Temple University officially appointed John A. Fry as its 15th president on Tuesday -- a day of celebration on the school's Broad Street campus in Philadelphia, but a time of consternation a few blocks down at Edberg-Olson Hall, at the offices of Temple football.
As president at Drexel University in 2016, Fry wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal titled "We're Glad to Say No to College Football." Published on the day Clemson beat Alabama for its first national championship since 1981, Fry wrote that Drexel was not "burdened by the distractions that come with maintaining a football program" and that his school at the time did not have to make the choices that "force universities to divert funding from the fundamental task of educating students.” He also cited the high salaries of coaches as another reason why he was glad Drexel did not sponsor football.
So, ahem, President Fry, what about football at Temple?
In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer on Monday, Fry said, "Temple has a really proud football tradition. "As the incoming president, I would totally respect that... I have no preconceived notions and no plans to end the football program."
Fry cited his appointment to leadership positions within Division III while the president at Franklin & Marshall College, and as well as his time as chair of the Colonial Athletic Association's board of directors while at Drexel. “I am really, really committed to athletics,” he told the paper.
No FBS institution has dropped its football program since Pacific did so in 1995. (UAB did as well in 2014, but later brought football back.)
In a separate piece, published Tuesday, Fry said he was attracted to "Temple’s historic mission of making education widely available at an accessible price, its deep commitment to first-generation and underrepresented students, and the embrace of its position as Philadelphia’s public university."
So, despite its name and location, Temple is not an Ivy League-lite bastion of hobnobbery where dropping football -- or the appearance of wanting to drop football -- would be an attractive political move. Having a football program is a positive to the type of students Fry wants Temple to attractive.
However, dropping the sport has been a near constant topic of conversation around Temple football for years, if not longer. This is a program that was once booted from the Big East during a prolonged stretch of non-competitiveness.
"The worst thing, though, about Temple’s five-game losing streak was reading so many of the comments that 'Temple should drop football' and 'give it up, we’re not good at this' because other schools lose games and don’t have to listen to that garbage," an Owls fan blog named wrote during the middle of last season. That blog's name, coincidentally or perhaps not: Temple Football Forever.
We'll see if Temple's new president becomes a reader.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.