Then I headed home afterward for my cousin's wedding reception...which was a BLAST!  I really enjoyed myself and loved seeing my whole family together again.  Then finally on Sunday I got to sleep in and catch up with 2 of my best friends from home, Kari and Jayme, which was very nice.  I miss them both so much!!  It was great chatting and filling in each other about everything happening in our lives.  Other than that, I've still been pretty busy.. a couple friends and I even got to go to the Philadelphia Zoo, thanks to Ashley who works there!!  She's the balloon operator of the Channel 6 abc balloon. How cool is that?!?! So I have a LOT of pictures to show!! ;)

Last week a few owls and I went up to the Temple Ambler campus for a "photo shoot."  We were needed for all the new Ambler publications, which are supposedly coming out at the end of August.  Can't wait to see if I'm in any of them!!  I think it would be cool to see some of us in them :)

In other news, my brother Travis graduated from HS about 2 weeks or so ago.  It was nice going back and seeing some younger friends of mine from high school.  It also reminded me a lot of my high school graduation in 2006, at the same place.  It was definitely bittersweet.  I also saw some of my former teachers, including my 2 band directors.  Afterward, we went out to Charlie Brown Steakhouse in Springfield.  It was horrible.  The food was great but the service was absolutely terrible!  A really bad experience in my book.

FYI---HUGE NEWS: I got accepted into my study abroad program!!  IT IS OFFICIAL!!  I am going to Paris for Spring Semester 2009!  Woo hoo!!  I'm getting together all my paperwork with my passport, visa, financial aid, etc.  Not going to lie though -- it's a heck of a lot of work.  But I don't mind it since 1) it's Summer and I have no classes right now and 2) it will be WELL worth all the time and effort.  I am SO excited!  I have been waiting to study abroad for yearsss!!  I am going with a company based in California called GSE (Global Student Experience).  Temple already approved the program and my classes so it should transfer pretty smoothly!  I'm really looking forward to it.  You have no idea!!

I guess that's all for now.  I'm pretty beat myself.  More to come later!!  Ciao!

Al Golden is getting ready for the 2008 season, but it's much more than gameplanning:

Want to know what he's doing at virtually any moment, from Jan. 9 to Aug. 20? It's all there, in black and white, a full 34 pages' worth, in an outline titled, "So You Want To Be A Football Coach!" Right down to interviews with members of the media. There are days that start with 3:30 a.m. wake-up calls. And some that almost never end.

Nothing is left to chance. For him, there's no other way.

"What's the difference between trying to see seven or eight schools a day and running for governor, for God's sake?" he asked. "That's essentially what we're doing.

"We've probably met 1,000 people in a week. Everybody, you name it. We're in high schools saying hello to 50 people. It's not like we're coming in the side door, and leaving like Elvis. We're going there to work."

It's about visibility. And selling. A university. A philosophy. A commitment.

"It comes down to people," Golden said. "It's about trust, cultivating relationships. When we came in, we had so many ties to this area. And we've continued to make inroads. There was a disenchantment [with Temple]. I think high school coaches felt disenfranchised. You have to know your customer. But now we've reached so many people, and they're going back and telling their people, 'Hey, do you know what's going on at Temple?' If a kid's engaged by that, then we can proceed. But first we meet with the principal, guidance counselors and coaches, before we ever get to the prospect. All we needed was the conduit, to drive us from Point A to Point B.

"The difference now is, there's a definite product [to offer]. If the university hadn't changed, we couldn't be doing this. Look at all the things that are taking place here, in terms of infrastructure. That's all it takes. It's a cooperative effort."

I'll hold to my opinion that Golden offers the highest potential of any future PSU coaching candidate out there -- at least among candidates that a normal person would consider realistic at this time.  It would be a risk, but at the end of the day, is it really any more of a risk than Greg Schiano? 

Speaking of realistic, Joe Paterno is working to reassure recruits that Penn State is more than just the guy in charge of the football program.

Paterno said his advice to the recruits is simple: Take a look at the whole school.

"Look at Penn State," he said. "Look at its history. ... Look at the enthusiasm of the program. Look at the academic support. And, you're going to play on a good football team. and you're going to be coached well.

"Don't put me in the equation beyond what it should be."

Paterno said he doesn't think he has lost a recruit with that approach.

"Take a look around at the people who are here and take a look around at the things that have made Penn State special. Because we think we are something special."

In all honesty, this is exactly how the program should be sold right now.  Everytime the "Joe will be gone in two years" meme surfaces, knock it down with the notion that any coach could be gone in two years.  It seems obvious to us, but perhaps it's not so obvious to a high school senior.

Paterno will also be making an appearance as the keynote speaker at a dinner to benefit the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs.

Yes, that title blows my mind, too.

In player news, Brent Carter still isn't sure if he's a running back or safety.

For now, Carter is a tailback. He was recruited out of Pottsgrove as a running back, but was briefly moved to safety, only to return to the offensive backfield midseason last year because of numbers.

He practiced at tailback all spring, but coach Joe Paterno isn't sure if Carter will stay there.

"I'm not quite sure where we're going to play him," Paterno said. "But I think he's a good football player, and I don't want to screw him up. ... So I'm going to keep him at tailback for a while."

On the depth chart, Carter is behind Evan Royster and Stephfon Green.

Like Royster, the 6-foot-2, 211-pound Carter is better as an in-between-the-tackles back. In the regular season finale against Michigan State last November he was pressed into late duty after injuries and gained 23 yards on three carries.

"I prefer tailback," Carter said. "But if [Paterno] wants to move me, I want to do what's best for the team."

You'll recall that Carter appeared late in the Michigan State game in an emergency capacity, and would've been immediately enshrined into the Shelley Hammonds Hall Of Fame if the Penn State offensive coaching staff didn't completely abandon the running game on the final drive.

Finally, this seems like a bad idea:

A Penn State student accused of threatening to put a professor who gave him a B- "in a wheelchair" is now facing misdemeanor charges, according to a press release issued Tuesday.

Apostalo M. Tsirogiannis, listed as a finance major in the Penn State directory, was charged Tuesday with terroristic threats and harassment and arraigned in front of Magisterial District Justice Jonathan Grine, according to the release. Tsirogiannis is free on $10,000 unsecured bail.

Tsirogiannis, who told police he believed he should have received higher than a B-, allegedly threatened violence against visiting professor Lukas Roth if he did not raise Tsirogiannis' grade.

"If I see this on my [eLion] account, I swear to god I am going to [expletive] put you in a wheelchair when I see you," the e-mail reads, according to the press release.

What ever happened to the old-school ransom note style of threatening?  Much more menacing, with the added bonus of it not coming from your personal e-mail account.  Then again, this genius would still screw it up.

Golden has been at Temple for three years and started off with a very young team (read: his guys) so it's obvious that Golden doesn't hold his players to the same academic scrutiny that Penn State would prefer. Without a doubt the next head coach at Penn State must carry on the tradition of excellence in the classroom, there's no wiggle room on that aspect of the job.

Golden's only been at Temple for two years -- that's the big knock on his credentials for the PSU job, after all.  The program was not only in a hole when he arrived, it was sitting at the bottom of a smoldering crater.  An item in today's Philadelphia Daily News explains:

Since Al Golden took over as Temple's football coach in December 2005, there have been no eligibility issues. Still, the program again has been cited for academic failings that took place before his arrival on North Broad Street.

Yesterday, the NCAA announced the fourth-year Academic Progress Rates for all Division I teams. And the Owls have lost four scholarships. The penalties last for 1 year, and there's every expectation that all four will be reinstated at that time.

Two years ago the Owls lost nine scholarships, for similar reasons. Twelve months later, they had every one back.

The APR score of student-athletes recruited by Golden is 980, well above the minimum of 925.

. . .

At least some of these problems can be traced to the Big East's decision to jettison Temple after the 2004 season. It affected recruiting. More emphasis was put on junior-college talent. It didn't work.

Under Golden, there's been much more of a commitment to academic support.

 

And in all honesty, this is a good example of why the APR numbers are a sham. It's mostly a reflection on what went on 3-5 years ago.  That "commitment to academic support" at Temple is shown in a New York Times article from November, 2006:

When Mr. Golden was hired last December, he made his entire staff build two and a half hours into their daily schedules to help the players personally, with a special focus on academics.

Mr. Golden took the pool table out of the players’ lounge and replaced it with more computers.

He posted a list of players not attending class or handing in assignments on the door of the Temple football facility for everyone to see. He takes one shift a week himself to check players’ classes personally.

He made his players get to know their professors, sit in the front row, and not wear hats to class. “If you’re not going to class, you’re going to be suspended,” Mr. Golden said.

Temple increased its academic support staff to nine from six. Peter D’Alonzo, the lead coordinator and a learning specialist at Temple, installed the same program he used at Notre Dame. Freshmen are now mentored by students in Temple’s law school. Students below a 2.4 average are given mandatory study hours and intensive tutoring; Mr. D’Alonzo compared it to doing homework in front of Mom and Dad at the kitchen table.

Gotta love the NYT going with "Mr.", by the way.  Classy. 

Again, I don't put a lot of stock in APR figures, which can be fudged by the program or torpedoed by circumstances beyond its control.  I'll put my faith in what's happening on the ground, at the school.  And I like what I'm reading about Temple.

mp3:

KRS One - You Must Learn

Kimya Dawson - So Nice, So Smart

Al Golden (wikipedia) -- Head Coach, Temple University (Two years, 5-19)

Age: 38

Coaching Experience: University of Virginia (Graduate Assistant, 1994-96), Boston College (Linebackers, 1997-99), Penn State (Linebackers and Recruiting Coordinator, 2000), University of Virgiania (Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers 2001-05), Temple University (Head Coach and Special Teams, 2006-07).

Playing Career: Penn State tight end, 1987-1991. Senior captain, 1991. Earned the Ridge Riley Award in 1991, given annually to a player who displays excellence in scholarship, sportsmanship, friendship and leadership. Hung around for one year as a New England Patriots tight end before entering coaching. Caught a memorable touchdown in a road upset against #1 Notre Dame in 1990.

Background. Golden has been a rising star in college coaching ever since he took a graduate assistant gig at Virginia under George Welsh. During that first stint at UVa, he worked with James Farrior and Jamie Sharper, who both went on to NFL success. Yes, he was only a graduate assistant at that point. At Boston College, he coached a another pair of all-conference linebackers who were NFL draft picks, and was part of a coaching staff which led Boston College out of its mid-90's doldrums and set the stage for the generally solid, if not spectacular, Boston College teams we continue to see today.  He returned to Penn State for one season before receiving the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse, especially for a guy who just entered his 30's -- he became the defensive coordinator at Virginia.  Against the advice of many, he took the Temple job two years ago.  They showed definite improvement this season, and gave Penn State serious problems during the first half of an eventual 31-0 loss.  Still, if you ask any Penn State fan, that was the ugliest 31-0 victory in school history.  Temple was totally in the game, and at times, moving the ball at will.

Recruiting.  Imagine trying to recruit kids at Rutgers...but 50 times harder than that.   Temple is a program with one winning season since 1980 with awful facilities.  They play in a cavernous professional stadium in front of 1,500 fans.  It's located in North Philly.  I mean, it's Temple.  The punchline of modern football.  Golden's Temple class rankings have generally fallen into the 70's according to Scout, although Rivals thinks a little less of the incoming Owls. They've been occasionally sprinkling in a few three-star players who were either attracted by the urban setting, early playing time, or perhaps didn't have the proper speed/size combination for the larger conferences.  The upgrade in overall athleticism was apparent this season, especially in the second half of the year.

On-field results.  Let's not kid ourselves.  The MAC has had some nice seasons, especially in the early part of this decade, but Temple joined at a good time.   There may have been a point where the depleted Big East was on the same level as the MAC, but no longer.  So when you look at Al Golden suddenly getting four wins at Temple, keep in mind that they're not playing against major conference heavyweights. 

At the same time, 4-4 in the MAC isn't anything for Owl fans to sneeze at.

Anyway, despite being a Penn State tight end, Golden's a defensive coach.  Let's take a look at his defenses' national rankings:

Year (School) Total defense / Scoring defense

2007 (Temple) 44 / 53
2006 (Temple) 117 / 118
2005 (Virginia) 60 / 40
2004 (Virginia) 18 / 17
2003 (Virginia) 67 / 26
2002 (Virginia) 100 / 50
2001 (Virginia) 93 / 74

Virginia was relatively static during Golden's tenure, averaging eight wins per season. A few noteworthy items here. First, in years when Golden's UVa defenses were relatively poor in terms of total defense (basically, yardage allowed per game), they were stingy with points. That's good. Second, check out the improvement from Year One to Year Two at Temple. They were outscored 496-131 in 2006. That margin shrank to 315-197 last season. In fact, in the last seven games of 2007, they gave up 19.4 points per game. That would've been good for 16th, nationally.

Red Flags?  It takes a very large leap of faith to hand the Penn State program over to a guy who has two years of head coaching experience...at Temple.  There's another way to look at it, though.  Replacing a legendary coach usually results in disappointment anyway, so why not take a chance with a highly respected young coach who was a former Penn State captain?  Take a look at this tremendous ESPN.com article about Golden and the Owls -- you'll see a guy with a lot of the qualities you'd want in a Penn State head coach.
 

Relative Compensation.  Cheap.  He's the head coach at Temple.

Would Penn State Offer Him The Position?  It's just a personal opinion, but I can't see a scenario where he's any higher than #3 in the pecking order.  If you're a proponent of Golden as the next head coach, you have to hope that Graham Spanier decides to clean house and that his mind isn't completely set on plucking Greg Schiano away from Rutgers.  Once Bradley and Schiano are off the board, anything is possible. Currently, it's hard to see the search getting that far, but weird stuff happens in these situations.

Would he take the job?  In a heartbeat.  Come on, of course he would.  You have to think that the sole reason he took the Temple job was to rack up some head coaching experience, just in case.

Would the fans revolt? To a certain extent, yes, but it's another matter of personal preference. He'd certainly cause more of an uproar than Tom Bradley or Greg Schiano, because of both his lack of head coaching experience and the fact that Penn State would likely already be on it's 3rd choice, if not more.  Think about how antsy Michigan fans became during their search. 

Overall Attractiveness: If you're willing to roll the dice a bit, Golden could end up being the long-term savior for Penn State. Of course, he could also be overwhelmed by the entire situation. To that end, he would be an uncharacteristically risky hire for the Penn State administration, who really can't afford to screw this up. I think a lot of fans would be truly on board with a Golden hire, but any anger or backlash would be noticeable and understandable.

Caveat Emptor: Not ready for prime time? Yes, he's a former captain and well-regarded, but...two years at Temple.

Better Than DeBord Tom Bradley? Probably not, in the eyes of most observers. I'd be happy with Golden, though -- most of you know that already.  So many things tend to go wrong when major programs replace legendary coaches, and in that sort of scenario, I tend to base my decision on who brings the absolute highest, positive potential. To me, that's Al Golden.  If you're looking for a clean break from the Paterno regime, you probably have a mental checklist for the next coach:  Penn State roots, great recruiter, relatively young, offensive innovator.  Just like Bradley and Schiano, Golden fits the first three criteria but the fourth is an unknown.  In the end, I'd be satisfied with Bradley, Schiano, or Golden, although it's still difficult to determine whether a Tom Bradley coaching staff would include any changes on the offensive side of the ball.

But what about the Bradley statement? Would Pryor really be signed and delivered to PSU were Bradley the head coach now?

"I don't think it's as accurate right now. When I said that about Tommy four months ago, it was because he sort of had a foothold with Terrelle; he'd been recruiting him the longest. But I think it would still matter.

"Things have changed since then. Ohio State has obviously gotten stronger.

So yeah, there's that. If you want to carry that statement a step further, you could plausibly conclude that if Bradley were to be named PSU's next coach, even that might not be enough to sway Terrelle Pryor.

Still, as wild as it may initially seem, Pryor's just a bit player in this production. The clash between Spanier and Paterno is about seven levels above anything having to do with some kid from Jeannette. Spanier's not going to base his decision on what a recruit might do, and that's where it gets interesting.

Back to the Jones column:

I recently was e-mailed by a key PSU donor and friend of Paterno. He wrote: "Joe is working on security for his assistants. It is one of the sticking points with Dr. S. Especially [linebacker coach Ron] Vanderlinden, [defensive line coach Larry] Johnson and Bradley."

I can understand how the president might not be nuts about guaranteeing the future to anyone on the current staff. He'd like the freedom to make his own call on Paterno's successor and the ability to go outside.

But this is where Spanier can give some ground, not only because it's prudent but because it's the right thing to do. The defensive staff is the guts of the team, the one oiled assembly of what has otherwise often been a creaky and balky machine. It has supported the dead weight of this program.

Where can Paterno give ground? It's clear. Name your retirement date now, Joe.

Again, outside of the quote from the donor, this isn't groundbreaking stuff. Still, Jones is 100% right. Even if Bradley isn't the most palatable choice of each of the parties involved, he's certainly the most agreeable of both parties -- and it's not like the defensive coaches don't deserve credit for keeping this ship afloat.  But, uh...what about Jay? 

Jones:

Nobody wants to follow a legend. And who's out there who'd be willing to try for less than $2.5 million? Further, is anyone like that even worth it?

Of course, that brings us back to Spanier's "arms race" comments about universities overpaying their football coaches. Still, I think there would be a number of coaches willing to try for much less than $2.5 million. Al Golden would certainly be one of them. I imagine Schiano would, as well, although he'd certainly command a higher starting salary than Golden. For those guys, Penn State is the Dream Job. That's still worth something beyond the bank accounts.

Update:  Matt Hayes also has a similar column over at The Sporting News.

If this is the next banner to don Temple's campus Monday morning, no one will really be surprised. But hey, maybe they won't be so humiliated. Hell, if Temple wins I think it should go up in State College. It would be well deserved for the Owls.

After all let's go back to September 15th when Temple really did beat Connecticut (currently ranked 16). Thanks to the Big East refs for this call. Temple was a 30 point underdog in that game and battled through it and made an incredible 4th down reverse play. Unless you are clinically blind you can see the replay shows Bruce Francis' left foot in bounds.

So why then, can't Temple do it again this week versus Penn State? Is it because the Philadelphia area is flooded with Nittany Lions fans in their ridiculous blue and white? Penn State fans are so caught up in the fact that they have a "prestigious" football program and Joe Paterno who has been coaching since the turn of last century, they won't even see Temple coming.

QB Anthony Morelli has eight interceptions so far this season and has been sacked 19 times. If Temple pressures him regularly they can stop the bleeding before it gets out of control. Penn State's leading rusher, Rodney Kinlaw, has nearly 900 rushing yards thus far so the D-line will have to keep an eye out for him as well.

On the other side of the ball Temple is without their starting QB Adam DiMichele. Backup Vaughn Charlton has a better completion percentage than DiMichele since he took over two weeks ago. If he plays well he could be the spark that Temple needs to send Bruce Francis down the field and go for the deep threat. Something that the Owls have been able to pride themselves on all season has been the run. Nate Harper has run for over 400 yards and has shown he can plow through the pile.

Yes, this all seems very hard to imagine. Temple has given up 24 consecutive games to Penn State which shouldn't come as a big surprise. Al Golden really has Temple students (and players) beginning to believe in the program now. In a season that has been blanketed with upset victories week after week, why can't Temple do it too?