Photo: Stan Drayton Twitter/@StanDraytonUT
By Michael Lipinski, Sports Talk Philly Contributor 
The Temple Owls have reportedly found their next head football coach. University of Texas running backs/run game coordinator Stan Drayton has been tasked with rebuilding the program.
Drayton, 50, has been a fixture in coaching circles since 1993. The Cleveland, OH native has spent the majority of his career in the collegiate ranks as a running backs coach and assistant head coach. He is credited with with fine tuning the running style of Carlos Hyde and Ezekiel Elliott during his time at Ohio State.
Drayton is no stranger to the Delaware Valley, spending 1995-1999 at the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova, respectively. While on the Main Line, Drayton recruited a shifty running back from DeMatha Catholic named Brian Westbrook. Under Drayton’s tutelage, Westbrook became the first player in college football history to record a 1,000 yard rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in one season, 1998.
Temple is Drayton’s first head coaching job at any level.
Drayton inherits a program that has won four games over the past two-seasons and has been on the receiving end of repeated blowout losses. In addition to the losses on the field, Drayton will have to fix a fractured locker room that saw nearly a dozen players enter the transfer portal.
He will have to get off to a fast start, the early National Signing period began today and runs through Friday. The Owls are ranked 99th in 247Sports overall (recruits/transfers) rankings.
UPDATE
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY HAS MADE THE HIRE OFFICIAL.
Stan Drayton Named Head Coach of Temple Football
PHILADELPHIA – Stan Drayton, who has won college national championships and coached at the NFL level during his 28-year career, returns to Philadelphia as the 29th head football coach of Temple University.
Temple will introduce Drayton at a news conference on Thursday, December 16, 2021, at 9:30am in the Fox-Gittis Room of the Liacouras Center.
“I am excited to bring Stan Drayton back to Philadelphia as the next head football coach of Temple University,” said Arthur Johnson, Temple Vice President and Director of Athletics. “I had a chance to get to know Stan while we worked together at the University of Texas. He is an outstanding football coach and an even better person. He knows what success looks like at the highest levels of football. He also knows what it takes to be successful in this city having spent six years of his career here and learned from two of the city’s legendary football coaches.”
“This truly is a dream come true for me,” said Drayton. “Philadelphia has always held a special place in my heart as my wife, Monique, and I got married while we lived here. I’m so thankful to [Temple University president] Dr. Wingard, Arthur Johnson, and the Temple community for this great opportunity.”
Drayton comes to Temple from the University of Texas where he was the associate head coach and run game coordinator for both Tom Herman (2017-20) and Steve Sarkisian (2021). During his time with the Longhorns, Drayton guided the development of a trio of young running backs – Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson and Keaontay Ingram. All three made immediate impacts as true freshmen including the breakout performance of Robinson in 2020 when he set the school record averaging 8.2-yards per rush.
Prior to Texas, Drayton coached at Ohio State where he won a BCS National Championship in 2014. He joined OSU as a wide receivers coach in 2011, before leading the running backs for the next three seasons. He had previously won a BCS National Championship (2006) while coaching running backs at Florida (2005-07, 2010).
During his college coaching career, Drayton has also served as running backs coach at Syracuse (2009), Tennessee (2008), Mississippi State (2004), Bowling Green (2000, also serving as special teams coach), Villanova (1996-00), Pennsylvania (1995, assistant running backs/director of football operations) and his alma mater Allegheny (Pa.) College (1993). He has also served as a graduate assistant at Eastern Michigan (1994).
On the professional side, Drayton most recently served as running backs coach for the Chicago Bears from 2015-16. He also served as offensive quality control coach/special teams of the Green Bay Packers in 2001-03.
The list of head coaches Drayton has wo
rked under is a who’s who of coaching. From his early years in Philadelphia with Penn’s Al Bagnoli and Villanova’s Andy Talley to successful college coaches such as Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Luke Fickell, Tom Herman, and Phil Fulmer, to the NFL’s Mike Sherman and John Fox.
Drayton has always been a strong recruiter both in evaluating talent and getting the best players to join him. Among his most high profile recruits, he is credited with bringing Cam Newton, Mike and Maurkice Pouncey to Florida, Bijan Robinson to Texas, and he was responsible for bringing Brian Westbrook to Villanova.
A three-time first-team All-America selection as a running back at Allegheny, Drayton is second in the school’s record book for rushing (3,272 yards), rushing touchdowns (54) and scoring (336 points) and was a part of the 1990 Division III national championship team. He was also a two-time All-American in track, competing in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. A 1993 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in English, Drayton was inducted into the Allegheny College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.
Drayton, a native of Cleveland, and his wife Monique, a native of Detroit, have two daughters, Amari and Anaya, who are both elite gymnasts. Amari is a member of the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team
