On July 30, with on-field temperatures soaring to 108 degrees, K.C. Keeler, donning a straw hat and his trademark Ray-Ban sunglasses, stepped inside Edberg Olson-Hall to address the media after wrapping up his first training camp practice as Temple football’s new head coach.
“If you are realistic, you are playing for the wrong guy. I have no interest in being realistic,” he said. “This team wants to win the conference championship and bowl games, which we are a long way from doing, but that will not stop us from having that as a goal. If you are realistic, please leave now.”
It’s the same winning attitude that Keeler has voiced since his first meeting with the team after he was hired as the Owls’ new head coach in December. [node:sidebar_text] His arrival on the North Broad Street campus couldn’t have come at a better time, as Owl fans have endured the same disappointing 3-9 record for the last four seasons. It is not the level of success expected here.
But if anyone knows about winning, it’s Keeler. Now entering his 32nd season as a head coach, he brings a remarkable resume to Temple football, highlighted by 271 career victories. He is also the only coach in Football Champion Subdivision (FCS) history to win national championships at two different schools, including Delaware in 2003 and Sam Houston State in 2020.
As President John Fry said during Keeler’s introductory news conference in December, the university wanted a coach with a track record of winning football games and someone with strong ties to their region to boost recruiting efforts: “In K.C. Keeler, we have found all that and much more,” he said at the time.
As a native of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and a former linebacker at the University of Delaware, Keeler, 66, is no stranger to Temple’s rich football history. He invited Paul Palmer, Hall of Fame Temple player, to the first day of practice.
“My excitement comes from the fact that Coach Keeler is from the area. He’s not young, looking at this job as a steppingstone, he’s looking to come home,” explained Palmer, who was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1986.
“He wants to be here and has proven that he can win,” Palmer added. “I believe he wants to finish his career at Temple, so it’s a match made in heaven.”
Even Joe Flacco, former Super Bowl MVP and quarterback at Delaware under Keeler in 2003, was singing praise for Temple’s new hire in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
“Coach Keeler took a chance on me 20 years ago and I'll never forget that. If you’re an Owls fan, I’d be excited,” Flacco said. “He has been a winner everywhere he’s been."
Evan Simon, junior quarterback, said this after hearing Keeler describe his winning expectations: “I was ready to run through a brick wall after I heard that from him. The strength staff he brought in is really darn good; everyone’s bigger and stronger, their numbers jumped off the roof. That’s just a confidence piece that we bring out on the field and we’re fired up.” (Courtesy of Temple Athletics)
Reputation to build national championship teams
Keeler’s reputation for his ability to rebuild the culture of a struggling college football program was cemented rather quickly during his early days at Delaware. He took over a struggling Blue Hens football program that was 4-6 in 2001 and guided them to a 15-1 record and the FCS national championship by his second year in 2003.
He then took his coaching talents to Sam Houston, where his devotion to the fast-paced, pass-happy ‘Air Raid’ offense led the FCS in total yards in 2014 (551 yards per game) and 2016 (547 yards per game). But with no championship to show for it, Keeler knew something had to change. He evolved, trading in his up-tempo offensive philosophy for one that involves more running the ball and emphasizes physicality—and in 2020, that shift paid off with a national title. He intends to bring that same edge to Temple, installing an NFL-style defensive system that gives you multiple looks from 3-4 to 4-3 defensive fronts—and an offense that will run the ball straight at you.
“I was more interested in trying to win the national championship than leading the country in scoring, so I knew I needed to evolve,” said Keeler. “So, we will run the ball at you. Overall, we want to be physical—it’s our brand, it’s Temple Tough.”
Winning expectations
Keeler and the Owls will kick off the season on the road against UMass on Aug. 30, before their home opener against Howard (Sept. 6). This will be followed by a marquee home matchup against Oklahoma (Sept. 13) at Lincoln Financial Field. True to Keeler’s mentality, he has not been shy about his expectations for year one.
“Our expectations, we’re going to win right away. I don’t want this to be in five years down the road … there’s enough here that we should be able to win early on,” he said. “Our whole mentality is we are ready to go, and that is the mindset I want our players to have. I don’t want them to be afraid of anybody.”
“We are going to be in a ton of 50-50 games, and how do we win those games? I keep reiterating to have great special teams, being in the best condition and we’ve got to play clean,” he added.
With such expectations, Keeler knows he has a big job ahead of him, considering that Owl fans are itching to see the football program back on the national stage. Looming large in memories of Owls fans is the 2015 season when Temple hosted ESPN’s College Gameday from Independence Mall before a showcase game against Notre Dame at Lincoln Financial Field.
He is eager to build something special for Owl fans, especially coming off the heels of the university recently receiving the largest number of undergraduate deposits from first-year admitted students in its history.
“Temple is a great academic, Research 1 institution with a great reputation and we can make the brand greater if football gets back to where it was with 40,000 students here,” said Keeler, “When football was kicking [expletive] and taking names.”
“This year is the largest first-year class in the history of this university,” he added. “Knowing there’s an energy from our fans is important, so let’s do something with that, let’s be special.”
Assembling the staff
The blueprint for Keeler’s vision began taking shape with his first hire, Brian Ginn, a trusted assistant who worked alongside him throughout his tenure at Delaware. Keeler also believed it was critical to bring in his general manager, Clayton Barnes, and head strength and conditioning coach, Kevin Schadt, who helped him win at Sam Houston. Then, in January, he hired Tyler Walker as Temple’s new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks’ coach. As the offensive play caller at Montana State, Walker led them to the No. 1-ranked scoring offense (41.3 points per game) in the FCS last year.
“We are going to find ways to run the football, and then from there, we are going to open up the passing game, and Tyler has always done a phenomenal job of that,” said Keeler. “In Tyler’s system, you are never going to get a stagnant picture; it could be a funky formation or a tempo, but he will give you something that will make you think.”
To also help rejuvenate the Temple offense, Keeler recruited Gevani McCoy, an athletic dual-threat quarterback from Oregon State, through the transfer portal. Keeler was crystal clear that McCoy was brought in to compete for the starting quarterback position with Evan Simon, who started nine games for the Owls last season.
“We love Evan, but it’s a competition now. We needed someone to come in to make him better, but also to see if we can upgrade the position,” said Keeler. “We are going to start the guy who we feel gives us the best chance to win. I have always had that reputation. There are no favorites and I explained that to Gevani when we recruited him.
“Loyalty to me is helping you get your degree, a job or internship, but playing time has nothing to do with loyalty; it’s something you earn and I have made that very clear,” he added.
If you thought the fire was brought just to the offense, Keeler also hired a proven leader in Brian Smith to lead as Temple’s new defensive coordinator. Last year, Smith coached in the American Conference as Rice’s defensive coordinator. He led them to the nation’s eighth-ranked pass defense, holding opponents to 173.8 yards per game, which earned him a nomination for the Broyles Award, given to college football’s best assistant coach. Having also coached in the NFL for 14 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets, he is the architect of bringing an NFL-style defense to Temple.
“Smith has years of experience coaching in the NFL, and also having a guy with experience in this conference is great because he knows the talent level,” said Keeler. “His style of defense has very multiple fronts, we are lucky enough to have the personnel to line up in a four-man line or a three-man line where we can give you a lot of different looks.”
Regional recruiting with intention
While assembling a new coaching staff, Keeler also spoke with Al Golden and Matt Rhule, two former Temple head coaches, who are revered among Owl football fans for having pivotal roles in turning around the program.
“I don’t need to reinvent the wheel; there was once greatness and pride here, which I am extending to the current players,” added Keeler. “I learned so much from talking to a bunch of former players and alums who were so proud of being built on 10th and Diamond and that Matt [Rhule] actively took them out to clean up the neighborhoods, so I quickly instituted that. We want to be great neighbors, so we are trying to regain that culture where it may have been lost.”
He explained that under Golden and Rhule, the mindset at Temple was to recruit regionally from Connecticut to Virginia to Ohio. He recalled that under Rhule, more than 100 players at Temple were from that footprint when the Owls beat Penn State in 2015. He believes adopting a similar approach while assembling staff with regional connections will boost recruiting.
“We also want to put our resources into that footprint and with the transfer portal. Many kids want to be closer to home, so if you have high school players from here, that’s not an excuse for them to leave. Their families can already see them play,” said Keeler. “There’s great high school football here in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and I have recruited so many great players out of Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, so that will be part of the strategy.”
Under Keeler, Temple’s 2026 football recruiting class is already ranked 75th nationally by 247Sports, ahead of several Power 4 programs like Virginia Tech and Colorado.
He also intends to keep regionality in scheduling nonconference games, believing that games against regional rivalries can help boost attendance. Temple will host UConn and Penn State at Lincoln Financial Field next season in 2026.
“There are a lot of Temple alumni who want to come to a game, especially if they can bring their Penn State or Rutgers neighbor with them,” said Keeler. “There’s a way to build our brand, winning is going to be a part of it, but I think scheduling with more regionality will help too.”
Building the culture
In December, while continuing to assemble a coaching staff, Keeler was also actively recruiting players in today’s revolving door of the transfer portal where players frequently change schools in a process Keeler likened to “speed dating.”
“It’s not like, well, before you guys leave for home after finals, we will get together,” he said. “No, you had to get with them immediately to explain your vision, find out where they were and figure out if this marriage will work between us.”
Keeler views rebuilding the culture within Temple as a top priority. He spent four and a half days meeting one-on-one with every player on the roster shortly after he arrived.
“Those four and a half days really shaped my whole mindset. I realized that they love going to school here and are proud of being Temple Tough. They are disappointed in the seasons they have had, but a bunch of them said we are going to get this fixed and we are not going to go into the portal, we are staying,” he said. “I don’t care about the past, I care about the present and future, let’s move forward right now.”
When asked whether he prioritizes transfers or high school players, Keeler noted that he prioritizes recruiting for the locker room culture first. He said if you look at the older teams that have maintained their players, they have had the most recent success. Second, he wants to build a core team with high school recruits, saying that they are the fabric of the team that will be here for four to five years. And third, he looks at the transfer portal as a tool to upgrade a position of need to build on the established culture.
“It’s all about retaining the players in the long run; that is the most important thing we do to build the culture in the locker room,” said Keeler. “We have to selectively take players from the transfer portal because if you just take transfers, just to put them in your locker room, then I think your culture is really going to struggle.”
Sekou Kromah, senior defensive tackle, said he is already buying into Coach Keeler’s winning mentality. “His history of winning says it all, and I am buying in. During a team meeting, he told us he doesn’t want guys who are realistic, and I like that. I want everything that’s unrealistic, like winning a championship. He has a great mindset, I love that.” (Photography by Ryan S. Brandenberg )
Keeler also expressed that it will be crucial for Temple to invest in today’s name, image and likeness (NIL) landscape. With the idea to recruit more high school players from the region, attract them to stay in the program for the long haul and reward that commitment with competitive NIL deals, Keeler’s strategy is designed to reduce the need to turn to the transfer portal.
“To get that TV revenue, we need a great football team, and so that means we need to invest,” said Keeler. “It’s something that [Athletic Director] Arthur [Johnson] has talked to me about, that Temple needs to be a player in that space.”
Building something lasting
But for Keeler, it’s not just about building a team and culture that can win games—it’s about building something lasting. In his office, he pointed to a large, framed newspaper front page print of himself hoisting up the 2020 FCS Football Championship that he won at Sam Houston, and the headline reads “Immortality” across it. He recalled that before they played in the FCS Football Championship game, he told his team about the time he spoke at a clinic at the University of Michigan. He was interested in seeing Michigan Stadium, so he went. He saw a banner that read “1901 National Champs” and right next to it another banner that read “1902 National Champs.”
“Then I saw another banner, ‘1903 National Champs,’ and another, ‘1904 National Champs.’ The amazing thing is not just that they won four straight national championships, it’s that 120 years later, they are still celebrating those national championships; it’s immortality, it’s forever,” said Keeler.
“I am trying to get our guys at Temple to understand that if we do something special here, it’s forever,” he added. “And I challenge our guys; I have no interest in being average and I think so far I have captured in their imagination where they want to do something great here too.”
Temple students can get one free ticket to all home football games. Students can claim their tickets online through owlsports.com/students. Students will also receive an email from Athletics’ ticket office with information. For all other fans outside of students can get their tickets online through owlstix.com.