2, with a non-conference road game at Duke. That will mark the debut of head coach Stan Drayton. Drayton has made 32 player additions (28.8%) since his hire to create competition throughout the roster.
Interestingly, 47 players are either true or redshirt freshmen (42.3%). So, although the transfer portal was used to fill holes in the roster, nearly half of the current players have four seasons of eligibility remaining. In total, there are 44 returning letterwinners and another 11 who lettered last year at other schools. So, despite a young team, 50% of the roster has college football playing experience.
| 10:05 a.m. | Commissioner Mike Aresco | |
| 10:30 a.m. | East Carolina | Head Coach Mike Houston, QB Holton Ahlers, LB Myles Berry |
| 11 a.m. | Cincinnati | Head Coach Luke Fickell, WR Tre Tucker, DL Jabari Taylor |
| 11:30 a.m. | Memphis | Head Coach Ryan Silverfield, DB Quindell Johnson, LB Zay Cullens |
| Noon | SMU | Head Coach Rhett Lashlee, DL Elijah Chatman, QB Tanner Mordecai, WR Rashee Rice |
| 12:30 p.m. | Tulsa | Head Coach Philip Montgomery, QB Davis Brin, LB Justin Wright |
| 2 p.m. | Navy | Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo, S John Marshall, K Bijan Nichols |
| 2:30 p.m. | Houston | Head Coach Dana Holgorsen, WR Nathaniel Dell, DB Hasaan Hypolite |
| 3 p.m. | Temple | Head Coach Stan Drayton, OL Adam Klein, DT Xach Gill |
| 3:30 p.m. | UCF | Head Coach Gus Malzahn, RB Isaiah Bowser, LB Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste |
| 4 p.m. | Tulane | Head Coach Willie Fritz, QB Michael Pratt, LB Nick Anderson |
| 4:30 p.m. | South Florida | Head Coach Jeff Scott, LB Antonio Grier, WR Xavier Weaver |
Temple's portion of the show can be viewed here. The show also featured Temple's Wisdom Quarshie interviewed on issues surrounding SAAC (video).
Aside from the show participation, several Owls took art in media day with the Philadelphia/Temple media. Here are interviews with Stan Drayton (video), Xach Gill (video), Adam Klein (video), David Martin-Robinson (video), Jordan Magee (video), and Darian Varner (video).
In addition, the conference has released its Preseason Media Poll. Houston (7 first place votes), Cincinnati (10), and UCF (7) anchor the first three positions, followed by SMU, Memphis, East Carolina, Tulane, Tulsa, South Florida, Navy, and Temple.
Temple begins fall practice on Wednesday, August 3, and opens the season on Friday, September 2, with a non-conference road game at Duke. That will mark the debut of head coach Stan Drayton. Drayton has made 32 player additions (28.8%) since his hire to create competition throughout the roster.
Interestingly, 47 players are either true or redshirt freshmen (42.3%). So, although the transfer portal was used to fill holes in the roster, nearly half of the current players have four seasons of eligibility remaining. In total, there are 44 returning letterwinners and another 11 who lettered last year at other schools. So, despite a young team, 50% of the roster has college football playing experience.
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