Temple kept its starters out of the transfer portal. Peter Clarke and others deserve credit.

During the spring, as Temple’s football team started to mesh together returning players and newcomers, via the transfer portal and high school recruits, Peter Clarke, the team’s standout tight end, gathered the entire offense together.

The native of London, England, who once taught himself how to play football by watching YouTube videos, hosted his side of the ball at his house for a brunch.

The gesture was one example of Clarke, one of the seven players to earn the single-digit demarcation this season, emerging as a vocal leader for a program looking to build on last season’s 5-7 finish.

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“When it comes to Peter Clarke, I feel like he’s a natural born leader,” said Temple running back Sam Brown, who transferred to the program this spring. “When I got here, I saw that off the jump. He’s always taking account for things, making sure people are doing the right things, and he’s definitely a leader by example, by what he does on and off the field.”

Clarke is a key returner for Temple, which didn’t lose an eligible starter to the transfer portal earlier this year. The rising senior finished with a career-best 30 catches for 483 yards and six touchdowns last season and is one of the best returning tight ends this season, evidenced by his preseason accolades: the John Mackey Award watchlist, preseason first-team All-American Conference honors from Phil Steele and Athlon Sports, and All-America third team honors at Pro Football Network.

As the Owls prepare for their season opener on Saturday against Rhode Island (2 p.m., ESPN+), there will be a sense of continuity for the offense, even with a new quarterback under center with transfers Ajani Sheppard and Jaxon Smolik competing for the starting spot. Four of the five starting offensive linemen from last season return, along with wide receivers Jojo Bermudez and Colin Chase, in addition to Clarke.

“When you bring in 50-60 new guys every year, you’re having to reinstall not just the plays, but also the culture, the identity,” Clarke said. “Whereas when you keep everybody, you have position leaders in every group. You have guys who know what it takes and have been in those positions and can guide guys and bring them along a lot quicker. So it means we can [be] more quicker. … We have a big advantage in keeping the position leaders, keeping guys we played [with], and just reinstalling coaches and new guys that not necessarily starting from ground zero.”

When K.C. Keeler took over the program 21 months ago after a 11-year run at Sam Houston State, he emphasized that Temple would not be “living in the transfer portal 100%,” and added that he doesn’t want a locker room full of mercenaries, where “guys [are] just here for a year or two, and there’s no fabric, there’s just no continuity.”

A key part of his plan to help turn the program around was building leadership and advisory board councils among the returning players, as a way to rebuild the team’s culture.

The message appears to be resonating. Clarke, who says leadership “comes natural to me,” is one of 11 seniors or fifth-year players who have remained on the roster since their freshman seasons and endured the coaching change from Stan Drayton to Keeler.

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“Being a captain on my high school team and leading guys there and coming here and having an impact like I have, and then when success happens, staying at Temple and continuing to grow, helps me step into that [leadership] role,” Clarke said. “I love this program. I love my teammates, and I want this school and this community to bring the energy for us. … When I see guys doing the wrong things, not being accountable, not doing things the way like ‘Temple tough’ football is. It’s my job to hold them accountable and hold myself to that same high standard.”

Grayson Mains, the team’s starting center for the last two seasons, transferred to Temple from South Carolina before the 2024 season and was also selected by his teammates to be a single-digit player this season.

He too, understands the importance of continuity and team culture, not only for the success of the program, but for the health of the locker room. He says leaders, like Clarke, himself, and other returning upperclassmen who have been around the program, “know what a bad culture on a team is like” and added that this year “we know what we do and don’t want to see, and just how to push guys the right way.”

“Coach Keeler’s big thing has really been about accountability, and I think I’ve seen it a lot from the players,” said Mains. “Players holding players accountable, and being a lot more respectful to each other. … [We’re] not taking everything personal, because we all know that we’re one team and we’re all fighting for the same goal.”

Clarke’s leadership hasn’t been just noticed by his teammates. Offensive coordinator Tyler Walker, part of a coaching staff that was also fully retained from last season, called his tight end “the epitome of a single digit.”

» READ MORE: Temple’s linebackers built a tight-knit bond off the field. They’re hoping it helps them on the field too.

“He’s been in the shoes that a lot of these young guys have been in,” said Walker. “He’s been [at Temple] through the ups and downs, and he’s been through coaching transitions. He’s been a backup. He’s been a freshman, and now he’s also been the guy. … He’s super humble. He wants to be great. He wants to be coached. He wants to be coached hard.

“He sets expectations for himself, and he brings other guys around him, with him. And that’s the sign of a good leader.”

During the summer, coaches are not allowed to administer nor watch practices, according to NCAA rules. But that didn’t stop players from getting work in, led by Clarke and others.

Clarke and Mains each credit the player-run practices for bonding the team together, and it ultimately set the tone for their expectations this season on North Broad.

“The biggest emphasis to the transfers that weren’t here [last year] was, ‘Hey, this team’s been through a lot and experienced a lot, and we’re so close to turning this thing around.’ We’re all pushing the same direction and [we told them], ‘It’s time to get in and help us,’” said Clarke. “So [we were] getting those extra captain’s practices in with Army and Navy looks and [their] triple option offense, so that our defense understands what the read keys look like and can develop those habits early, so when we get to the game weeks, it’s not a complete surprise.

“It’s just about, ‘Hey, what’s going to get us over the edge?’ It’s going to be efficient football from the offense. It’s going to be able to stop the run from the defense and just play one complete football game between special teams, offense, and defense.”

Added Mains: “Over the summer we pushed each other [so much harder]. … We were just able to do so much more, and then especially those summer days, like our OTA days, when coaches weren’t in the building, everybody respects [the leaders] enough to lead those player-run practices on the field and truly get really good work done.”

At his previous three stops, second seasons for Keeler have been notably fruitful. At Division III Rowan in 1994, the team finished 6-3; in 2003, Delaware won the Football Championship Subdivision championship; and at Sam Houston State in 2015, Keeler led his team to the FCS semifinal.

» READ MORE: Q&A: Temple coach K.C. Keeler’s second-year expectations, his Delaware foundation, and more

After two one-point losses last fall that prevented the Owls from making a bowl game, their players are ready to turn the page.

“We talk every day about winning championships,” said Mains. “This team hasn’t been to a bowl game in a while and hasn’t seen that American Conference trophy in a while. We’re all striving every single day to be as great as we can to make those goals [happen].”

Added Chase: “I think we got something special here. It speaks about our program. It speaks about coach K.C. Keeler and the vision that everyone truly believes that Temple football is going to be successful.”