Temple wanted to hire Sandusky in 1988

He was their man. But, in the end, their man got away.

In December 1988, Temple put the full-court press on Jerry Sandusky because the Owls had fired head coach Bruce Arians and the Penn State defensive coordinator seemed to be the perfect fit.

Then 44, Sandusky was considered the heir apparent to Joe Paterno. He was two years removed from the Nittany Lions national championship in 1986 and had already developed seven all-American linebackers.

"He wasn't just a candidate. He was a high-profile candidate," former Temple athletic director Charlie Theokas said in an interview. "At that time, it would have been a terrific hire for us."

Theokas said he is surprised and shocked by the child sexual abuse charges brought against Sandusky. But he refused to be too critical in hindsight and said he doesn't feel fortunate that Sandusky passed on the Owls' offer.

"At the time, we had a pretty good run at a top-notch recruiter in our area, and we went after it," said Theokas. "Retrospectives can play all kinds of mind games, and I'm not even going to go there."

Before ultimately turning down their offer, Sandusky met with Theokas and former university president Peter Liacouras in State College and Philadelphia.

Theokas said Sandusky brought up his Second Mile Foundation during the meetings and told the two that it was one of the main reasons he wanted to remain at Penn State. Already aware of the program, which Sandusky had founded 11 years earlier to help disadvantaged youth, Theokas said he was willing to help it continue at Temple.

"We felt we could expand it into the Philadelphia area," Theokas said, "it being Temple's philosophy to help young people and so forth."

Theokas said the discussions with Sandusky progressed, and the athletic director believed they were close to signing him.

They exchanged finances and philosophies, and Theokas found Sandusky to be a personable man.

"It was very far from being hard-nosed," Theokas said of Sandusky's attitude. "It was Jerry Sandusky being Jerry Sandusky. We had a lot of common denominators. It just didn't work out."

After turning down the offer, Sandusky told The Inquirer that Temple didn't have quality facilities and that building a winning program would take "a little good fortune."