PHILADELPHIA — Texas assistant coach Stan Drayton, who led the Longhorns’ run game under Tom Herman and Steve Sarkisian, has been named head coach at Temple, the school announced.
The program will introduce Drayton, who will replace Rod Carey with the Owls, in a news conference on Thursday.
“This truly is a dream come true for me,” Drayton said in the school’s release. “Philadelphia has always held a special place in my heart.”
Carey was fired in November, after posting a 12-20 mark in three years with the Owls. He took over at Temple after Manny Diaz abruptly left the program a short time after becoming head coach to return to Miami with the same title.
“I had a chance to get to know Stan while we worked together at the University of Texas,” Temple athletic director Arthur Johnson said in the release. “He is an outstanding football coach and an even better person. He knows what success looks like at the highest levels of football. He also knows what it takes to be successful in this city.”
Though Texas had one of the nation’s best running backs in Bijan Robinson, the Longhorns struggled to keep up in the Big 12 this season, and finished 5-7, failing to secure a bowl bid in Sarkisian’s first season.
Drayton also coached at Ohio State, Florida, Syracuse, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Bowling Green. He also served as running backs coach for the Chicago Bears from 2015-16. He worked as offensive quality control coach/special teams of the Green Bay Packers in 2001-03.
Drayton joins Ron Dickerson as the only Black head coaches in Temple football history.
Temple is counting on Drayton to return it to bowl games. The Owls played in five straight bowl games from 2015-19.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.