Addazio encouraged by Temple's football recruits

NEWPORT, R.I. - It was a simple question: Is a youthful Temple football team concerned that an unsuccessful season in the Big East Conference would stunt the growth of its blossoming program?

"There's never perfect timing for anything in this life as far as I'm concerned," Owls coach Steve Addazio replied during Tuesday's conference media day. "We have a young team. We don't have a tremendous amount of depth this year.

"But we have talented players. And we have to learn to do it week-in and week-out."

Though Addazio made a point, Temple would have been better suited to rejoin the Big East last season.

With 13 senior starters, the 2011 Owls boasted big-game experience and a good dose of NFL-caliber talent.

Three members of that squad - running back Bernard Pierce (third round, Baltimore Ravens); tight end Evan Rodriguez (fourth round, Chicago Bears); and linebacker Tahir Whitehead (fifth round, Detroit Lions) - were selected in April's NFL draft. Ten other Owls signed rookie free-agent contracts.

But Addazio doesn't seem too concerned about moving into a Bowl Championship Series conference with just eight returning starters.

"We really recruited well last year. Thank God," he said. "We have a heck of a recruiting class coming in right now, and that's a really good thing for us. And we are, obviously, recruiting well right now. And that's the deal."

As a Big East member, Temple should have the opportunity to bring in more talented recruits than it had in the last five seasons as a Mid-American Conference member. Temple is starting to gather talent that eventually could make it a contender.

There's a thought on North Broad Street that the Owls could finish better than the predicted last place in the conference this season. The addition of transfer running back Montel Harris (Boston College) should make a difference.

"Obviously, our goal right now is we want to become bowl eligible," Addazio said. "Win the opener [Aug. 31 against Villanova] and get bowl eligible. That's how we look at it."

At the same time, he knows it was easier in the MAC to get the six wins needed to become bowl eligible. The Owls now will be challenged in every conference game.

"There's not three or four games on your schedule where you say, 'If we do what we are supposed to, we are going to win them.' That does not exist," Addazio said about moving up to a BCS conference. "We are fighting and clawing for every win."