Spring College Football Update: Temple Owls
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It's the first set of spring football practices for the Temple Owls under the leadership of new head coach Steve Addazio, as he gets his first look at his squad on the field.
Addazio, of course, took over the reins from Al Golden who left for Miami, and he is pleased with how the spring has gone thus far.
"It's been great," Addazio (right) told KYW Newsradio on Tuesday. "Got a great work ethic. The guys are working hard, coaches are getting a chance to really get a football evaluation of where we are at, and it's been a heck of a spring so far.
While Addazio has gotten familiar with his team on tape and in the weight room, he says live workouts tell you a lot more.
"There's nothing like live eyes. Watching tape is one thing, but (when) you get a chance to really work with a guy you get to know a guy. Sometimes what's hard to tell on tape is the intangibles -- the competitiveness, the ability to process and absorb coaching, and take coaching, and those things. And I think you get a great handle on that when you're on the field with them," he says.
Hear Matt Leon's full interview with Coach Steve Addazio in this CBS Philly SportsPod...
Podcast
Temple is now about halfway through its spring practice schedule, and Addazio talks about what he has learned to this point about his squad:
"We appear to be a physical team right now and I think a team that really loves ball, so I think you really want to know that. When you watch teams on the field you can tell, are they tough physically? Do they love ball, do they love to compete? You want to walk away saying, 'Man, that team really played hard.' And I see the makings of that. I don't want to act like that's a finished product because it's not. But I do see the makings of that."
Temple's annual Cherry & White intra-squad scrimmage is set for April 16th. The Owls will open the regular season against crosstown rival Villanova on September 1st.
Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060.
