Temple Football: Owls Committed to Playing All 12 Games as Focus Turns to 2027

After suffering their seventh loss this season on Nov. 7 at Navy, Temple Football’s chances of making a bowl game are miniscule. Teams need to win six games in order to qualify, and the Owls (2-7) wouldn’t hit that number if they won out. Eligible programs are more likely to opt out of a bowl game in an era dominated by NIL deals and the transfer portal, potentially opening a spot for Temple, but it’s hard not to feel as if their season is over with three games left to play.

Owls head coach K.C. Keeler addressed those concerns during his weekly press conference on Monday, Nov. 9, saying that he and his players prepared for such an eventuality during the preseason that they would see their year through to the end, no matter how that end came.

“Our mindset is this, and this is how I addressed it. We made a commitment to play all 12. Now, if we get an extra one, we get an extra one. We made a commitment to play all 12, I made a commitment to coach all 12. So when I walk in this building, I’m all in to prepare for that next game,” Keeler said. “It’s hard on everybody in this building. I mean, you don’t realize, it affects everybody in this building, affects your energy, affects everything. But the only thing we can do is go battle. And we made a pact, early in the year, no matter what happened, we’re going to play all 12. And so we’ll play all 12.”

Looking to 2027

The Owls have made a step in the right direction since their bye week, with Keeler praising the way they’ve gotten past early season finger-pointing and are now playing as a unit, even if their improved morale hasn’t yet translated into wins. “The East Carolina game was like ‘thank God, I have my boys back,’ and same thing last week. ‘I have my boys back. This is how we play,'” Keeler said.

Even with the commitment to focusing on the snap ahead of them, Keeler did start to address the offseason ahead, describing how he’ll have to evaluate himself and his coaching staff in order to correct what went wrong last year. He alluded to a large incoming freshman class, one way to sustain a program culture and counter the play-for-pay model spreading across college athletics, and said that while it’s impossible to avoid mercenary-like behavior from some transfers, he and his staff will have to emphasize the need for payment in exchange for results.

As Temple faces a losing season for the seventh year in a row, Keeler reaffirmed his commitment to turn the program around.

“I made a commitment when I came here, this was gonna be my last job. And that still stands true. I want to get this thing fixed,” Keeler said. “That’s my mission, to get this thing fixed. And I think I have enough experience under my belt to see what works and what doesn’t work and to get it fixed.”