Skip to content
Phillies
Link copied to clipboard

Temple coach Rod Carey throws out the first pitch at the Phillies game

“It was good, not a dirtball, it was in the glove,” Carey said afterward about his pitch.

OWLSFB02-a.Temple's Head Football Coach Rod Carey addresses members of the media during a press conference at Edberg Olson Hall on the campus of Temple University on August 1, 2019. (Jonathan Wilson / For the Inquirer)
OWLSFB02-a.Temple's Head Football Coach Rod Carey addresses members of the media during a press conference at Edberg Olson Hall on the campus of Temple University on August 1, 2019. (Jonathan Wilson / For the Inquirer)Read moreJonathan Wilson

Temple football coach Rod Carey shouldn’t quit his day job, but he certainly looked comfortable throwing out the first pitch before Thursday’s game between the Phillies and Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park.

“It was good, not a dirt ball, it was in the glove,” Carey said afterward about his pitch.

Carey threw the ball from in front of the mound.

“It was fun,” he said. “To be throwing the first pitch was awesome.”

Carey played baseball up until his junior year at Wayzata, High in Minnesota. After that, he concentrated on football, where he became a three-year starting center at Indiana University.

“I love watching baseball in the summer and going to games,” he said. “When fall comes, I don’t watch at all.”

That’s because he is breaking down football tape.

After going 52-30, winning four division titles and two Mid-American Conference championships the previous six years at Northern Illinois University, Carey, 48, is beginning his first season at Temple.

The entire Owls team attended the game as part of Temple night at the Phillies. It was a brief respite from football for the Owls, who are currently participating in preseason camp. Temple will open the season on Aug. 31 when the Owls host Bucknell at Lincoln Financial Field.