Shortly after Pittsburgh escaped with a 29-22 win over Temple on Saturday, custom dictated that Panther coach Walt Harris walk to midfield for a handshake with his counterpart, Bobby Wallace.

Instead, Harris first feverishly sought Dan Klecko — Temple’s captain and senior defensive end — to deliver an important message.

‘I went over to him after the game,’ Harris said. ‘I told him, ‘I’m so glad you’re done.’ ‘

Six other Big East coaches share that sentiment. Klecko has wreaked havoc on opposing offenses for four years, piling up 23 sacks and earning respect from coaches.

‘If he’s not a first-team All-American, then I haven’t seen one,’ West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. ‘He plays the game like you would want every one of your players to play.’

‘He is the best defensive player in this league and one of the best defensive linemen in the country,’ Harris said. ‘He is outstanding.’

Whether he lines up at rush end or elsewhere on the defensive line, Klecko gives offenses nightmares. He’s not annoying like a fly. Closer to threatening like a bee.

‘We’ve had problems blocking him for four years,’ Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said. ‘Every time I’ve watched, no matter who he plays, they have problems blocking him.’

While praise rains from Big East rivals, Klecko remains relatively unknown outside the conference. Playing for Temple, Klecko resides off the college football map, though his skills warrant their own zip code.

Still, the humble defensive lineman ignores his lack of national recognition.

‘The highest respect you can get are compliments from the coaches in your league,’ Klecko said. ‘They’re the ones who actually see you play.’

‘His exposure is limited,’ Wallace said. ‘We’re not on TV quite as much as other teams. Our success is not one that usually helps kids win awards, and that’s a shame. His play definitely deserves that opportunity.’

Klecko is finally beginning to receive the accolades he deserves. He was unanimously chosen for last year’s all-conference squad. This season, he is on four national watch lists: the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Outstanding Defensive Player), Outland Trophy (Outstanding Interior Lineman), Rotary Lombardi Award (Outstanding Lineman) and Ted Hendricks Award (Outstanding Defensive End).

If college football had a most-valuable-player award, Klecko would be a strong candidate for that, too. He has been the heart of Temple’s team, taking a porous defense that was perennially ranked in the 100s nationally to No. 27.

‘Even though we fell short of our bowl game, we made Temple a team you always have to come play against,’ Klecko said. ‘There’s no more just showing up for Temple. You have to come to play. There’s a moral victory in that.’

‘He’s probably more valuable to (Temple) than maybe any other player in the league to their team,’ Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. ‘Their defense operates around him.”

Klecko’s ability is part work ethic and part pedigree. His father, Joe, also played at Temple, from 1973-76, before becoming part of the four-member ‘New York Sack Exchange’ with Mark Gastineau as a New York Jet. The elder Klecko played 12 seasons in the National Football League, earning four All-Pro selections.

‘It’s great to carry on some kind of tradition here with my dad,’ said Klecko, who wears the same No. 73 his father wore. ‘It’s a blessing.

‘My whole game is modeled after him. I have good techniques. I’ve learned things from my father, things that NFL guys use.’

Soon, Klecko may be using those techniques against NFL players. At 6 feet 1 inch and 278 pounds, he is slightly undersized for an NFL defensive lineman. But his work ethic — along with a 520-pound max bench press and 34.5-inch vertical leap — makes up for any shortcomings.

When Klecko departs to play on Sundays, seven coaches will eagerly wave goodbye. But there’s one who will miss the talented defensive end.

‘Dan’s one of the outstanding players in the country,’ Wallace said, ‘and an outstanding person.’

***

Morgantown turnaround

No celestial oddities occurred last year, but West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez swears a few extra days were tacked on to the 2001 calendar.

‘It was an extremely long year for me, both personally and professionally,’ Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez endured a tumultuous first season at WVU, going 3-8 in replacing the legendary Don Nehlen. The Morgantown, W.Va., faithful voiced their disapproval of the new coach’s wide-open offense, adding to Rodriguez’s dismay.

This season, Rodriguez has engineered a rapid turnaround. By tweaking his offense into a unique spread attack that emphasizes power running, Rodriguez has turned his team from a 3-8 disappointment to a 7-3 bowl-bound program that still has an outside shot at the Big East title.

‘The biggest key goes back to the attitude of the young men in this program,’ Rodriguez said. ‘We don’t feel we’re that far off of what we were doing. We thought the attitude we had changed a little bit. Our seniors are a great senior class.’

Especially running back Avon Cobourne. He’s No. 3 in rushing in the nation with 1,409 yards. Using Cobourne, running back Quincy Wilson and agile quarterback Rasheed Marshall in the spread-running offense, the Mountaineers are the second-best rushing team in the nation with 294.9 yards per game.

‘The expectations were probably too high for us last year, and this year, they were a little bit lower, rightfully so,’ Rodriguez said. ‘I thought we’d be better. I didn’t know we’d recover this quick. It’s a tribute to the young men and the coaches that we’ve been able to do it.’

***

Silencing their critics

From the outside, pundits declared the end of Miami’s reign. The sky was falling on college football’s latest dynasty, they said.

But Miami’s players and coaches never bought into the Chicken Little Theory.

‘My feeling personally was I couldn’t understand why after winning games, we were losing in the polls,’ Miami offensive line coach Art Kehoe said. ‘All the friends and family members of all our players and coaches were saying, ‘Hey, what’s wrong with you guys?’ We were telling them, ‘We’re fine.’ ‘

After Saturday’s 26-3 victory at Tennessee, Miami’s detractors are convinced as well. The Hurricanes are back where they belong, atop the Associated Press and coaches’ polls, garnering every first place vote.

This weekend was the most important of Miami’s season. Not only did the Hurricanes solidify their standing, but Oklahoma’s loss at Texas A&M likely ensured that if the ‘Canes win out, they’ll have a spot in the national championship. Previously, the Sooners were slated to play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl per the Bowl Championship Series’ standings.

‘(Head coach) Larry (Coker) has been so consistent with our players about the next opponent is our focus,’ Kehoe said. ‘If you let your mind wander real bad things will happen. You look around the country, and it’s so hard to predict what’s going to happen from week to week. You just take of your business.’

***

This and that

Coker may have proved his team to be healed of its problems, but the same couldn’t be said for himself. On Monday, he underwent a small surgical procedure on his knee that forced him to miss his weekly teleconference. Coker is cleared to coach next Thursday against Pitt. … After a grueling season, Harris received a small respite Sunday because the Panthers won’t play against until next Thursday. So what did Harris do on his day off? Go to a Steelers game, of course. ‘It’s really fun to watch a football game while not having to feel responsible and not living and dying with every (play),’ Harris said. … Temple’s loss to Pitt, in which it outgained and outplayed the Panthers, officially eliminated it from bowl contention at 3-7. … Virginia Tech’s Ernest Wilford was named Big East Offensive Player of the Week, setting a conference record with 279 yards receiving against Syracuse. Pittsburgh’s Brian Beinecke earned defensive honors for his 19 tackles, and West Virginia’s James Davis won the special teams award. … Weekly shot at Ken Dorsey: For any Heisman voters who want to give their nod to the Miami quarterback because of his 35-1 record as a starter, ask yourself: With all the talent on Miami’s roster, would that record be any worse if Byron Leftwich were calling the Hurricanes’ signals?

Published on November 12, 2002 at 12:00 pm