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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with a USF Insider

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USF is next up on the 2024 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Bulls’ insider Seth Varnadore from the Bay Area Examiner.

Bulls’ insider Seth Varnadore was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and USF. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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“I Know the Road Map”: Rice Football head coach Scott Abell makes strong debut

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Scott Abell has officially been named the next Rice Football head coach and while he’s new to the job, he doesn’t feel like he’s starting over.

Donning a cowboy hat for the first time, a gift from an enthusiastic supporter, newly appointed Rice football head coach Scott Abell never allowed his confident demeanor to waiver during his introductory press conference on Wednesday afternoon. While he’s new to the state, the Owls headman has an understanding of the program he’s inheriting. In his eyes, he’s seen this rodeo before.

“This is my strength. I’ve witnessed this,” he said. “I’ve walked this walk for seven years.”

Rice hired Abell from Davidson, a high-academic institution in North Carolina with a striking number of similarities to Rice. Like Rice, Davidson competes in what Abell called “a league that wasn’t like us,” in the midst of other institutions which didn’t face the same academic hurdles.

“He has a proven track record of success at multiple places where it has historically been difficult to win. He is a program builder who has established and maintained a winning culture at every step of his illustrious career,” Athletic Director Tommy McClelland said during his introductory remarks.

“This is my strength.
I’ve witnessed this.
I’ve walked this walk.”

Davidson, like Rice, had also been a place where it was historically hard to win. Both programs sit below .500 all-time in their football records. Abell left Davidson as the winningest coach in program history, pushing his winning clip past .600 with room to spare. He knows what it’s like to win at a place that’s hard to win.

And given those constraints, Abell’s operated under the assumption that places like that have to look at things from a different vantage point.

“You can’t do what everyone else does. You have to do something a little unique and you have to be specific about it,” he said. “And that’s really what we’ll bring here, offensively. It gets a lot of people involved. It’s exciting to watch. We typically score a lot of points. That’s not the goal. The goal is to win football games. And the offense will allow us to control aspects of the game that way.”

Roost Pod: Rice Football hires Scott Abell as its next head coach

Abell was speaking about his offensive scheme, a gun option system that draws influence from the triple option, zone read and run-pass option concepts that have grown and developed in the sport over time. It’s fast-paced, explosive and has allowed his teams to lead Division I in rushing “virtually every year,” a mark Abell quickly corrected to be six of the previous seven seasons.

His next task will be doing performing that resuscitation for Rice football. McClelland, the man who has tasked Abell with this work, has full confidence that Abell can indeed do it again.

“Winning is not easy. It does not matter where you are, it is hard,” McClelland said. “Winning consistently and at multiple places and at multiple levels is not a fluke.”

And so a new chapter in Rice football history begins. When Abell arrived at Davidson, the Wildcats hadn’t beaten a Division I opponent in almost five years. The cupboard isn’t quite that bare at South Main and thus, the expectations are elevated, albeit fairly reasonable.

Abell expects his team will “play high caliber football” in Year One. “I expect us to win football games. And as we get into the season we’re gonna challenge to compete at the top of our conference,” he said.”

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Those games are more than nine months away. First, Abell has to build a staff, sign a recruiting class and do so many other things to ensure Rice football begins his tenure on the right foot. The good news for Abell? He doesn’t feel like he’s starting from scratch.

“I know the roadmap. I’ve seen this happen,” Abell said. “We’ve been able to dream and accomplish things where really people didn’t think it was possible.”

“Knowing that I understood that road map. Understanding the uniqueness that comes with Rice football, where we fit in our conference. I just thought it was an ideal fit for Scott Abell.”

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Rice Football 2024: USF presser quotes and depth chart

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Next up for Rice football: South Florida. Here’s what interim head coach Pete Alamar had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.

Interim head coach Pete Alamar and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the UAB game and then looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with South Florida. Additionally, it was announced that defensive coordinator Brian Smith was named a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant.

More: Rice Football to name Scott Abell 20th head coach

We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

This week’s Senior Day. Not only is the last home game, but it’s out last game. There’s going to be a large group of seniors who are going to play the last football that they’ll ever play in their life… This game is a great game but at some point the game tells you its time to put your helmet up and you don’t get the chance to do it again. – Interim head coach Pete Alamar on Senior Day

The last five weeks have been freaking awesome. I mean, it was a tough situation, you come in and replace a very good friend, but the opportunity to lead the guys that are in this program, to have a staff that has worked as hard as our staff, has been really cool. When you do something for 40 years, you build a lot of memories, but the last five weeks of memories will far outshine so many other ones. – Interim head coach Pete Alamar on his experience as interim head coach

Obviously there’s a lot surrounding, but here’s the thing. You gotta look at where we’re at. We’re the 2024 Rice Owls. Anything that’s going around right now has to do with the 2025 and beyond Rice Owls. We need to compartmentalize that and remember that it’s our family. We’re going to talk about that today and how to deal with that and handle that… We’re going to quiet the noise and just go play and we’re going to enjoy every minute of it. Because you only get so many shots. – Interim head coach Pete Alamar on the noise surrounding the program right now

Love the process because results come and go. You can get discouraged if you put in all the work and you might not get the result, but the process is where you find the joy and it’s where you build the memories. It’s where you build the brotherhood that you’re going to have for the rest of your life. It teaches you the necessary lessons that you have to learn like showing up every single day, working together for a cause. Enjoying the process, what goes into the winning, is going to help you in all aspects of life. – Linebacker Chike Anigbogu on his advice to future Owls

It’s not just another game. I mean, it’s the last football game you might ever play. [You have to] make sure that you leave it all out on the field, leaving nothing behind, but definitely not changing up your process. There’s a reason we’ve all gotten to this point that we’re out now and if you try and change things up that usually doesn’t go well, so just continue with what you do but realizing that this game means a lot to a lot of people.- Running back Dean Connors on Senior Day

Depth Chart

Depth Chart Notes

There were no changes to the two-deep this week. If you haven’t yet, this is a good reminder to subscribe on Patreon to get access to our notes later in the week pertaining to Saturday availability, the coaching search and more.

And in case you haven’t heard… Rice football has a new head coach! We broke the news here and reacted on the podcast here.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 193 – Rice Football hires Scott Abell

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Rice Football has a new head coach! The Owls went off the board a bit, nabbing Scott Abell from Davidson and bringing is gun option scheme to South Main.

It’s time for Rice football to zig while others zag. The Owls are hiring Scott Abell from Davidson who has extensive experience running a gun option scheme that has been near the tops of the nation in rushing success for the past several seasons. What will that look like at Rice and how do we feel about this hire? Spoiler alert: it’s an exciting swing we think is worth taking.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 193.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

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Rice Football hires Scott Abell

  • Discord members were in the know first, susbcribe today!
  • Who is Scott Abell and why is Rice hiring him?
  • Abell’s offensive scheme
  • Experience at Davidson and it’s comp to Rice football
  • Evaluating the hire and what it means for the trajectory of the program

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The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Davidson’s Scott Abell to be named next Rice Football Head Coach

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Following an extensive national search, Scott Abell, current head coach at Davidson, is expected to be named the next Rice Football head coach.

Scott Abell will be the next head coach of Rice Football, sources tell The Roost. Abell has spent the last seven years at the helm of Davidson which plays in the FCS Division of college football. While with the Wildcats, Abell won the Pioneer League twice (2020, 2021) and owns the best winning percentage in program history.

Who is Scott Abell?

The now former head coach at Davidson, and Washington and Lee before that, is set to become the 20th head coach in Rice football history. While he’s never coached at the FBS level, Abell has delivered historic results at multiple stops along the way.

As the head coach of DIII Washington and Lee, Abell led the Generals to three DIII Playoff appearances — they’ve been to just six in program history. He then moved up to Davidson where he’s produced one of the most dynamic, exciting offenses in the country over the last seven years.

Abell runs a gun option which has consistently produced one of the nation’s top rushing attacks year over year, including the second ranked rushing offense in the nation this year and the No. 1 rushing offense in 2023. Last season, Abell’s Wildcats led all of FCS in scoring offense (40.0 points per game) averaging 463 yards per game while ranking in the top 15 nationally in passing efficiency and red zone offense.

Why Scott Abell?

This isn’t a one-year decision, it’s a body-of-work decision. Abell has built a perennial contender at a place where it’s hard to win. Since 1970, Davidson teams had won seven or more games four times before Abell arrived. He’s accomplished that feat four times in the last six seasons.

Davidson is a small private school in a state with plenty of Blue Blood programs. The academic requirements are extensive, even when compared to the challenges Rice football faces on the recruiting front. Before Abell had arrived the Wildcats hadn’t won a conference title in more than 50 years nor been to the postseason. Abell did both, multiple times.

The bet is pretty straightforward, if Abell can win with extremely limited resources, what happens when Rice opens the spigot and enables him to complement his offensive mind with the financial backing to bring those dreams to fruition? The challenges shared by Davidson and Rice are remarkably similar. The Owls hope Abell’s conference-winning results will be, too.

What They’re Saying

After spending time with Scott throughout this process, it was clear that we had found the right leader for our program. He has had an immediate impact on every program he has coached and is passionate about developing winners on and off the field. He is the right person to lead Rice football into a new era of success. I am thrilled to welcome Scott and his family to Rice. – Rice AD Tommy McClelland

I am incredibly honored and humbled to be the named the next head football coach at Rice University. I want to thank President DesRoches, Athletic Director Tommy McClelland, and his staff for their trust and confidence in me and my family.  I cannot imagine a more ideal time or fit for myself, my family, and the future of Rice Football.  Today begins the journey, as we pursue championships.  Go Owls! – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell

An introductory press conference is set to be held Wednesday, November 27 at 11:00 a.m.

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