Al Golden Sees Parallels From His Time in Philly with Bengals' Rise

The former Temple coach started the Owls on the path back to relevancy and is now on the verge of seeing the Bengals complete a similar journey in Super Bowl LVI

When Temple football was at its depths, it was Al Golden who dragged the university back to respectability.

Golden is now the linebackers coach of the Cincinnati Bengals as they prepare to face the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, and the former Owls mentor sees some parallels between his time on North Broad Street and the long road it's been for the Bengals back to the big game.

"There's a lot of parallels between the journey that we're on currently," Golden told reporters on Tuesday, the day Cincinnati landed in Los Angeles for its first Super Bowl since Boomer Esiason was slicing and dicing the league in 1988.

MORE: Jim Bob Cooter Departs for Doug Pederson's Staff in ...

Golden, a former tight end in his playing days at Penn State, was coming off a successful five-year stint as the defensive coordinator at the University of Virginia when he took the job at Temple, not exactly a coveted position at the time.

The Owls had won an average of one game per season in the three years under Bobby Wallace prior to Golden's arrival in 2006 (3-31) with seasons of 2-9, 0-11, and 1-11.

Meanwhile, the program hadn't been to a Bowl Game since 1979, the now-defunct Garden State Bowl.

"You have to start with the end in mind," Golden said. "There's no evidence in front of you that you can turn around the Temple Owls and go to the first Bowl game in 30 years but you set those goals and work like crazy and create an environment, a community, and a culture that can produce those results."

The Bengals, under head coach Zac Taylor, have done the same kind of thing, rising from the ashes of two wins pre-Joe Burrow to four wins and then breaking through this season with an AFC Championship.

"I think Zac had done an amazing job in putting together a great staff," said Golden. "The leadership in the locker room is phenomenal and I think that's another parallel."

At Temple, Golden inherited an abject disaster with a program in heart of a professional sports city that still doesn't have its own stadium on campus, instead playing second fiddle to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. 

Yet the coach dug in and made the university credible on the gridiron.

The start was the all-too-typical 1-11 Temple disaster, but what followed was an incremental improvement (4-8 and 5-7) before the unthinkable, a 9-3 regular-season mark in 2009, and a berth in the EagleBank Bowl which resulted in a competitive 30-21 loss to a legit big-time program in UCLA.

Golden's final season with the Owls produced an 8-4 mark and set up Steve Addazio to take over the program and produce Temple's first Bowl win since 1979 in 2011, a 37-15 drubbing of Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl.

By that time, Golden had taken over a true college powerhouse in Miami after finishing 17-8 over his final two years in a place he shouldn't have been able to win.

"I mean, I don't think any of that gets done at Temple without the young people in the locker room, without the staff, and without the support of the administration," he said, "so I definitely see some links and certainly lessons there that I share with the [Bengals] players that it's really about us.

"It's about how we operate on a daily basis and the commitment we make to each other and whether or not we are unselfish and great teammates. Right now we're doing all those things."

MORE: Five Defensive Senior Bowl Standouts Who Could Intrigue ...

To say the least, Golden left Temple football in a better place than when he arrived and the program is no longer the butt of jokes even if Rod Carey stumbled in recent seasons with what Golden started.

Temple became a bit of a starting block for capable coaches with Golden, Addazio, Matt Rhule, now a head coach in the NFL with Carolina, and Geoff Collins using it as a stepping stone.

In the 20 years prior to Golden's arrival, Temple had only two winning seasons and the Owls have had eight since with seven Bowl appearances.

College may be beckoning again for Golden after Super Bowl LVI with new Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman seriously considering Golden for his defensive coordinator position, but the veteran coach has got work to do first.

"It's taken 33 years for this organization to get here," Golden said. "I want to stay focused on the Bengals."

MORE: Former Eagles TE James Casey Found His Future in Philly

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.