Rice football has two new coaches on the offensive side of the ball, both of which were promoted from within the program by head coach Mike Bloomgren.
Finding the right culture fit has been extremely important for Mike Bloomgren when he’s made staffing decisions for Rice football. Last year he replaced one assistant — Pete Lembo — promoting Mike Kershaw from within the organization and reassigning roles to fill the spot. When given the choice between starting fresh and finding someone capable within, Bloomgren has made his preferences clear.
This offseason has seen similar changes. Rice looked internally to replace offensive line coach Joe Ashfield and tight ends coach Bill Best. The result of those discussions were the promotion of two coaches already on the Rice football staff. Offensive quality control coach Chris Monfiletto will be named the tight ends coach. Offensive graduate assistant Sanders Davis will be named the offensive line coach.
Davis joined the Rice staff in 2019 after serving as the offensive line coach and the run game coordinator for Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, LA. Prior to that, he played his college ball at Dartmouth as a center from 2010 to 2013. Monfiletto also joined Rice in 2019. Prior to his work as a quality control assistant, he served as the head coach at Kenyon College from 2012 to 2018. Both men did well in off-field roles, earning their respective shots at on-field roles in 2020.
The addition of those two brings the Rice staff back to full strength, rounding out their assistant staff at 10. Monfiletto has already been on the road, joining the staff on their late-January recruiting push along with Rice Football Director of Recruiting Alex Brown.
Now with a complete staff, Rice football returns to the field. Spring ball is underway and the new coaches will be a part of the festivities.
