OwlScoop.com - The Scoop

Season 8, Episode 38: Spring game notes, portal updates ... and our ties to the Phillies’ road team bat boy

Scoop listeners are in for a little bit of everything on this week's podcast. 

 

Our 38th episode of the season includes part of OwlScoop.com's interview with former Temple All-American and Buffalo Bills linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who talked about what it has meant to be Damar Hamlin's teammate, continuing his NFL career with former Temple teammate Dion Dawkins and much more. 

 

Listeners will also hear from Temple head coach Stan Drayton and his thoughts on why he believes tight end Jordan Smith made significant strides this spring, as well as some names new Temple basketball coach Adam Fisher and his staff could be courting in the NCAA's Transfer Portal as they look to rebuild the Owls' roster. 

 

In addition to Scoop mainstays John DiCarlo, Kyle Gauss and Cayden Steele, OwlScoop.com staff reporters Rymir Vaughn, Declan Landis and Johnny Zawislak made their OwlScoop.com podcast debut.

 

And Zawislak, the Philadelphia Phillies' visiting clubhouse batboy, wasted little time in gaining some exposure on local television. 

Season 8, Episode 37: Adam Fisher nailed his introductory press conference. What’s next?

New Temple men's basketball coach Adam Fisher sounded like someone who's ready to embrace the challenges of revamping the Owls' program when he spoke with reporters Wednesday at his introductory press conference at the Liacouras Center.

On this week's episode of The Scoop, you'll hear him talk about doing whatever he needs to do to help support the program's Name, Image and Likeness efforts and why recruiting out of the transfer portal shouldn't be a problem. 

And in addition to hearing from Fisher and Temple Athletic Director Arthur Johnson, we'll talk some spring football, too, and get you ready for Saturday's Cherry and White game. 

Season 8, Episode 36: Adam Fisher is Temple’s new men’s basketball coach

More than two weeks later, Temple's search for a new head men's basketball coach is finally over. OwlScoop.com broke the story Wednesday that Penn State associate head coach and Bucks County native Adam Fisher will become the 19th coach in the history of the Temple program, and we talked about how it all came together.

What could Fisher's staff look like? Who could the Owls pursue in the transfer portal? We've got you covered here on this week's special edition of The Scoop. 

Season 8, Episode 35: Adam Fisher and Karl Hobbs interview for the job

As Temple's men's basketball head coaching search continues, OwlScoop.com confirmed that Penn State assistant coach Adam Fisher and  Rutgers assistant Karl Hobbs are among the candidates who have interviewed. We examined their candidacy, answered a full mailbag and provided some spring football updates as well on this week's podcast. 

Season 8, Episode 34: Dionte Christmas weighs in on Temple’s coaching search

Who should be Temple's next men's basketball coach? Former Owls star Dionte Christmas has some thoughts. 

Christmas, who scored 2,043 points in his Temple career before embarking on a pro career that included overseas and NBA stops, joined John DiCarlo and Javon Edmonds on our second podcast of the week to talk about the Owls' search for a new head basketball coach after Aaron McKie stepped away from that role after four seasons. 

Christmas talked about why he feels Colgate coach and former Temple assistant Matt Langel would be a good fit as McKie's successor, and he also dropped some news about his new role with a prominent national AAU program. 

We also have Temple spring football updates and answers to a packed mailbag, too. 

Season 8, Episode 33: The Aaron McKie era ends. Who’s next?

Temple announced Monday that Aaron McKie will not return after four seasons as the Owls' men's basketball coach and that a national search for his successor will begin immediately. 

What went wrong for McKie? Why does Colgate head coach and former Temple assistant Matt Langel's name keep coming up? Who else could be in the mix for the job?

Those are just some of the many questions we answered on another special edition of The Scoop as our coaching search coverage begins. 

Season 8, Episode 32: A Temple-Cincinnati AAC hoops preview and an interview with Colin Thompson

Our second episode this week includes a preview of Temple's quarterfinal American Athletic Conference tournament game against No. 4 seed Cincinnati, basketball mailbag questions and an interview with former Temple and NFL tight end Colin Thompson.

0:00 - 3:35: Intro 

3:35 - 10:35: A word from Mike Greenspan and The Scoop's new sponsor, Greenspan & Greenspan

10:35 - 16:18: A discussion of Jim Boeheim's retirement and why the OwlScoop.com staff won't miss him. 

16:18 - 23:00: A preview of Temple's Friday matchup with Cincinnati in the quarterfinal round of the American Athletic Conference tournament. 

23:00 - 28:20: A discussion on the joys of flying, hotel stays and covering college basketball on the road. 

28:20 - 37:10: Answering questions from the basketball mailbag

37:10 - 1:32:00 - An interview with former Temple and NFL tight end Colin Thompson, who talked about Matt Rhule, Christian McCaffrey, what's next in his career and why it's so important for Temple to have Chris Wiesehan on its staff. 

1:32:00 - end: A preview of what's to come with OwlScoop.com's spring football coverage, along with an update on two recent recruiting additions. 

 

Season 8, Episode 31: Joe Klecko reflects on a Hall of Fame career

Thirty-five years after retiring from the NFL, Joe Klecko received the long-overdue news last month that he will be enshrined this summer in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, becoming the first former Temple player to receive the honor.

 

In a special episode of The Scoop, Klecko shared his remarkable life story with OwlScoop.com, one that started from modest beginnings in a working-class neighborhood in Chester, Pennsylvania just outside Philadelphia and grew to include stints as a truck driver, a Joe Frazier sparring partner, a semi-pro star with the Aston Knights and plenty of moments along the way in which he needed some encouragement from the most important people in his life, including his wife, Debbie, and the late former Temple coach Wayne Hardin, before he went on to a 12-year NFL career.

 

A self-described timid kid who initially walked away from the sport of football as a freshman at St. James High School for Boys, Klecko eventually honed the skill and strength to get the best of future Hall of Fame offensive linemen like Anthony Munoz and Dwight Stephenson and drop fellow Hall of Famers like Jim Kelly and Dan Marino en route to collecting 78 career sacks and four Pro Bowl nods as a member of the Jets’ famed “New York Sack Exchange.”

 

Among countless anecdotes, Klecko recalled memories of everything from living at Temple’s Johnson Hall to studying and getting the best of players like Marino to reflecting upon what it meant to see his son, Dan, play at his alma mater and go on to win three Super Bowls.

Season 8, Episode 30: A retiring John Baum shares stories about Temple, the NBA and more

Former Temple star John Baum talked to OwlScoop.com on this week's podcast shortly before calling his final game of his 25-year broadcasting career as the Owls' radio analyst. 

Baum, a Big 5 and Temple Hall of Famer who went on to play in both the NBA and the ABA, reflected on his playing and broadcasting career a few hours before the Owls beat UCF 57-55 Thursday night at the Liacouras Center.

In addition to our interview the Temple legend, we recapped the Owls' Thursday night win on the hardwood, one that ensured them of a first-round bye in next week's American Athletic Conference tournament, and we also recapped the first week of Temple's spring football practices. 

Audio from Temple defensive line coach Antoine Smith reveals how the staff is feeling about a rushing defense they feel should be much improved over last season. 

 

Season 8, Episode 29: Spring football is around the corner

The Owls start spring practice Tuesday, and we take a closer look at some of the key position battles that will take place through March and into April.

John DiCarlo, Kyle Gauss, Javon Edmonds and Cayden Steele also answered questions from a full mailbag, with many of them pertaining to Aaron McKie's Temple basketball team and the absence of Khalif Battle, who remains away from the team due to personal reasons.