Reports: Temple to hire Sam Houston coach K.C. Keeler

Temple moved quickly to find its next head coach.

According to multiple reports including Rivals' OwlScoop.com, the Owls are set to hire Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler. Sam Houston went 9-3 in 2024 in just its second season at the top level of college football.

Keeler, 65, is a Pennsylvania native and one of the most successful college football coaches of the 2000s. He’s the winningest coach in FCS history with 171 career wins and his teams have two national titles at the No. 2 level of college football.

Keeler got his coaching start at Division III Rowan before he was hired at Delaware ahead of the 2002 season. The Blue Hens went 15-1 in his second season in 2003 and won a national title. Delaware went to two more FCS title games during Keeler’s tenure before he was fired after a 5-6 season in 2012.

Sam Houston hired Keeler ahead of the 2014 season and the Bearkats won at least 11 games in each of his first four seasons. Sam Houston finally broke past the semifinals in 2021 as they went 10-0 in the spring season to win the school’s first national title.

The Bearkats were just 3-9 in their first season at the FBS level in 2023 but made a six-win jump this season and narrowly missed out on the chance to play for the Conference USA title. The Bearkats finished tied for second with Western Kentucky, but lost to the Hilltoppers in the regular season to lose the tiebreaker.

Temple has been looking for a new coach since firing Stan Drayton with two weeks to go in the season. Drayton’s firing came after an overtime win over FAU that was just the ninth win across 34 games of Drayton’s tenure.

The Owls lost their final two games of the season under interim coach Everett Withers to finish the season at 3-9. It was the fourth straight year Temple has finished with a 3-9 record as the program hasn’t made a bowl game since the 2019 season.