Temple’s K.C. Keeler: QB Evan Simon ‘not locked in as the starter’

The K.C. Keeler era at Temple is about a month away from its official start, but Friday was the head coach’s debut at the American Conference — formerly known as the American Athletic Conference — football media days in Charlotte, N.C.

Keeler, who turns 66 on Saturday, recounted the story of athletic director Arthur Johnson traveling to Texas to meet with him in person, the FaceTime conversation with president John Fry, and his own playing days at Delaware, facing the Temple teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, Keeler also delved into the starting quarterback competition and Temple football’s stance on revenue sharing as it relates to name, image, and likeness.

The two Owls players who joined Keeler at American media days were defensive lineman Sekou Kromah and quarterback Evan Simon, both rising seniors who were starters last season. But when asked by the American Football Kickoff panel about Simon potentially being Temple’s starting quarterback in the fall, Keeler quickly said, “he’s not locked in as a starter.”

“We brought a transfer in, Gevani McCoy, [who’s] really talented,” Keeler said. “Freshman [player] of the year in the FCS, then was a finalist for national player of the year, started a bunch of games at Oregon State. … Evan had a great spring, and when I met with the team, individually, one player at a time, [he was the] first player I met with, because when I got there, everyone’s saying, ‘He’s the guy who’s going to lead this team.’

» READ MORE: Does transfer Gevani McCoy have the skills to beat out Evan Simon for Temple’s starting QB job? Here’s what the film says

“During one of those first organized team activities [in June], and Gevani McCoy had just [arrived], and I’m at a distance watching, I see Evan showing Gevani some of the footwork for our plays. … That’s the kind of leader he is, so that’s why he’s here, because he is the heart and soul of this team.”

From last season’s team, 10 starters will return, seven on offense, three on defense. Keeler has brought in 25 transfers and “the largest freshman class in the history of Temple.”

One of the transfers he brought with him from Sam Houston State is running back Jay Ducker, who also previously played at Northern Illinois and Memphis. Keeler says he feels most confident in the running back room on offense, with Terrez Worthy “100% now,” combined with Ducker, but feels like the roster overall “wasn’t nearly as bad as I think people want to make it out to be.”

“I think we’ve added some players to the roster that will help us,” Keeler said. “We took over a decent roster. There’s talent there. It’s just we have to enhance some of those players around them.”

In March, the American Conference’s presidents, excluding Army and Navy, approved a plan that will provide athletes at least $10 million in additional benefits over the next three years, setting a minimum standard for revenue sharing across the conference. The approved House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit settlement in June officially paved the way for direct revenue sharing from schools to student-athletes. The American’s revenue-sharing plan began earlier this month.

» READ MORE: At Temple, K.C. Keeler’s plans for recruiting, NIL strategy, and the transfer portal are taking shape

Earlier this year, Keeler told The Inquirer that Temple needs to “be a player” in the NIL space. On Friday, Keeler reemphasized his plan for not only recruiting, but also how he and general manager will approach revenue sharing when it comes to football.

“One of the things that we do is our freshman class, they all will come in on the same number. We’re not using our rev share to go get high school players. I think that’s crazy,” Keeler said. “They haven’t played a single down in college football, and the money I have, I want to use that money on retaining my players. The recruiting philosophy is really simple. Retain your best players. That’s a single most important thing. And then after that, is bringing a great high school class. And then after that, it’s those selected transfers.”

Keeler knows winning will help generate more buzz for the program, and that includes Temple’s low fan attendance last season. According to data from the Sports Business Journal, the Owls averaged about 11,600 people per game, which was last in the American and among the lowest in college football.

When asked how he planned to get more fans in seats next season, Keeler pointed to his recruiting philosophy, which is recruiting locally and scheduling games against FBS programs in the surrounding states, including in-state foes Penn State and Pittsburgh.

“We’re trying to do a little bit better job in regional scheduling,” Keeler said. “I want to play Delaware. I want to play Rutgers. I want to play Penn State. It’s great that we have Oklahoma this year. But really, for the future, let’s get [Pittsburgh] in there. Let’s get Maryland in there. Everyone wants to come to Philly because of the hotbed that high school football is.”

» READ MORE: Temple unveils new football uniforms as it enters new era under K.C. Keeler

In June, Temple announced future games against Rutgers and Delaware, set to begin in 2030. Penn State and Temple will also reignite its football series in 2026 and 2027.

The Keeler era on North Broad in 2025 will begin at Massachusetts on Aug. 30 (3:30 p.m., ESPN+). Matchups against Howard (Sept. 6), Oklahoma (Sept. 13), and Georgia Tech (Sept. 20) will round out Temple’s nonconference schedule before a conference opener against UTSA on Oct. 4.