Temple to 'assess options' with football program, president says (Updated)

Temple football is preparing to look for a new head coach following the firing of Stan Drayton last week. Temple University, meanwhile, is stepping back and evaluating the entire football program. 

TU president John Fry told the Philadelphia Business Journal that the time is right to "step back and assess" the "various options" Temple has moving forward into the revenue-sharing era of college football. 

"We're at a time, particularly regarding football with NIL and everything that's happening with conference realignment, that we have to step back and assess, 'OK, what are the various options that an historic football program has to make in this environment?'" Fry told the site. 

A university president taking a less-than-completely-enthusiastic-view toward football is nothing new, but Fry's statement is especially worrisome for Owl football considering his past. 

As the president of Drexel University, in 2016 he wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled "Why We're Glad to Say No to College Football," writing "burdened by the distractions that come with maintaining a football program."

In his defense, Fry has previously stated he's fully supportive of Temple's entire athletics portfolio and that he has no plans to end Owl football. Then again, it's a bit like an owner of a vegan restaurant, who wrote in a restaurant owner magazine about how great it is to not serve meat, taking over a struggling burger joint.

Temple's own history plays a part in the fears of its own demise. 

Steve Addazio (13-11), Matt Rhule (28-23) and Geoff Collins (14-10) are the only Owls head coaches to leave the school with a winning record in the past 40 years. The program owns a lifetime .450 winning percentage, three total bowl victories, and was once dropped from the Big East for lack of competitiveness.  

"Temple is not alone in stepping back and trying to assess what it's going to do in a completely unpredictable environment, not only in terms of the market, but the regulatory environment," Fry said.

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.

Update: Fry released a statement Monday clarifying Temple will not drop football and is moving forward with its coaching search. So, that's good.