‘That’s something we’ve talked about since the day I got here:’ K.C. Keeler looks to lead Temple Football to first bowl-eligible season since 2019
Photo Credit: Temple University
For the second consecutive week, K.C. Keeler and the Temple Owls have the chance to do something that the program hasn’t achieved since 2019. Sitting on five wins, Temple is one win away from reaching six wins and becoming bowl eligible for the first time in six years. Keeler has the chance to accomplish that feat in his first year as Temple’s head coach.
“It’s the same thing, try to get bowl eligible,” said K.C. Keeler at his weekly press conference. “That’s something we’ve talked about since the day I got here. We’re gonna go try to ruin our third straight homecoming. This is the third straight one on the road for us. It’s gonna be a great challenge for us.”
Temple will travel to West Point, New York, to battle the Army Black Knights on Saturday, looking to stay above .500 and claim a sixth victory this season. As Keeler mentioned in his press conference, it is Army’s homecoming game. Temple has won its last two road games, both of which were homecoming games for their opponents.
It’s been a long road for the Temple Football program to get back to bowl eligibility.
After an 8-5 2019 season that culminated in a loss to North Carolina in the Military Bowl, the Owls recorded five consecutive losing seasons under the guidance of two different head coaches and one interim boss. Following a promising debut season on North Broad, the 2020 and 2021 seasons were the demise of former head coach Rod Carey. Temple went 1-6 in the pandemic-shortened season and 3-9 in 2021, Carey’s final season.
2021 would mark the first of four consecutive seasons finishing 3-9. Stan Drayton was hired to run the show late in 2021. In Drayton’s two full seasons in charge, his team went 2-14 in conference play. Drayton was fired with two games remaining in the 2024 season, one in which the Owls saw a slight improvement in conference play, going 2-6. Everett Withers, who assumed many roles with the program, including Drayton’s Chief of Staff, was named interim head coach. He would lose his only two games in charge.
The outlook on the program was bleak. Temple hadn’t had a winning season since 2019 and had just six conference wins in five years. With no on-campus stadium, many thought Temple Football’s days were numbered.
On Dec. 1, 2024, Temple University and Athletic Director Arthur Johnson announced the hire of Keeler as the football program’s next head coach. Keeler, a Pennsylvania native and University of Delaware graduate, came into his new venture in North Philadelphia with an impressive track record.
Before joining Temple, Keeler spent the last 11 seasons at Sam Houston State, a program that transitioned from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision in recent years. Keeler set a record of 97-39 at Sam Houston State, including winning an FCS national title after a perfect 10-0 season in 2020. His final act for Sam Houston State was leading them to a 9-3 record in their first FBS season in 2024. Less than three weeks after Keeler left for Temple, Sam Houston won the New Orleans Bowl.
Now Keeler has the chance to reach a bowl game for the second consecutive season, and this time he’d be on the sideline.
Temple’s turnaround under Keeler was evident early on, with a 42-10 win over UMass and a 55-7 home win over Howard in the first two weeks of the season. After setbacks against ranked opponents, Oklahoma and Georgia Tech, Temple rebounded with a come-from-behind win over UTSA. The following week was a result that Keeler and his team would love to have back. Temple lost at home to Navy after holding a lead with under a minute to go in the fourth quarter. Temple would bounce back and string together two wins, winning on the road against Charlotte and Tulsa. With an overtime win in Tulsa, Keeler became the winningest active head coach in all of college football. Temple was caught off guard last week by an East Carolina team coming off a 16-day break, losing 45-14 at home.
With three games left, Keeler has a strong chance at making the Owls bowl eligible in his first season at the helm. This week’s game against 4-4 Army might be his best chance, with matchups against 6-2 Tulane and 8-1 North Texas on the horizon.
The key to Keeler’s success has been his ability to have his guys buy into the Temple TUFF culture. There’s no better example than quarterback Evan Simon, who wears an illustrious single-digit for Temple.
Simon, who has spent a lot of time sleeping at the practice facility on 10th and Diamond, has been one of the best senior passers in college football. He has 1,690 passing yards, 21 touchdown passes, and just one interception, which he threw in the loss to ECU.
While Temple’s offense has been reliable all season, it will be up to Temple’s defense to stop Army’s versatile triple-option attack. Navy’s ability to exploit Keeler’s defense at Lincoln Financial Field in October is cause for concern, considering they run a similar offense to Army.
No matter what happens in the final three games of Temple’s season, there is a rejuvenated energy within the team and fanbase thanks to Keeler’s first-year success.
