Silverliner IVs, the workhorse of SEPTA’s electric-powered Regional Rail fleet, were built between 1974 and 1976 — 10 presidents ago.
They were overdue for replacement, a process now underway.
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Philadelphia Democrat, announced the award of the grant on Monday. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is expected to speak about the grant at SEPTA’s Overbrook Maintenance Facility on Wednesday afternoon.
“The Silverliner IV cars have served our region for half a century, and this federal investment will help SEPTA move forward … with modern and accessible trains,” Boyle said in a statement.
The $13.3 million comes from the Rail Vehicle Replacement Grant Program, which was funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law of 2021.
SEPTA officials are reviewing bids from companies interested in building the new model, to be called the Silverliner VI, at an estimated cost of $2 billion.
The order will be for 234 new cars, which have motors and also carry passengers, spokesperson Andrew Busch said. A contract to build them could be awarded sometime this fall, he said.
The rest of the money has to be lined up. SEPTA officials say they intend to apply for a U.S. Department of Transportation loan program for part of the cost.
Transit agency rail cars are bespoke, built to each customer’s specifications. SEPTA has said it could take about seven years before the first cars begin arriving in Philadelphia.
Pulling the 50-year-old workhorses offline forced SEPTA to cancel thousands of Regional Rail trips, shorten train lengths, and sometimes bypass stations due to passenger overcrowding.
After more than two decades in the same district, veteran educator Neil Burti is starting a new job: Mount Laurel Schools superintendent.
Burti spent nearly his entire career in nearby Cherry Hill schools, rising from teacher and coach to principal and most recently director of secondary education. His stint included taking over as principal at Cherry Hill East for several months, after a shake-up stemming from a lawsuit alleging a former assistant principal was subjected to discrimination and retaliation by the board and top administrators.
He is beginning a new chapter when the school year begins Wednesday for about 4,500 students as schools chief in Mount Laurel, a pre-K through eighth-grade district in Burlington County.
Burti, 50, succeeds George Rafferty, who retired this summer after leading the district for a decade. He took over Aug. 1 under a three-year contract.
In the first few weeks on the job, Burti said he has focused primarily on meeting as many stakeholders as possible — mostly staff — and getting ready to welcome students.
For his first year, Burti, who lives in neighboring Marlton with his wife, Jessy — his college sweetheart — and their four children, plans to visit every school to meet with more students and teachers and embark on a tour “to listen, learn, and lead.”
We talked to Burti about his decision to leave Cherry Hill, his priorities for Mount Laurel, the financial challenges facing all districts amid declining state aid, and the kind of superintendent he wants to become.
Thisinterview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why was this the right time to leave Cherry Hill?
Cherry Hill provided me tremendous opportunities as a young teacher, a young administrator, and then as a seasoned veteran. Twenty-four years is a long time.
I also recognize that change is healthy. I was at a point in my career where I was looking for some type of change, some type of new challenge, I wasn’t actively seeking a job, but when this opportunity presented itself, I knew this would be a dream position. The reality is that Mount Laurel is a destination district.
It became obvious to me that this was the right opportunity, the right choice, and Mount Laurel was the right place. I’ll always miss the connection to so many former students, families, faculty, and staff.
What did your special assignment at Cherry Hill East as principal teach you that you will bring to the superintendent’s job?
I felt privileged to be able to serve as principal at Cherry Hill High School East on special assignment.
What it reinforced for me is exactly what I already know about this business: There are things that are predictable, and there are things that are unpredictable.
As leaders, we have to be ready to handle both. Whether it’s something you see coming and can prepare for or something you’re dealing with reactively, you have to be ready. You have to be confident and competent enough to address both the predictable and the unpredictable.
What are your priorities for the first year?
My goal is to listen, learn, and lead, and I feel like I need to do it in that order.
That listening and learning will ultimately guide me as I move into the leading phase of my plan. It will have everything to do with stakeholder input and the data I collect during year one as we determine together the vision for the district.
The district is focused on academic achievement, partnering with families and the notion of belonging. That’s critical to me because we know in education, there’s a big difference between fitting in and belonging.
There are also clear goals around pre-K expansion, early literacy, and algebra readiness.
New Jersey school districts are struggling to operate with reduced state aid. What are Mount Laurel’s biggest budget challenges?
The challenges in Mount Laurel are no different than the challenges in other districts in Burlington County, across the state, and really across the country.
Those challenges have everything to do with an inadequate funding formula, the rising cost of health and energy, and a national teacher shortage.
With the uncertainty of the state budget, there’s no way to predict what will happen financially if the state funding formula doesn’t adequately fund districts. At this point, I’m not aware of staffing reductions, program cuts, or larger class sizes on the horizon here in Mount Laurel. We expect to be fully staffed for all certificated positions.
A year from now, what will tell you that your first year was successful?
The great thing about Mount Laurel is that substantive work has already been done. I view my role as building on that past success while keeping an eye on future improvement.
When you’re starting the role, you’re not necessarily beginning with your legacy in mind. It will really be about long-range planning for the district.
At the end of my first year, I want to be able to say that we have looked deeply at Mount Laurel, not just in terms of our organizational structure and processes, but through the lens of the challenges facing us.
Neil Burti, new superintendent of Mount Laurel Public Schools, at Board of Education headquarters on Aug. 26. He previously was a teacher and administrator in Cherry Hill.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
On Christmas mornings while growing up in Northeast Ohio, Matt and Scott Campbell were excited to fulfill what became a yearly tradition. Most kids raced toward the Christmas tree to open presents and celebrate the holiday, but not the two brothers, who were born four years apart. They raced out the door to get a football game in, even when snow covered the ground.
Those games were one-on-one, mano a mano. Matt “had quite an impressive [size] advantage on me,” Scott said. The memory proved instructive of his older brother’s competitiveness, as Matt steps into his third college football head coaching job.
“It was not uncommon to get your favorite football jersey for a Christmas present. And then Riddell was giving out all those football uniforms that came with shoulder pads, leg pants, and helmets,” Scott Campbell told The Inquirer of his earliest football memories with Matt. “Then you go outside [to play against Matt].
“I never won these games.”
Football runs deep for the Campbells. Rick Campbell, Matt and Scott’s father, was a high school coach at Jackson High School in Massillon, Ohio, and later went into administration.
The sport quickly became the center of Matt’s life, too.
He would attend two-a-days with his dad before his school day started.
“My greatest childhood memories are being in the locker room and being on the football field with my dad, watching him lead and coach a football team,” Matt Campbell told The Inquirer in July. “I wanted to help give back and make a difference [as a coach] because so many people had done that for me.”
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From those early days in their backyard, to stops at Pittsburgh and Mount Union as a player, then coach, and several other stops before landing his highest-profile opportunity yet at Penn State, Campbell has remained the same, his former teammates, players, and coaches across his 24-year coaching career say.
“Anybody that knew younger Matt or played with him or crossed paths with him, I don’t think anybody is surprised [by] the success he’s had,” Indianapolis Colts tight end coach Tom Manning said by phone shortly after Campbell was hired at Penn State. “Obviously, he’s a very good football guy in terms of X’s and O’s, but I think the thing that makes Matt dynamic is his ability to inspire others, certainly a great teacher, but he has this ability to have a relationship with everybody that is authentic and real.
“He creates this culture of unification, of toughness, of having a chip on your shoulder. And I think that every person that’s ever played [in] his football program or coached for him, they just feel like they’re part of something a little bit bigger than themselves.”
Matt Campbell (center) makes a tackle during a game for Mount Union during his playing days.Courtesy of Cockrill’s Studio
Embracing the ‘abnormal’
Campbell, now 46, developed into a standout defensive end at Perry High School in the 1990s. Matt was coached there by Keith Wakefield, who is “as inspirational as anybody in his life,” Scott said.
Out of high school, he accepted a scholarship from Pitt, but after the team went 2-9 his freshman season in 1998, he transferred to Division III Mount Union — a move that not only defined his playing and coaching career, but moved him closer to home.
Campbell won three D-III titles from 1999 to 2002 at Mount Union, was named an All-American twice, and was the Ohio Athletic Conference defensive lineman of the year in back-to-back years in 2001 and 2002. But it was during his playing days there, under legendary coach Larry Kehres and alongside lifelong friends and coaching contemporaries, where Campbell first showed an inkling toward his future career.
Matt Campbell played defensive line at Division III school Mount Union after spending his freshman season at Pitt.Courtesy of Cockrill’s Studio
“The connection of understanding the value of ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,’ and you go back and you say, ‘Man, why? What made the great coaches that you had impactful in your life?’” Campbell said. “It was a transformational experience rather than a transactional journey. And you’re talking about two of the winningest coaches in the history of Ohio high school football, and certainly in all of college football [in Wakefield and Kehres].
“I think their greatest gift was their gift to connect … and find a way to help make their players better, because their belief [of], ‘Man, they cared about them and they wanted to have a real relationship with them.’ So I think that foundation has been huge.”
Often understated about Campbell’s background is how impactful he was on the field for the perennial title contender. His 182 assisted tackles and 55 tackles for loss rank fourth in school history, his 26 career sacks are seventh, and he is 19th in total tackles (256).
Matt Campbell played and coached at Division III Mount Union.Courtesy of Cockrill’s Studio
His on-field success, though, was anchored by film study. Campbell would know “the play that was coming by whether it was the formation or certain motions that they do into the boundaries, and he was calling the plays out,” said Scott, who joined his older brother on Mount Union’s football team in 2002. Campbell’s teammates also took notice.
“All of them knew the way that Matt prepared for football games was abnormal,” Scott said.
But what made what Matt was doing abnormal?
“I don’t think it’s uncommon for a player to be obsessed at watching film,” Scott said. “Some people get really good at honing their skills and they want to do it. It’s abnormal when they bring people along with them. So when you might get a kid, like a very talented defensive tackle … and some of these guys that he played with, they’re meeting on a Sunday night and doing hard core [film study] because they want to be ready for the next week.
“When you have gravitational pull to bring the people that either you’re leading, which we are seeing it with him as a coach, or the ones that you’re going to war with as a football player … for them to match your intensity, they were buying into that and they saw, ‘Well, Campbell’s doing that. We have to do it.’”
Added Manning, Matt’s teammate for two years at Mount Union: “He was always in the film room. He was always trying to find an edge, in terms of being a player, and he was a guy that was probably more talented than most of the people that he played, and he still had the work ethic and the attention to detail as a player that I think helped him separate himself even further.”
Matt Campbell was twice named to the College Football All-America team and named Ohio Athletic Conference’s defensive lineman of the year at Mount Union.Courtesy of Cockrill’s Studio
‘Just as authentic’
When Campbell finished his playing career at Mount Union in 2002, he went to Bowling Green to work as a graduate assistant, but returned to Mount Union in 2005 and was its offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the next two seasons.
The program won back-to-back titles, with a staff that included Eagles coach Nick Sirianni (2004 to 2005), Campbell’s college teammate and former roommate, as defensive backs coach in that first year. Connecticut coach Jason Candle (2003 to 2008), another former teammate, and Syracuse defensive coordinator Vince Kehres (2000 to 2019), Larry Kehres’ son, were on the staff both seasons.
Campbell returned to Bowling Green for two more seasons before landing at Toledo in 2009, first as an offensive line coach and run game coordinator. By 2012, he was the program’s head coach at 32 years old, making him the FBS’s youngest coach at the time.
Colts tight ends coach Tom Manning was teammates with Matt Campbell for two years at Mount Union.Phelan M. Ebenhack
What impressed Manning, who also worked at Toledo as a graduate assistant (2009) and later as its director of football operations and offensive line coach, was how quickly Campbell connected with players and recruits.
“What I really recognized the most was that he was different in recruiting, [he had a] dynamic personality, but I was always impressed, and probably what stuck out the most was that when he had recruits, whether up on campus or visiting him, he had a real relationship with a ton of kids,” Manning said. “I was like, ‘Man, I don’t understand how this guy after just a couple brief contacts, has the ability to know so much about him, have real conversations with him.’ … I knew Matt as a younger guy, and now I knew him in the professional world. I was like, ‘Man, the biggest thing about Matt is he’s just as authentic as he was the day that I met him.’”
And that started with his own teammates. Mount Union was “a player-led program,” and Campbell — along with other leaders like Sirianni, Candle, and Kehres — would open their house and “nurture the young kids because that’s the next generation of leaders in that program.”
Jason Candle followed Matt Campbell to Toledo in 2009 as slot receivers/tight ends coach.Carlos Osorio
“That’s what that whole program was,” Scott said. “It was a program that was giving way before we even knew it was giving to us.”
Matt Campbell worked closely with Candle, who followed him to Toledo in 2009 as slot receivers/tight ends coach, especially when the former assumed play-calling duties under Tim Beckman.
Candle, who considers Campbell a “true friend” and a “great mentor,” recalled the early “camaraderie of the young assistant coaches that we had at the time.”
“Lots of times you don’t get to work with or alongside with or for your college teammates,” Candle said. “And we’ve been through a lot of battles together as players and certainly as young assistant coaches. [Matt’s] been a guy that I’ve learned a lot of football from and a guy that has certainly earned the right to lead one of the top programs in the country.”
Campbell went 9-4 in his first season leading Toledo, and he compiled a 35-15 overall record before moving on to Iowa State at 36 years old.
Matt Campbell compiled a 35-15 overall record while at Toledo.Nick Wass
Campbell “surrounded himself with young and hungry people,” Manning said, particularly on his offensive staffs at Toledo — which featured future Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield, future Auburn coach Alex Golesh, and Candle. But it was Campbell “doing things the right way” and never being “anybody that he’s not” that stood out.
“Working for him is was one of the greatest experiences of my life,” said Manning, who worked with Campbell for a total of 12 years between Toledo and Iowa State. “You felt like you were doing something. … You were coaching the whole player. It was about character. It was about teaching kids attitude and effort, the ability to be consistent, and to give a little bit more themselves and to play in a unified front — that’s what he does so well.”
Matt Campbell was the head coach at Toledo from 2012 to 2015.David Richard
‘Dog mentality’
In the 10 years before Campbell took over Iowa State, the program had just one winning season and had finished with more than seven wins once since 2000.
He accomplished those milestones by Year 2. In 2017, the Cyclones went 8-5, their best record in 16 years, and upset No. 3 Oklahoma, 38-31, a memory that is forever etched in the mind of Manning, who was the team’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.
“That week, we kind of put in a whole new defense,” Manning said. “We had our middle linebacker who [also] was a quarterback. He played about 40% of the snaps at quarterback. He’s playing both ways. We got a walk-on quarterback who essentially ends up winning us the game, and [Matt’s] belief the whole week, his belief during the game, never wavered. A lot of guys tell themselves like, ‘Hey, we’re going to win this game.’ My man thought we’re going to win the game the entire week, and then we end up winning the game.
Matt Campbell became the Iowa State’s all-time winningest coach.Matthew Putney
“… And to me, it was culture over scheme. Maybe our players collectively weren’t as talented and as good, but, ‘Hey, if we’re united, we have this culture of winning, we do things the right way.’”
That unwavering belief was reflected by his players, too. Among them was former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, a four-year starter who could sense Campbell’s “loyalty” and praised his former coach “who had a vision for [him in] place.”
“Coach Campbell’s coaching style is huge on culture. It’s important because he sets up an organization that is able to withstand adversity, the good, the bad,” said Purdy, who’s now the San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback. “And it’s all about being a real team that trusts in each other, goes through things with each other. And then at the end of the day, he is going to prepare us better than anybody in the country in terms of scheme and making sure our bodies are right for a long season.”
Former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy gets a hug from Matt Campbell against TCU on Nov. 26, 2021.Charlie Neibergall
Those Iowa State teams often punched above their weight. Campbell’s highest-ranked recruiting class with the Cyclones was the Class of 2026, which was 48th before he departed for Penn State, taking much of that class with him.
Wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson, who played three seasons at Iowa State from 2020 to 22, said Campbell recruited players that were “like-minded.”
“Everybody went to Iowa State either because you were underlooked, you weren’t valued, or just people thought [other players] were better,” said Hutchinson, who’s now on the Houston Texans with four other former Cyclones who played for Campbell. “We all had like a dog mentality — and I felt like that’s Coach Campbell’s mentality. It’s like the rough side of the mountain. … He wanted guys who have something to prove and had a chip on their shoulder.”
Matt Campbell congratulates former Iowa State wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson on his touchdown against Southeast Missouri State on Sept. 3, 2022.Matthew Putney
There were plenty of highs in his 10-year run at Iowa State: Two Big 12 championship appearances (2020, 2024), the most wins in a two-year stretch (19 wins across 2024 and 2025) and double-digit wins for the first time in program history. Twelve of his 17 Associated Press Top 25 wins came in that time frame, and he became the program’s winningest coach.
Even in the down years — Campbell and Iowa State missed bowl games just twice in 10 years, once in his debut season (2016) and another in 2022 — Hutchinson says his former coach “never let the success or the failures define him as a coach.”
“He’s taken them all on the chin,” Hutchinson said. “When we’ve had the greatest success, he was there. He still had the same motto even when we started [struggling] a little bit. He was still the same guy every day. And I think when your head coach is the same guy, and he doesn’t get frazzled by the success or the failures — it’s going to bleed into the into the team.”
Matt Campbell led Iowa State to two Big 12 championship appearances.Charlie Neibergall
‘The best version of me’
Campbell will emerge from the Beaver Stadium tunnel for the first time this weekend, marking the next chapter for him and the program. His team has 24 former Iowa State players who followed him to Happy Valley.
At the root of his confidence in leading Toledo, Iowa State, and now Penn State is what he learned from his father, Wakefield, and Kehres, his coaching mentors: “Not trying to be somebody else.”
“I love learning. I love being humble and growing, but I’m just trying to be me, the best version of me,” Campbell said. “What I found is we’ve been able to build trust, loyalty, togetherness in our football program, whether it was at Toledo, whether it’s at Iowa State, and obviously that’ll be a great challenge as we build this Penn State program.
Matt Campbell during Penn State’s first practice of training camp on Aug. 5.Craig Houtz / For The Inquirer
“The attitude and the effort and the consistency to show up every day, and be able to be the same person every day, and allowing your staff and the players on the team to know exactly what they’re going to get … I think those are what I learned and took as a player and a coach from [Kehres and Wakefield], and it’s what I’ve tried to emulate everywhere I’ve been as a football coach.”
His former players, Purdy, Hutchinson, and offensive lineman James Neal III, have no doubts Campbell is ”going to give [Penn State] everything he has” to help it reach new heights. It begins with Marshall on Saturday (3:30 p.m., FS1).
Scott, who joined Wakefield at a Penn State practice on Aug. 13, says his older brother is doing “what he loves.” And it’s why he believes Campbell has sustained success throughout his career.
“If somehow you’re able to get, say, the 400, 500 people that at some point came across Matt Campbell at Mount Union College that played with him or whatever, I would probably say in the high 95 percentile range, every one of them would have told you he was going to be a head coach and a successful head coach at some point,” Scott said. “Matt’s elite trait that he has is that he is beyond competitive.
“He just doesn’t say, ‘We’re going to do this’ because why else would you do it? No. Matt envisions this and believes it. He’s not going to tell you if he doesn’t [believe it.].”
The Matt Campbell era will officially begin at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Marshall in Beaver Stadium.
It’s hard to say what Penn State could achieve this year, with plenty of new players and coaches expected to blend with the guys who stuck around.
But after spring and fall camp, there’s more of a clear picture of how this team will take shape. With that being said, here are five things to know about the Nittany Lions ahead of their 2026 campaign.
While fifth-year senior Rocco Becht isn’t one of the big names in college football this season, he’s one of the most productive returning quarterbacks.
The Iowa State transfer won 26 games as the starting quarterback for the Cyclones over the past three seasons, the most of any returning starter in the country. Becht has thrown for 9,274 yards across his career with 64 touchdowns and a 60.7% completion rate.
Rocco Becht is the winningest returning quarterback in college football.Craig Houtz / For The Inquirer
Last year was Becht’s least productive season as a starter at Iowa State — he finished with 2,584 passing yards, compared to his 3,505 in 2024. In October 2025, he suffered an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder, then in November, he tore the labrum in his left shoulder that required offseason surgery.
Now, Becht is fully healthy after being limited in the spring and ready to bounce back from his less-than-ideal campaign last year.
“I think Rocco’s in a completely different space than I’ve seen him really in his career,” Campbell said on Aug. 20. “What Rocco brings to the table is a guy that’s already gone through the highs of college football, the lows of college football. He’s been in the same system now, going into his fifth year, and he’s played at an elite clip every day.”
Iowa State influx
Campbell brought 24 players with him from Iowa State, and that doesn’t even include those from his 2026 recruiting class who wound up signing with him at Penn State.
Eleven of those transfers are projected starters, with six on offense and five on defense. Becht is the most notable, but junior safety Marcus Neal Jr., senior running back Carson Hansen, senior tight end Benjamin Brahmer, redshirt senior safety Jeremiah Cooper, and wide receivers Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen are also set for big roles.
Carson Hansen (21), a transfer from Iowa State, should play a big role in Penn State’s offense this season.Craig Houtz / For The Inquirer
Most of Penn State’s offensive coaching staff came from Iowa State as well, including offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Taylor Mouser, offensive line coach Ryan Clanton, and quarterbacks coach Jake Waters.
However, with the large contingent of former Iowa State players, the biggest question mark is whether they can adapt to playing in the Big Ten.
Manageable schedule
FanDuel has Penn State’s win total set at 9.5, as does nearly every other sportsbook. Its odds to win the national championship are plus-7000, while its odds to win the Big Ten are plus-1800.
So why do the Nittany Lions have a high win total if their odds to achieve anything of magnitude are so low?
Their schedule is incredibly favorable. Penn State avoids preseason AP Poll No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon, and No. 6 Indiana, with its three hardest matchups coming against No. 14 Southern California, No. 16 Michigan, and No. 17 Washington.
The Nittany Lions also play three of the four teams with the lowest projected win totals in Maryland (5.5), Northwestern (5.5), and Purdue (3.5), according to FanDuel. Wisconsin and Minnesota are the other two Big Ten games they’ll play, with both holding projected win totals of 6.5.
Penn State can easily go 10-2 in Campbell’s first season and would just need to win one of its three tough matchups. If that’s the case, 10 wins could be good enough to make the College Football Playoff as a Big Ten team.
Deep running back room
Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen led Penn State’s backfield for the last four seasons, so a big change is coming in 2026 as both moved on to the NFL.
Hansen, Ohio State transfer James Peoples, returning redshirt sophomore Quinton Martin Jr., and returning redshirt junior Cam Wallace will fill the room.
All four could see meaningful minutes this year, but Hansen will likely lead the way, as running backs coach Savon Huggins said he would turn to the senior in a fourth-and-1 situation.
Penn State running back James Peoples transferred in this offseason from Ohio State.Craig Houtz / For The Inquirer
Peoples, Martin, and Wallace have vastly improved this offseason, according to Huggins, but still need to be more consistent if they want to challenge Hansen for the top spot on the depth chart.
“[They] all have had success and some of them haven’t,” Huggins said. “I told them all, ‘Listen, I don’t decide [your impact], you guys do,’ and that’s the cool thing about the competition. I want to see what these other guys do, and they’ve all done a great job when they actually do that. Some of them haven’t come through, but I think it’s all learning experiences.”
Spring to fall evolution
When Penn State began spring practice, time was spent building chemistry, learning new playbooks, and forming a team identity.
Fast-forward to fall camp, defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn said players are speaking more confidently in meetings about his scheme, and Campbell said they learn more about this team “every single day.”
“We’re growing. Every single day is different,” Becht said. “For all of us, we’re just continuing to be on the same page, continuing to help make that relationship on and off the field, and continuing to grow day in and day out.”
The only good thing about preseason football is that it eventually ends. Except, this year, the NFL is forcing us to wait until the middle of September until the real games begin. Blame Roger Goodell, or blame the Romans for inventing the Julian Calendar. One thing is for sure: A lot of us will need to find somebody to blame when our significant others find out the Super Bowl is on Valentine’s Day. That, or we should all start casually dropping random comments about the romance inherent in a candlelit breakfast.
The surest sign that summer needs to end is when people start talking themselves into the Cowboys being anything different than what they are every year. In other words, it needed to end two weeks ago, when NFL.com ran a story from longtime analyst Bucky Brooks with a headline that declared: “Cowboys are True Super Bowl Contenders in 2026.”
There is a long list of reasons to doubt whether the Cowboys are, in fact, a contender. But before we dive further, let’s first remind ourselves of why it matters. For the last several years, the Cowboys have served as a bellwether of sorts for the Eagles.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles lost in Dallas 33-13, the second of five losses in their last six games to close the 2023 regular season.Heather Khalifa / Staff Photographer
Back in 2023, it was the Cowboys’ 33-13 win over the 10-2 Eagles in Dallas that served as the unofficial pronouncement that things really were going south.
You can say the same of Dallas’ 24-21 win last season, the first of a three-game losing streak that left nobody surprised when the Eagles again failed to get out of wild-card weekend.
Both of those losses were canaries in a coal mine. They also happen to be Jalen Hurts’ only two losses to Dallas since his first year as a starter. Compare them to 2024, when the Eagles won two games over the Cowboys by a combined score of 75-13, both in the midst of a stretch where they won 12 of 13 games. They won the Super Bowl that season, you may remember.
The Cowboys have always played a role in defining the Eagles’ season. I would argue the bulk of the emotional component of the rivalry has its roots back when Dallas was America’s Team and the Eagles were searching for an identity in the wake of the Buddy Ryan Era. James Willis, Mike Mamula, etc. Beating the Cowboys felt awfully good when they were a team full of talkers like Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders and Jimmy Johnson. How many Eagles from those teams do you still see on national television every week?
The dynamic has shifted. The Eagles have two Super Bowl berths in three years, two Super Bowl wins in eight. They have appeared in eight conference championships since the last time the Cowboys appeared in one. It is now Dallas that can look back on a 7-9-1 season and say that at least they helped show that the Eagles weren’t as good as everyone thought they were.
Which brings us to 2026. There are plenty of intriguing story lines confronting these Eagles as they head into another post-Super-Bowl hangover season. Hanging over all of them is one overarching question: Are they still a team that should be expecting to win games against teams like the Cowboys?
That is the litmus test, after all. The longer you look at the Eagles’ schedule, the more you realize that the strength of it depends on how you evaluate the other three teams in the division. The Eagles are 16-8 against NFC East opponents over the last four seasons. Three of those losses have come against the Cowboys, one of them with Gardner Minshew at quarterback.
The Commanders stink. If the Eagles are anything less than convincing in Week 1, we will know they have problems. The Giants suddenly have an adult in the room in John Harbaugh. But he may be the only one. The first barometer of that we can still pencil in three wins and possibly four right there. If that does not prove to be the case, then it will say something.
Cooper DeJean (right) and the Eagles’ defense will likely have to stop another formidable Cowboys offense in 2026, led by wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
The real question is whether the gap has closed or will soon close between the Eagles and Cowboys. If so, it will be due more to the lowering of the tide than the rising of it. Of the Cowboys’ seven wins last season, six came against teams that won fewer than seven games. The combined record of those teams was 21-64. The lone exception was their win over the Eagles.
Nothing about the Cowboys’ roster or coaching staff suggests they are anything different than what they have been the last five years. Twice they have finished with the NFL’s highest-scoring offense. They have been top five in either points or yards in four of those five years. Three times they have finished with a top seven scoring offense and scoring defense in the same season. Their run defense is better after the midseason addition of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. But the secondary still stinks. And the pass rush is questionable.
I suppose it says something that the gap between the Eagles and Cowboys is an open question. How can it not be after a near-loss in Week 1 and then the loss in Week 12?
Put it this way: If the Eagles are the team they should be, then it won’t be a question for long.
There are few Spanish bar snacks as satisfying — or so hotlydebated — as a properly made tortilla Española.
If you’re lingering in the hot southern cities of Andalusia, where the iconic potato-and-onion omelet is typically served room temperature or cold, the eggs are fully set.
“But from Madrid north to Basque Country, it’s traditionally made to order and served warm and custardy,” says Patrick Iselin, 50, the co-owner of BAR ilu, who spent half his childhood in Spain and now splits time between Philadelphia and the Madrid apartment once owned by his grandmother, Iluminada “Ilu” Prellezo Inchausti.
So it follows thatthe eponymousnew cornerbar at Dauphin and Martha Streets — which happen to share the 40th parallel north with Madrid — serves its tortilla Española with a loose and edgy Kensington flair: “runny af,” as noted on the menu. Served as a wedge, with olive oil-fried potato chunks and sweet onion laces bulging from its glossy middle, a warm forkful of this eggy wonder is as transporting as it gets.
Andrew Butler, chef de cuisine at BAR ilu, making the tortilla Espanola.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerThe tortilla Espanola at BAR ilu.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Wash it down with a bracingly crisp glass of La Gitana Manzanilla sherry on draft, plus a fistful of crunchy Marcona almonds, a forkful of tangy boquerones, and a crock of olives warmed with orange zest and herbs, and it’s hard to deny that BAR ilu is an appealing development for this rapidly changing corner of Kensington. It is perhaps also a little dissonant for those who know the neighborhood history. Thisstylish Euro concept, complete with its undulating circular bar and foam-topped glasses of vermouth, haslanded in a space previously occupied by the Old Philadelphia Bar, one of the last unreconstructed dive bars from what co-owner Scott Coudriet calls Kensington’s “pre-hip-storic” days.
Coudriet, who owns Fishtown’s Lloyd Whiskey Bar, is also partnered with Iselin at nearby Cormorant bar. Their other partners in ilu are Salvatore D’Amato and Jason Evenchik, whose Vintage Syndicate hospitality group operates Vintage, Starbolt, Time, Bar, three Garage locations, and the Goat Rittenhouse.
This veteran team is keenly aware of the sensitive dynamics of change at longstanding bars. That’s why Iselin was adamant about keeping prices reasonable for Kensington locals — no more than $14 a plate, and $16 for distinctive cocktails that would easily cost a few dollars more in Center City — while building this tribute to Spain in his adopted city.
The outside of BAR ilu on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerThe back bar area at BAR ilu on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Iselin wanted to craft this 40-seater with as few clichés as possible (no hanging hams, no toro horns, no sangria), but rather the feel of a modern tapas bar he might frequent in Madrid today. He had no idea he was also tapping into the latest evolutionary trend for the Philadelphia bar.
Twenty years ago, the smoky old taverns of yore were being replaced by the gastropub movement of the early aughts, where local craft beers flowed and house charcuterie and pickle programs anchored ambitious seasonal menus that gave a cool new vibe to the neighborhood restaurant. In some cases, they helped redefine the neighborhoods themselves.
Philly’s bar scene is now officially in its grazing phase, with curated drink menus centered around culinary cocktails, natural wines, and nonalcoholic drinks with food offerings often so limited that a hungry fellow like me might need to order three-quarters of the menu to make a meal. Supérette, the charming French wine bar beside East Passyunk’s Singing Fountain, captured this development perfectly in 2025. Owners Chloé Grigri and Vincent Stipo described these snack-centric bars as a “generational thing” for 30-somethings who want a stylish place to hang for in-between meals with friends without committing to an entire evening.
Co-owners Patrick Iselin and Scott Coudriet of BAR ilu, pose for a portrait together on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerThe La Gitana Manzanilla Sherry at BAR ilu on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
A similar approach is at work through a Japanese lens at Almanac, the cutting-edge Japanese cocktail bar (with Wagyu hot dogs and kombu-cured celery sticks) above the omakase room at Ogawa. The food menu at Chris Kearse’s new cocktail bar in Washington Square West, Known Associates, lists only a dozen items, counting the cool ranch freeze-dried peas. Same with the recently opened Lillian’s Bar in Point Breeze.As Chris Fetfatzes told me about Grace & Proper, the Portuguese-inspired bar with “tasca” nibbles he debuted in 2022, this template — a distinctive drink program bolstered by a small menu that can be produced with limited service and light kitchen investment (i.e. no hood) — makes perfect business sense in the post-COVID era.
Of course, the Spanish have been doing this for centuries with tapas, a light-bite evening repast that reflects their cultural preference for a larger meal earlier in the day. And yes, Amada has been serving tapas here for 20 years, but always alongsidea much broader menu with large plates and paellas.
Considering all the new small-plate projects that have come online recently, including Bar Cicci, Ellen Yin’s all-day aperitivo bar, Philadelphians may have finally embraced the concept on its own snacky terms.
The front bar at BAR ilu, 2118 E. Dauphin St.Michael Klein / StaffThe various plates including The Boquerones, Melon with Ham, the Tuna Empanada, Tomato Salad, Almonds, and Olives at BAR ilu on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
BAR ilu has a slightly more substantial food menu than most.And part of its appeal is the natural ease with which it blends a Kenzo vibe (seethe mismatched thrifter style of its floral-print wallpaper, black tin ceiling, and teal barstools) with an inventive drink program and classic Spanish plates lightly updated by chef Andrew Butler.
Fig leaf oil adds a shade of coconut-vanilla to a familiar pairing of juicy cantaloupe with shaved serrano ham. Smoked olive oil brings a whiff of earthiness to ripe summer tomatoes with cucumbers and piquillo peppers. A juicy burger topped with Manchego cheese, pickled red onions, and aioli firmly anchors the menu with one can’t-miss comfort option that even the least Spanish-inclined customer will embrace.
But the Spanish flavors, both on the plate and in the glasses, are what have me hooked. Aside from the tortilla, there’s a double-crusted Galician-style empanada stuffed with tuna and cooked-down tomate frito. Plump head-on gambas al ajillo take on a flicker of chili oilheat. Crisp spheres of perfectly fried croquetas harbor lusciously creamy béchamel centers flecked with serrano ham or, my favorite, salty flakes of bacalao.
A Tuna Empanada at BAR ilu on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerPat Szoke, culinary director, and Andrew Butler, chef de cuisine, at BAR ilu.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
There were a few misfires. The patatas bravas were pale and lacking crisp. The flattened confit artichoke heart was mushy. The seared mushrooms were oversalted. But these were minor complaints compared to winners like the crusty bocadillo sandwich overstuffed with paprika-fried baby squid drizzled with lemony aioli and more tomate frito. Along with some tiny olives stuffed with briny anchovy, every morsel seemed deliberately calibrated to stoke a thirst.
I especially enjoyed BAR ilu’screative approach to sherry and vermouth, both in cocktails and poured neat. A crisp Manzanilla, already one of my favorite predinner quaffs in summer, added a bracing dryness to Cynar amaro and gin for Remember the Alimony. Vanilla-scented Licor 43 from Spain pairs with chilled Cafe Bustelo for a carajillo whose pebble ice is dusted with coffee-orange powder, and is now one of my top five coffee cocktails in the city.
The Carajillo at BAR ilu on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
The Fire Drill is a refreshing tropical blast of passion fruit swirling in mezcal smoke, with an herbal whiff of Lo-Fi gentian amaro to counter the fruity sweetness. A whole Granny Smith apple is juiced to order forthe simpleBooze & Juice, paired with the spirit of your choice (make it mezcal).
Meanwhile, unless you order a glass of dark, sweet-tangy Pedro Ximenez to cap your meal, try the Barquero vermut on draft and top it with orange foam, a combo that tastes like flat Coke dolloped with an orange-creamsicle cloud. There is actual dessert here, too: a perfectly fine almond cake with macerated peaches and cream. But that foamed vermouth was satisfyingly herbal, sweet, and mysterious — and one of the best things I drank all summer.
The Vermouth with Orange foam at BAR ilu on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Philadelphia.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerThe Bifana sandwich as served at Grace & Proper in Queen Village Wednesday, Mar. 8, 2023.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Grace & Proper
If BAR ilu represents a modern interpretation of tapas culture in Philly, the vintage vibes at Grace & Proper’s Italian Market space reflect a different take on Iberian bar culture, this one influenced by the Portuguese roots of co-owner Chris Fetfatzes’ family.
Fetfatzes, his wife, Heather Annechiarico, and their Happy Monday Hospitality partner Susan Freeman, who also own Wine Dive and Sonnys Cocktail Joint, leaned into the antique charm of the distressed tin ceiling, tiled floor, and exposed brick walls that wereuncovered during renovations of the old pharmacy (and Italian deli) that once occupied this corner space at Eighth and Carpenter. Fetfatzes was hoping to create the cocktail counterpart to Fountain Porter, the 14-year-old craft beer destination in East Passyunk known for its $7 burgers and pickles that, perhaps, helped mark the beginning of the minimalist-nibble bar.
Given Grace & Proper’s compact space, with just 15 barstools and 26 table seats sidled into window banquettes (plus 30 more outside in fair weather), it’s amazing how its 200-bottle collection of amari, vermouths, ports, whiskeys, Madeiras, sherries, agave spirits, and indie Euro wines somehow fits into the tall shelves behind the bar. If you’re a fan of funky Asturian cider, there’s a proper porrón carafe to stream it directly into your mouth from an arm’s length away, ideally while watching Premier League or MLS soccer. Or try the Philly-Portugal Lisbon Wide hybrid, a draft of Super Bock Portuguese lager paired with a shot of ginjinha, a house-made cordial steeped from Morello sour cherries harvestedin Northeast Philadelphia.
The Lisbon Wide is Grace & Proper’s Portuguese twist on a Citywide, pairing Super Bock beer with housemade Ginjinha sour cherry liqueur.Craig LaBan / StaffThe Meat & Chips at Grace and Proper on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023.Allie Ippolito / Staff Photographer
Grace & Proper doesn’t post a food menu online, but it’s substantial enough to anchor your table for a couple hours of snacking, from an irresistible pile of truffled potato chips feathered with spicy Calabrese salami to soulful onion soup infused with port and lardo, a crock of white bean stew with kale and breadcrumbs, piri piri-spiked Buffalo chicken dip, and sweet-tart-smoky bacon-wrapped prunes with black garlic aioli.
I didn’t care for the overly firm meatballs and their unbalanced blackberry romesco or, for that matter, the presentation of cheeses as crumbled nuggets. But these are all quibbles. Because there is really a single essential reason to visit Grace & Proper: the bifana, a classic sandwich of wine-marinated roast pork on a molete roll from Teixeira’s Bakery in Newark that comes perched over a paprika-orange pool of zesty gravy. Equal parts lemony, garlicky, winey, and scented with bay, that roasted pork essence is so good, the gravy is also offered as a chaser to the Piggy Backshot (oloroso sherry and Armagnac).
All you’ll need after that is a custardy sweet pastel de nata (also baked by Teixera’s, according to G&P’s recipe) and what might well be the best crema-topped shot of espresso at any bar in Philly. Grace & Proper is one of the precious few that actually adds fresh-pulled coffee to its espresso martinis, but I still prefer this coffee solo. I value the energy boost because, in these days of no-commitment sip-and-nibble bars, I’ve still got places to go.
The Pastéis de Nata at Grace and Proper on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023.Allie Ippolito / Staff PhotographerVintage details of the former pharmacy and Italian deli have been preserved to add character to the bar at Grace & Proper.Craig LaBan / Staff
Menu available 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday through Thursday; 4 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Bar is open 4 p.m. to midnight Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday; 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Plates, $4-$14.
Dining room is wheelchair accessible via a ramp off rear of building off Martha Street. Bathrooms are not accessible.
Not ideal for gluten-free diners, aside from some small snacks.
Menu highlights: croquetas (ham and bacalao); anchovy-stuffed olives; serrano ham and chips; tortilla Española; ham and melon; cheeseburger; gambas al ajillo.
Drinks: Cocktails built around sherry and vermouth are the most distinctive opening move, while straight fortified wines on draft, including La Gitana Manzanilla or Barquero vermut with orange foam, are also highlights. There are also 10 affordable Spanish wines by the glass.
Menu served 4 p.m. till midnight Monday, Wednesday, Thursday; noon to midnight Friday through Sunday. Bar is open till 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Plates, $7-$15.
Not wheelchair accessible.
About 40% of the menu is gluten-free or can be modified.
Menu highlights: bifana; bacon-wrapped plums; salami and truffled chips; Porto lardo onion soup; pasteis de nata.
Drinks: The vast 200-bottle collection is a sipper’s delight, from amari to fortified wines, extensive whiskies, and a surprising agave spirits collection. Don’t miss creative cocktails made with the company’s new house-distilled spirits, including a Chartreuse-inspired “Green Monk” or the ginjinha cordial, steeped from Northeast Philly sour cherries, served in the Lisbon Wide as a sidecar to a draft of Super Bock.
One last long weekend. That’s all that’s left before summer gives way to homework, soccer practice, and school-night bedtime.
Luckily, Labor Day weekend is packed with ways to squeeze in one more family adventure. Roller-skate along the waterfront, watch fireworks with Elmo, catch the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, explore a blockbuster museum exhibit, or wander through hundreds of whimsical scarecrows.
Here are the best family-friendly things to do around Philadelphia this Labor Day weekend.
Independence Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest
Celebrate one last weekend of summer at Penn’s Landing before Summerfest closes for the season. Families can roller-skate, play mini golf, ride the Ferris wheel, visit the retro arcade, and grab classic boardwalk treats along the waterfront.
📆 Through Sept. 7, 📍101 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, 🌐 delawareriverwaterfront.com, 💵 Free entry; attractions ticketed
Dwayne King of Philadelphia relaxes in a hammock at Spruce Street Harbor Park.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Spruce Street Harbor Park
Kick back in colorful hammocks, enjoy waterfront views, or hop aboard a swan boat or Chiliboat adventure at Penn’s Landing. Grab an ice cream, play lawn games, and soak up one more summer day along the Delaware River.
📆 Daily, 📍301 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, 🌐 delawareriverwaterfront.com, 💵 Free entry; activities pay as you go
Cannstatter Volksfest
The 154th annual Cannstatter Volksfest celebrates German heritage with live music, folk dancing, amusement rides, games, and plenty of traditional food and drink. It’s one of Philadelphia’s longest-running Labor Day weekend traditions.
Members of the Tamburitzans dance group perform during the 50th annual Polish American Family Festival and Country Fair at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa on Sept. 6, 2015 in Doylestown.Cain Images
Polish American Festival and Country Fair
Head to Doylestown for a weekend of Polish food, folk dancing, carnival rides, live entertainment, and cultural exhibits celebrating Polish heritage. Be sure to save room for pierogi and potato pancakes.
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner watches his solo home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 29 at Citizens Bank Park.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Phillies vs. Braves
Spend Labor Day weekend at Citizens Bank Park as the Phillies host the Atlanta Braves for a four-game series. Choose from evening games Friday and Saturday or afternoon first pitches Sunday and Labor Day.
Mimi Hacking, narrative artist, seen next to the stained glass window made by James Shuster at the Ministry of Awe in Philadelphia on March 11.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Ministry of Awe
Philadelphia’s immersive art experience invites visitors to explore six floors of interactive installations, puzzles, secret passageways, and surreal works by more than 100 local artists inside a restored Old City bank. Older kids and teens will especially enjoy uncovering the venue’s hidden mysteries.
📆 Labor Day weekend (times vary), 📍27 N. Third St., Philadelphia, 🌐 moaphilly.org, 💵 Ticketed
Museum of the American Revolution
Kids 12 and under receive free admission all Labor Day weekend. Families can explore the hands-on Revolution Place discovery center, meet living historians, enjoy crafts and gallery talks, and experience “The Declaration’s Journey,” the museum’s newest exhibition tracing the global impact of the Declaration of Independence.
📆 Sept. 5-7, 📍101 S. Third St., Philadelphia, 🌐 amrevmuseum.org, 💵 Adults $24, Youth 6-17 $13, Free ages 12 and under (in-museum purchase only)
Kame Paige (left) and her aunt Brittiny Stewart have fun at the new exhibit at the Franklin Institute that pays homage to Universal’s theme parks.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition
Catch the final weekend of this world-premiere exhibition before it closes Sept. 7. Families can explore more than 100 artifacts and 20 hands-on interactives that reveal the storytelling, engineering, and technology behind Universal’s iconic theme parks.
📆 Through Sept. 7, 📍The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St., Philadelphia, 🌐 fi.edu, 💵 Included with museum admission
Sesame Place Labor Day Celebration
Celebrate Labor Day weekend with Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, and friends dressed in their patriotic best for America’s 250th birthday. Stick around Sunday night for the park’s “C Is for Celebrate” fireworks spectacular.
Be among the first to stroll through Peddler’s Village as more than 100 handmade scarecrows go on display for the season. Vote for your favorite creations while exploring the shops, restaurants, and brick pathways throughout the Bucks County destination.
📆 Sept. 7 — Oct. 26, 📍2400 Street Rd., New Hope, Pa., 🌐 peddlersvillage.com, 💵 Free
Philadelphia Labor Day 10 Mile, 10K, and 5K
Make signs and cheer on runners as they race along closed streets through the heart of Philadelphia, starting and finishing at the Rocky Steps. Even if your family isn’t participating, the lively finish-line atmosphere makes this an easy outing to pair with breakfast or lunch nearby.
📆 Sept. 7, 📍Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., Philadelphia, 🌐 phillylabordayrun.com, 💵 Free to watch; registration required to race
‘Let Freedom Ring’
Visit Cherry Street Pier to see — and hear — Paul Ramírez Jonas’ monumental interactive installation. After a bell tower plays “My Country ’Tis of Thee” without its final note, visitors can ring the 600-pound bell themselves and share what freedom means to them.
📆 Through Sept. 27 during pier hours, 📍Cherry Street Pier, 121 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, 🌐 delawareriverwaterfront.com, 💵 Free
Michael Idriss, a historian at the museum, and his character, Cyrus Bustill, at the Museum of the American Revolution on June 18.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
‘The Declaration’s Journey’
Travel through 250 years of history in this multimedia exhibition exploring how the Declaration of Independence influenced more than 100 independence movements worldwide. Families can collect passport stamps, complete a scavenger hunt, handle replica objects, and try on clothing inspired by suffragists and civil rights demonstrators.
📆 Through Jan. 3, 2027, 📍Museum of the American Revolution, 101 S. Third St., Philadelphia, 🌐 amrevmuseum.org, 💵 Included with museum admission
To help Sixers followers get acquainted with the newcomers on this revamped roster, The Inquirer reached out to reporters who covered those players on their previous teams.
Next up is The Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede, who covered veteran 3-and-D wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope during his 2024-25 stint with the Orlando Magic, where he played before joining the Memphis Grizzlies via trade for the 2025-26 season.
Gina Mizell: Given that you saw up close how the Magic’s praised 2024 signing of Caldwell-Pope did not work out as anticipated, what should the Sixers reasonably expect out of him at this point in his career? Why didn’t it work out with a win-now Orlando team, after championship-winning stints with the Nuggets and Lakers?
Jason Beede: Given where Caldwell-Pope is at in his career and the amount of talent on the Sixers’ roster, I would anticipate him to be a trustworthy bench piece who can also start in a pinch. He actually remained relatively healthy during his one year with the Magic (started in all of his 77 regular season appearances) but only played 51 games this past season with the Grizzlies, starting just 14. I think one of the main reasons it didn’t work out with the Magic is that the fit wasn’t quite right. Orlando needed KCP’s toughness on defense and championship experience in the locker room but the team required more shooting from him.
To be sure, all of Orlando’s offensive issues certainly did not fall on KCP, but he also wasn’t as much of a solution from three-point range as they had hoped. With Philadelphia, if KCP can return to being a true 3-and-D veteran piece off the bench and consistently knock down his looks from distance while offering stout defense, he can be an underrated part of the roster. Playing alongside LeBron James again and joining forces with the likes of Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid, generating those looks for KCP shouldn’t be too challenging on a nightly basis. He just has to hit them.
GM: What most contributed to his shooting drop-off with the Magic, besides no longer receiving open looks while playing off Nikola Jokic?
JB: It didn’t help anyone on Orlando’s roster, but especially a newcomer like Caldwell-Pope, that, five games into his first and only season with the Magic, All-Star forward Paolo Banchero suffered an oblique injury that kept him off the court for multiple months. Then Franz Wagner missed a stretch of 20 games because of the same injury, and eventually Jalen Suggs was shut down at the start of February 2025 because of a knee injury.
New Sixers forward Kentavious Caldwell-Pope defends Jaylen Brown, who will now be his teammate. Charles Krupa
Orlando’s opening night starting lineup of Banchero, Wagner, Suggs, Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr. only played six total games together (82 minutes) across the 2024-25 season. Without the starting lineup together regularly, Caldwell-Pope found himself needing to adjust to tons of different lineups throughout the season, and I’m not sure if he ever grew comfortable with finding his shot in Orlando’s offense because of that.
To his credit, he shot 39.2% from three-point range across the final 44 games of the season. But for the season overall, he still shot his worst three-point percentage (34.2%) since his third season in the NBA (30.9% in 2015-16 with Detroit).
GM: Where do you think that championship experience will most rub off on these Sixers? How frequently did he reference/talk about his time playing alongside James, and what did he share about that experience?
JB: I would say Caldwell-Pope’s championship experience will show up down the stretch of the regular season and into the postseason the most. I remember during Orlando’s first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics, in 2025, that Caldwell-Pope turned his toughness up a notch and seemingly became a villain on the court in the eyes of Boston fans because of the way he was defending against guys like Brown and Jayson Tatum.
I don’t believe KCP is a big “rah-rah” speech sort of guy, but rather lets his play and demeanor speak for itself. He understands his role on a team and he’ll work his hardest at what’s asked of him. As for his relationship with James, I don’t personally remember him talking about it a lot. I also am not sure if we asked him about James a ton either. But I do recall him talking about his championship experience, especially with his teammates. Some of the guys, including Banchero, referred to KCP as “champ” in the locker room, and it was clear they respected and listened to him when he did speak up to the group.
GM: Besides James, are there any Sixers teammates/lineups/etc. you think Caldwell-Pope’s skill set will complement particularly well in his expected bench role?
JB: This might not be the flashiest answer, but I’m curious to see how often Caldwell-Pope will play alongside Dean Wade off the bench. I’ve often thought the Magic could use a player like Wade, if not Wade himself, as a veteran power forward that fits what they like.
Both players are tough-nosed, gritty defenders and have the ability to knock down open threes when given the chance. Of course, Wade has been more consistent at that in recent years, but those two players next to each other could provide the Sixers with a spark off the bench on both sides of the floor. The two can help space the floor and set the tone on the defensive end of the court.
GM: How else would you describe Caldwell-Pope as a teammate and locker-room presence?
JB: KCP was a great teammate for a young Magic squad, and while he won’t be remembered fondly in Orlando, I think he’ll be welcomed back with open arms by a lot of his former teammates when Philadelphia comes to town. For context, he actually attended one of Orlando’s playoff games against the Pistons this past postseason (another Eastern Conference team he played for at the start of his career) and he sat courtside for the game at Kia Center.
New Sixers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, right, warms up before a game against the Portland Trail Blazers.Molly J. Smith
For a number of reasons, it just didn’t work out for him with the Magic. That said, Caldwell-Pope is a great person with a beautiful family who will provide a key perspective on how to be a good person and a great player that lasts long in this league for the Sixers locker room. His performance on the court will determine how successful his reunion with James will ultimately be, but I have no doubt he’ll contribute in more ways than one in Philadelphia, even when his shot isn’t falling.
If you perceive that the Philadelphia region has had an extraordinary number of flood events this summer, you are not hallucinating.
The National Weather Service in Mount Holly has set a record for issuing flood warnings this year with 147 in its coverage area from Delaware to northern New Jersey, including 76 in the Philadelphia region,and monthly records in July and August. And an Inquirer analysis documented that among 2,200 U.S. counties, Philly and six of its neighboring counties rank in the top 25 for warnings issued this year, most of which have been followed by actual floods.
In addition, with four months to go, The Inquirer analysis found, the region already has had nearly triple the annual average for flood warnings, during the 18 years in which it has been using its current methodology.
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All this without a whiff of a tropical-storm remnant, and the region still emerging from drought conditions.
The skies keep opening randomly, with no regard to what’s below, whether it be the most affluent communities, the likes of Upper Makefield Township, in Bucks County, to the cities of Camden and Chester, where 30% of the residents live in poverty.
George Wilson, emergency management chief in Bucks, which ranked in the top 10 for warnings, said “battle fatigue” among rescue workers is only a piece of the flooding ordeals, which empty into days of damage assessments and recovery assistance.
Just what the generous rains and the repeated “ring of fire” thunderstorms might have to do with the warming planet eludes certainty, said Sarah Johnson, the very busy warning coordination meteorologist in Mount Holly. Other factors, including improved radar and on-the-ground observations, likely have been factors in the increase of flooding reports, she said.
Johnson noted that given the lack of any tropical involvement — unlike 2020, and 2021, the year of Ida — this year’s numbers would be “pretty unusual.”
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But if this has been a window into the future, said Dominick Mireles, Philadelphia’s deputy managing director of community safety, “We got a lot of experience this summer.”
What explains the onslaught
NASA estimates that rising temperatures across the planet have resulted in more evaporation and added about 7% additional water vapor to the air since the late 19th century.
Closer to home, it is possible that a pulse of above-normal sea-surface temperatures in June off the Mid-Atlantic coast, a key source of moisture for Philadelphia and the rest of the Northeast, may have added juice to the downpours, said Chad Merrill, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.
The Northeast Regional Climate Center, in Ithaca, N.Y., reported that stations from Washington, D.C., to Massachusetts had rainfall far above normal from July 1 to Aug. 15.
As was the case this week, the I-95 corridor frequently has been on the edge of heat-producing high pressure, a hot spot for “ring of fire” thunderstorms to wring out the moisture.
The New York City weather service office had its second-busiest July for flood warnings and third-busiest August in data that covers the last 40 years, said Samantha Borisoff, researcher at the climate center.
Mount Holly’s numbers were triple those of New York’s.
What might explain why the Philadelphia region would be an atmospheric punching bag?
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The best guess would by nature’s caprice, say meteorologists and emergency managers. Nothing personal: Flooding is a reality of life in a heavily urbanized area near so many bodies of water.
Very simply, “Flooding does happen in Philadelphia and throughout the Delaware Valley,” said Mireles. And much of it is the result of downpours that can target their ferocity to small geographic areas at any time.
A tragic example of atmospheric randomness was the 2023 deluge in Upper Makefield that killed seven people. Radar images showed most of the county didn’t experience a raindrop. The official total at Philadelphia International Airport that day was 0.00.
What are some of the region’s prime trouble spots
The Inquirer data show downpours rarely strike the same precise locations, which isn’t surprising given the small areal scale of most thunderstorms, and the region is short on flood-free zones.
Parts of all eight counties at some point have been deluge targets, according to weather service storm reports.
However, several general areas throughout the region have been flooded frequently, Upper Makefield being a prime example.
“We know River Road at certain points in Upper Makefield, they are going to flood,” said Wilson, as well as Station Avenue, at the lower end of the county in Bensalem Township. “That road has been a problem for all 52 years I have been alive.”
Germantown is among areas of Philly that historically has been flood prone, said Mireles. On the Camden flood honor roll would be Third Street, Cooper Street, and Admiral Wilson Boulevard
The Brandywine Creek has been a scenic gem in Chester County, but also a prolific source of flooding in places such as Downingtown and Kennett Square, noted Kelly Tinsman, the county’s deputy director for emergency management.
However, as would be the case throughout the region, “localized flash flooding … can quickly create response demands even in areas that not considered high-risk flood zones,” Tinsman said.
Are flood warnings reliable?
Emergency managers say they have had an excellent relationship with the weather service, which sends out email briefings when severe weather is threatening, sometimes days in advance.
However, they say they also realize that in the duel between science and atmospheric chaos, the smart money is on chaos.
“Weather predictions are just predictions,” said Joseph Hales, Camden County chief fire marshal and emergency management coordinator.
The weather service’s Johnson said that warnings preceded more than 90% of verified floods from 2017 through 2025. However, the false-alarm rate — warnings issued for floods that didn’t occur — was 38%.
Better to be warned than surprised, Hales said.
“We experience less issues and less calls for service with the storms that are predicted,” he said. People are less likely to be out and about taunting nature. The pop-up storms that catch people off guard are more problematic.
“For me, the moral of the story,” said Mireles, is that flooding happens, “warning, not warning; historical flood area or not.”
If you spent the summer out of town (or off the grid), you may have missed a busy few months on the restaurant scene. Philadelphia-area newcomers include a Milan-inspired aperitivo bar in Rittenhouse, Japanese barbecue on the Main Line, and two corner bars in Point Breeze.
Here are 12 noteworthy restaurants that opened in the last few months.
Academy Grill (424 S. Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington): This white-tablecloth restaurant in the former Cantina Feliz near Germantown Academy serves house-made pastas, seafood, steaks, and contemporary American dishes in a polished, decidedly grown-up setting.
Bánh xèo at Anh Em, 1252 S. 21st St.Michael Klein / Staff
Anh Em (1252 S. 21st St.): Pho, bánh xèo, and 24 local beers meet at Anh Em, a Vietnamese bar-restaurant at 21st and Titan Streets in Point Breeze from Victor Nguyen and Anna Huynh. Nguyen draws on dishes the husband-and-wife team grew up eating, while the 20-seat bar gives the neighborhood spot an unusually deep commitment to locally brewed beer.
Bar Cicci (1620 Sansom St.): Ellen Yin’s 30-seat, Milan-inspired spot starts with espresso and Italian pastries, moves into sandwiches at lunch, then shifts to spritzes, wine, cicchetti, and small plates at night. The Rittenhouse newcomer is High Street Hospitality’s take on northern Italy’s all-day aperitivo culture.
Bluebird Distilling in Phoenixville.Photos courtesy of Ed Newton
Bluebird Distilling & Dough House (100 Bridge St., Phoenixville): A $2.2 million investment turned Bluebird’s Bridge Street distillery into a full-fledged restaurant. Executive chef Devon Migeot, whose resumé includes Zahav and Laser Wolf, centers the expanded food program on naturally fermented neo-Neapolitan pizzas, house-baked breads, shareable plates, and, naturally, Bluebird cocktails.
Silenia and John Rhoads, owners of the Buttery in Bryn Mawr.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
The Buttery (836 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr): John and Silenia Rhoads’ third location is an 82-seat bakery-cafe on Lancaster Avenue, where the Malvern-incepted operation’s sourdough breads and house-made pastries share the menu with breakfast dishes, sandwiches, and seasonal fare from its all-day scratch kitchen.
Known Associates at 10th and Spruce Streets.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Known Associates ( 941 Spruce St.): Chef Christopher Kearse’s Washington Square West cocktail bar does not treat the food as an afterthought. The former Varga Bar at 10th and Spruce is a 40-seat room where cocktails accompany a concise, European-influenced menu of a dozen savory dishes.
Lillian’s at 19th and Mifflin Streets.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Lillian’s (1900 S. 19th St.): Even the chef isn’t permanent at Sam Ahern’s parlorlike cocktail bar/bistro at 19th and Mifflin Streets, whose kitchen rotates among guest chefs. The residency model gives each cook a temporary restaurant within the restaurant — and gives this Point Breeze newcomer an ever-changing menu.
Saif Manna works on a pavlova at Manna Bakery.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Manna Bakery (110 W. Berks St.): Five years and countless farmers market appearances later, Saif Manna’s Temple dorm room project has moved into the former Essen Bakery in Kensington. Manna draws on his Palestinian heritage for Levantine pastries and savory dishes in a comfy cafe setting.
Mr. Edison in the Bellevue Hotel.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Mr. Edison (1400 Walnut St.): There’s a Ferris wheel carrying liquor behind the bar at Mr. Edison, which gives some idea of the production. Veteran restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow’s Philadelphia debut is a theatrical Bellevue supper club where chef Matt Levin’s cooking shares a two-story room with live music, dramatic lighting, and plenty of visual spectacle.
Ogyu Japanese BBQ in Ardmore.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Ogyu Japanese BBQ (60 Greenfield Ave., Ardmore): Sam Li turned Ardmore’s former Iron Hill Brewery into a sprawling yakiniku restaurant built around the grill at each table. Diners cook wagyu and other meats themselves — or enlist a server — choosing among fixed-price packages and à la carte options in a dramatically remodeled space with private dining rooms and a full bar.
The latke, egg, and cheese sandwich at Schmaltz.Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer
Schmaltz (1300 S. 18th St.): This Jewish-inspired breakfast-and-lunch cafe serves latkes, cheese blintzes, egg sandwiches — and no bagels. Jeremy Asch and Abby Armstrong opened the Point Breeze corner spot with chef Sam Chertock, whose deliberately compact menu includes latke, egg, and cheese sandwiches on house-baked English muffins.
Outdoor dining at Soufiane at the Morris.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Soufiane at the Morris (225 S. Eighth St.): The 1787 Morris House provides a peaceful backdrop for Soufiane Boutliliss’ French-Moroccan cooking, served in a secluded stone courtyard shaded by magnolias and dogwoods in Washington Square West. This is the second restaurant from the Moroccan-raised Boutliliss and husband Christophe Mathon of Sofi Corner Cafe.
