Temple defensive tackle Xach Gill is finally ready to hit the field and meet big expectations on North Broad

During Stan Drayton’s first team meeting as Temple’s coach, he noticed one player in particular who was sitting in the front row.

“Not knowing his name, not knowing who he was,” Drayton said, “I just saw this one individual staring at the back of my skull trying to grab onto everything that I was saying.”

It was senior nose guard Xach Gill, who hasn’t played a live snap of football since he appeared Dec. 12, 2020, in a win over Miami. At the time, he played defensive tackle and special teams for North Carolina.

Expectations are high for Gill in his first season taking the field at Temple, both as an anchor on the defensive line and a leader within the locker room. And there’s added pressure as Temple’s season opener kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2 at Duke, just 45 minutes from Gill’s hometown.

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In three seasons at North Carolina — he redshirted his freshman year — Gill appeared in 25 games and offered defensive line depth. He made 17 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, recorded two sacks, and had one fumble recovery.

He was recruited by former Temple coach Rod Carey’s staff and committed to the Owls in January 2021. During winter workouts he suffered an Achilles injury that sidelined him for the year. Gill was officially cleared to play near the end of last season and was “full go” for the start of spring practices.

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound defensive lineman has always considered himself the kind of player who can build up those around him. He’s confident in his ability to lead others. When he suffered the Achilles injury, prioritizing that role, in his mind, became his only option.

“Xach Gill is a guy who has bought into this culture and understands the importance that we all get aligned as a football family,” Drayton said. “Not only trying to get his defensive line better but he’s crossing over to offense and trying to fix the issues that may be existing within the program.”

Drayton revealed he has elected 13 players to his leadership council — a group of players nominated as intermediaries between players and coaches. Gill also was a member of Carey’s leadership council. He said the biggest difference between the coaches so far has been the way Drayton encourages conflict.

“Just because the people on the leadership council are on the leadership council doesn’t mean they have a clean slate and everything’s good about them,” Gill said. “It’s people who can acknowledge your own faults and also go tell someone else they’re messing up too.”

Last year, the Owls gave up 220.4 rushing yards per game, which ranked 121st out of 130 FBS programs. They also ranked second-to-last in the American Athletic Conference in sacks (15) and dead last in interceptions (6). Fourth-down conversions were another glaring hitch, allowing an AAC-worst 24 on 30 attempts.

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Temple will be switching its philosophy from a 4-3 defensive front to a hybrid 3-4 defense under the direction of newly appointed defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot. That just means more double teams for Gill and likely defensive line starters Darian Varner and Jerquavion Mahone.

“I would say the biggest difference from when the new staff got here to now is just the buy-in,” Gill said. “Guys are really buying into what Coach Drayton is preaching, what Coach Eliot is preaching, [along with] Coach [Marvin Clecidor], Coach Jules [Montinar], and Coach [Antoine] Smith.”

During Temple’s portion of AAC media day, Drayton was asked what he needs to see from his defense for it to be successful. He took a deep breath and a short pause.

“Physicality,” Drayton said. “We got to hit people in the mouth, and we got to do it often. Creating negative plays and creating turnovers are things our defense is well capable of. They’re things that they showed during the spring and that can become a reality during a real game.”