In the midst of spring practice, and a week after one assistant left for the NFL, Temple has filled its coaching staff with an assistant from the same level.
In a release, the Owls announced that head coach Steve Addazio has hired Frank Leonard as his tight ends coach. Leonard and Addazio have a history together that stretches back more than three decades; they were college teammates at Central Connecticut in the seventies and served on the same Western Connecticut coaching staff in the eighties.
That familiarity played a significant role in the hire.
“We’re very excited to have Frank and his family join the Temple football family,” Addazio said. “Frank and I have known each other for 30 years. We were college teammates and started our coaching careers together at Western Connecticut under Paul Pasqualoni. Frank is a tremendous fundamental teacher and has great energy and passion for the game. His wealth of experience from the NFL and the collegiate level will be a valuable asset for our players, coaching staff, and university.”
For the past three seasons, Leonard has served as TEs coach with the St. Louis Rams. Prior to that, he served on college coaching staffs at Kansas State, UConn and Richmond.
Leonard’s hiring also officially means Ryan Day will be the Owls’ lone offensive coordinator. Day had been named co-coordinator alongside Matt Rhule, who left last week for a job with the New York Giants.