Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Scratch Al Golden off the list

For those of you that believe Temple football coach Al Golden could take the reins after Joe Paterno retires in 10 or 15 years you might want to rethink that.

The NCAA's annual academic progress report was released Tuesday. It showed more than 700 teams fell short of the mandated cut score.

When a team does not improve, the punishments can become harsher with three consecutive scores under 900 leading to a postseason ban. A fourth consecutive offense would prevent them from competing at the Division I level.

Most names are from smaller schools like Florida International or Montana State-Bozeman but right in the thick of things is Al Golden's football team. Golden has been at Temple for three years and started off with a very young team (read: his guys) so it's obvious that Golden doesn't hold his players to the same academic scrutiny that Penn State would prefer. Without a doubt the next head coach at Penn State must carry on the tradition of excellence in the classroom, there's no wiggle room on that aspect of the job. While Penn State may have had their share of off-the-field incidents the last couple years Paterno hasn't let up on the teams academic requirements.

Editor's Note: I jumped on this waaayyy too early with little research and as it turns out am completely wrong about Golden. As RUTS points out from the Philadelphia Daily News

Since Al Golden took over as Temple's football coach in December 2005, there have been no eligibility issues. Still, the program again has been cited for academic failings that took place before his arrival on North Broad Street.

Yesterday, the NCAA announced the fourth-year Academic Progress Rates for all division I teams. And the Owls have lost four scholarships. The penalties last for 1 year, and there's every expectation that all four will be reinstated at that time.

Two years ago the Owls lost nine scholarships, for similar reasons. Twelve months later, they had every one back. The APR score of student-athletes recruited by Golden is 980, well above the minimum of 925.

There's also this from his bio:
With a commitment to community service and academics at the core of Golden's program, a multitude of individual honors were bestowed upon the Owls in 2006. Seven student-athletes were named to the 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Football team, providing Temple the most honorees of the 10 Delaware Valley institutions that sponsor football.
And I mistakenly gave him credit for an extra year, Golden's only been at Temple for two years. So yeah, forget what I said. Man, what was I drinking last night? Paint thinner?!?


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember reading something about this in the Philly Inquirer last year. I think Temple has a tough time keeping the grades of their players up because they don't offer majors like "Recreational Park Management" and "Sports Science". So their athletes take much harder classes similar to what regular students take.

I'm going from memory so it's possible I'm wrong.

Nick said...

Also, Golden has only been there 2 seasons that are in the APR, correct? APR averages 4 seasons together, I think its a little premature to condemn Golden for this.

Galen said...

This really surprised me because Golden came from Penn State and knew what it took to be a good student and a good football player. Maybe you're right but it just doesn't look good for him.

Nick said...

Dude, you got served by RUTS

PSUgirl said...

As RUTS reported, temple lost 9 scholarships following the 2005 season (I believe that is what you are "thinking" of BSD) - Golden's first season was 2006. It was a horrible embarrassment to the program and the school - and what a way for Al to start! But he vowed to make it better and,

He's made it a priority to get the kids an education. You can bet that he will have all of the scholarships back when it is "his guys" and "his results".

There is such a change in the Temple team - if you remember seeing them at UP in 2006 - they just looked little and slow and overwhelmed -

And sure they didn't have a great season in 2007 - but they were better - much better.

I like the way Golden coaches - both on and off the field. He's young - he needs experience - but he pairs his dedication and focus with some creativity on the field - it's refreshing.

Galen said...

Yeah, I really jumped the gun on this one. Sorry everyone.

Anonymous said...

This is why Stewart Mandel hates you.

As I said over at my place, I had to stick up for my man, Al Golden. Especially after reading a Fight On State discussion where people were just killing the guy for this APR thing. I still think he has the most potential of the possible coaching replacements. Schiano appears to be the guy...but I'm not sold on him yet.

Galen said...

Actually I'm quite open at this point, I don't have a favorite simply because we don't know who will be on the short list.

Nick said...

People can diss bloggers all they want, but at least we acknowledge when we make mistakes

Galen said...

...and I always leave my mistakes up for the world to see unless it's actually hurting someone. Actually I take that back... my writing skills hurt people on a daily basis.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm...paint thinner...

Pete the Streak said...

Wait'll Buzz gets a load of this post. 'Course, he won't acknowledge the correction; that would involve some thought.

Hope his kid doesn't read it either.

Galen said...

Buzz is right about me, I admit I'm "Full of shit" that still doean't make him any less of an ass.

PSUgirl said...

and really, who better to identify an a$$?