Four reasons why Temple football will succeed

From left, Ann Weaver Hart, Dan Polett, Peter J. Liacouras, Al Golden
By Mike Gibson
There was more power under one tent at the pre-game Temple vs. Kent State tailgate than can be found at the Limerick Nuclear reactors.
At least when it is the power provides the fuel for the Temple athletic department.
First, there was Chancellor Peter J. Liacouras, still looking vigorous and young and still Temple football's biggest backer and still wlelding a lot of influence.
Then there was new Chairman of the Board of Trustees Dan Polett, Howard Gittis' successor, and another familiar face at Temple sporting events.
Last, but certainly not least, was Ann Weaver Hart, the new president of Temple University.
That's right.
A Temple president and BOT Chairman were in attendance today and visible.
And, I might add, approachable.
A friend of mine, Nick, and I saw her under the tent and said, "what the hey, let's go up and say hi."
President Weaver Hart could not have been more gracious.
We exchanged some small talk, I suggested that she probably should have brought her football team with her from New Hampshire.
She laughed and said that New Hampshire once struggled like Temple is now and she stuck with the coach and that team is now flourishing. A 34-17 win this year at Northwestern of the Big 10, not Northeastern of the A-10, is evidence enough of that.
She believes the same can be done at Temple. Even though she didn't say it in as many words, I got the feeling, too, that she also believed a successful football team is vital to the image of Temple nationally, that the football team is the front porch of the university and it's high time to replace these rotted boards and loose shingles with brand new ones.
And she believes Al Golden is doing just that, getting his tool kit and hammer out for this massive makeover project.
You want the rest of the Mid-American Conference to say no later than next year:
"Wow, that's nice."
Instead, too many are looking at Temple's front porch like it's Jed Clampbett's, pre-black oil, Texas tea, days.
Since Temple is the 26th largest university in the country, it deserves a football team successful on the biggest stage, the 1A theater.
If Temple is ever to bring what has been a disjointed community of alumni, students and friends together in one setting, a football game is the place to do that. But it's a football game where the Temple community has to feel there is a realistic chance of winning every week.
I told her I look forward to the day when I can post a supportive quote from her about Temple football on this website, as you can read quotes from Liacouras, former BOT chair Howard Gittis and current athletic director Bill Bradshaw.
She would be happy to oblige, she said.
I'm waiting for a blockbluster comment, along the lines of Gittis' saying the students at Temple deserve a "great football team" and "we will provide it." Or Liacouras saying "universities with 1A football teams must invest to succeed."
Temple football always had a huge supporter in Liacouras and now has a pair of staunch allies in Weaver Hart and Polett.
That only bodes well for a program that saw former president David Adamany and Gittis attend just one game in six years together.
After that one, Adamany emailed me with this terse one-liner.
"Mr. Gittis was not happy with the audience," he wrote.
Somehow, I think Ann Weaver Hart knows the difference between an "audience" and a "crowd."
At least I got that first impression.