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Baker relishes Temple's turnaround


On Wednesday evening, I spent about 15 minutes chatting with Central York offensive coordinator Matt Baker and his son, sophomore quarterback Brandon Baker, for a feature on the pair.

Toward the tail end of our conversation, I asked Matt Baker, a former quarterback at Temple, what he thought about the Owls resurgent 2009 season (Temple is 8-2). At which point he bought up an interesting fact I didn't know.

Turns out the last time the Owls had a winning season before this year was the 1990 campaign -- Baker's senior year at the school. Temple went 7-4 that season with Baker at the helm.

"In one aspect, I'm proud of that," Baker said. "But in the other aspect, it's disappointing that it's taken this long."

Baker made quite a name for himself in the area, first as a standout quarterback at Central York and then with the Owls. He was named to the AP All-East team in 1990.

That success has stuck with him. After Wednesday's practice, a fellow coach on the Central staff jokingly referred to him as "Coach Golden Boy."

Speaking of Golden, Baker had plenty of good things to say about Temple coach Al Golden. (Let's all pause to admire that transition). Golden has turned Temple around in his four seasons, and Baker said he's gotten a chance to meet the coach a few times.

"Coach Golden has done a great job. He really has," Baker said. "He has worked his tail off there.

"He's a good guy. He's done a good job. Hopefully he'll stay there. He's had some success so you know how they come knocking on the door."

Of course, this Temple squad includes a former Central standout as well. Wayne Tribue is a sophomore guard with the Owls. Two other Temple players hail from the area -- receiver Matt Brookhart and defensive back Matt Duncan are freshman walk-ons and former players at Spring Grove.