Temple hires two offensive football assistants from Northern Illinois

A day after hiring three defensive assistant coaches from Northern Illinois University, new Temple football coach Rod Carey hired two on the offensive side of the ball from NIU.

Carey was the head coach at Northern Illinois the previous six seasons before being hired by Temple to replace Manny Diaz on Friday. Diaz had replaced Geoff Collins, who resigned after two seasons to become the Georgia Tech coach, but left to become head coach at Miami after only 18 days with Temple.

The new offensive coaches for the Owls are Craig Harmon and Joe Tripodi. Carey has said after the staff is completed, he will announce the positions each will coach.

Harmon was the quarterbacks coach at NIU since 2016 and served previously as tight ends/fullbacks coach and special-teams coordinator. He also coached at Quincy, St. Francis, Georgia State, and Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Tripodi began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at NIU in 2010. Since 2016 he has been the offensive line coach and running game coordinator.

On Tuesday, Temple announced the hiring of three defensive coaches from NIU: Jeff Knowles, Melvin Rice, and Walter Stewart. Knowles, who The Inquirer and Daily News reported last week would be hired, is expected to be co-defensive coordinator. He was defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at NIU this past season. Rice coached cornerbacks at NIU and Stewart was the defensive line coach.

Besides the coaches from NIU, Carey is expected to retain the four coaches hired by Diaz -- two from Temple’s staff, along with former Temple coach Fran Brown and St. Joseph’s Prep coach Gabe Infante,

Brown, who coached four seasons at Temple and has been an assistant the last two years at Baylor, was hired by Diaz as assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator. He is expected to keep those jobs. Ed Foley, who was Temple’s special-teams coach and tight ends coach, is expected to have the same duties.

Adam DiMichele, who was Temple’s quarterbacks and inside receivers coach and recruiting coordinator-offense, is expected to be retained, but his job title isn’t known yet.

Infante has said he will be coaching running backs.

One name to watch as a potential hire is NIU offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich, although he is expected to interview for the NIU head coaching job, according to a source.