Background
Templeton was born in Helena, Montana, and attended Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, California.
athletics competitor rugby union player
Templeton was born in Helena, Montana, and attended Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, California.
He attended Stanford University, where he played on the football and rugby union teams.
He received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford. In 1920, Templeton was on the United States Olympic team in rugby and the long jump. He was handicapped in his best event, the high jump, because he normally used the Western roll jumping style, which was considered illegal at that time.
In 1922, Templeton returned to Stanford as its track coach, a position he held until 1939.
He was noted at the time for conducting intensive daily practices, an uncommon practice at that time. He later coached at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Templeton also had a career as a journalist and broadcaster.
Foreign his coaching, he was inducted into the United States of America Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1976, and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition of his coaching and as a football player.