Temple has fired football coach Stan Drayton after just nine wins in three seasons, the program announced Sunday. Defensive coordinator Everett Withers was named the team’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Drayton, 53, was a longtime college and NFL assistant when he came to Temple after the 2021 season as a first-time head coach. He had most recently been an assistant head coach and running backs coach at Texas.
He took over in Philadelphia for Rod Carey, whose teams had won four games the previous two seasons, but was unable to reverse the slide.
The Owls went 3-9 and 1-7 in the American Athletic Conference in each of his first two seasons. They improved to 3-7 (2-4 in the conference) on Saturday with an overtime victory against Florida Atlantic, but it wasn’t enough. Drayton departs the program with a 9-25 overall record.
“With the changing landscape of college football and the playoff format, the opportunity for Temple football has never been greater,” Temple athletic director Arthur Johnson said in a statement. “Our expectation is to compete for American Athletic Conference titles, appear in bowl games consistently, and build a program that our fans, alumni, and students can be proud of in the classroom and on the field. I am confident that our fans will rally around our student-athletes and support them as they always have.”
Drayton, in a release announcing the move, said: “I appreciate the opportunity that I was given to lead a great group of young men at Temple University. I wish them nothing but the best in football and in life.”
Temple finishes its season with games against UTSA and North Texas.
(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
