The source for Rice sports news

BREAKING: Jack Fox to be Detroit Lions starting punter

By

Former Rice football punter Jack Fox has won his first pro punting job, beating out competitor Aaron Siposs to become the Detroit Lions punter.

It’s been a remarkable journey for former Rice Football punter Jack Fox. From high school football in Missouri to college ball in Texas, Fox has moved around the country and back again hoping for one of 32 coveted NFL jobs. After years of striving, those dreams have come true, Jack Fox has won the starting punting job for the Detroit Lions per Dave Birkett.

The Lions will likely cut punter competitor Aaron Siposs this week as part of their end of camp roster cuts. The team will have to trim down their roster to 53 prior to their season-opening game against the Bears of Sunday, Sept. 13. When Fox takes the field on that day, he’ll punt in a regular season game for the first time in his career.

Prior to settling in with the Lions, Fox signed with Kansas City following the 2019 NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent. He was cut from the Chiefs’ practice squad and drafted by an XFL team before ultimately signing a futures deal with the Lions and entering their punting competition.

Fox spent this offseason training with current and former NFL specialists. In spite of the challenges of working out without a gym in the midst of a pandemic, he found a way to continue to push himself to improve. While with Detriot, he’ll likely handle kickoffs and holds for field goals, as well as his duties as the team’s primary punter.

Check out our recent interview with newly minted Lions punter Jack Fox who jumping on The Roost Podcast in late August to talk about the competition and his offseason. The interview begins at 22:34. He breaks down what it’s like to battle for a job in training camp, what he’s learned during the offseason and more.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

The Roost Podcast | Ep 49 – College Football returns and C-USA Odds

By

Actual college football happened this week. Carter and Matthew breakdown the impact of Austin Peay vs Central Arkansas and discuss C-USA title odds.

We’re a month away from Rice football’s 2020 debut, but college football has officially begun. Austin Peay and Central Arkansas kicked off the fall season last week in a game that might have more impact on the rest of the sport as a whole than it would in other years.

Carter and Matthew examine the circumstances surrounding what was an extremely unusual game and what ripple effects could impact Rice, Conference USA and the national landscape of the sport.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 49.

Episode 49 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Schedule news and other updates are coming fast and furious. Make sure you hit the button and subscribe on Patreon so you don’t miss what’s happening behind the scenes. As always, thanks to all of you who have followed the show on Twitter and left a review on iTunes. It’s quick, but it makes a difference.

Become a Patron!

  • College Football is back
    • COVID-19 impacts first game of the season between Austin Peay and Central Arkansas
    • Could Austin Peay’s missing players be a sign of things to come?
    • Two very different schedules highlight what is destined to be a strange season
  • Conference USA odds and Rice outlook
    • Oddsmakers are split on the Owls. What are realistic expectations for the team in this truncated season?
    • Can this team reach the Conference USA Championship game?
    • How do we evaluate this season?

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football Recruiting: First glimpse at 2022 recruits of interest

By

The 2022 Rice Football Recruiting class officially has players “on our radar”. Who are they and what should we make of these new names?

September 1 marked the first day of permissible contact for the Rice Football recruiting staff and the class of 2022. If you follow The Roost on Twitter (and you should), you saw a flurry of graphics that looked similar to this one.

If you scroll through the feed, you’ll see more than 30 posts from 2022 players who were contacted by the staff on Tuesday. I saved you some time and compiled all of those names in the doc below. I’ve also attached 247 Profile pages where applicable and highlight links. If this looks familiar, that’s how the Offer Tracker is structured.

I won’t keep you from the list, but I did want to make a few observations first.

1. These aren’t offers

Rice is uber-selective with their offers. The Owls are three months from the Early Signing Period for the 2021 recruiting class and they’ve only handed out 56 offers to that class. Rice will be equally choosy with this next wave of athletes. Now, being “on our radar” this early is a good indicator that some of these players will get offered down the road, but as of Tuesday evening, these should all be viewed as players of interest.

2. Quarterbacks lead the way

It’s no mistake you’ll see seven quarterbacks listed below. Rice has yet to recruit, develop and establish a starting quarterback under Mike Bloomgren. So far it’s been an array of transfers that have had most of the success. JoVoni Johnson could be that guy. So too could current commit Shawqi Itraish. But make no mistake, Rice is going to aim high at quarterback in 2022.

3. Quiet in the secondary

Rice probably won’t need to hit the secondary too hard in 2022. They have a young core at the safety position and corner already on campus with a pair of safeties committed in the 2021 class. With three freshmen corners in the 2020 class, Rice will probably opt to focus moreso on the defensive front this go around, something evident in the 10 defensive linemen featured on the list.

4. Texan based with out-of-state flavor

The Owls have done a good job maintaining a Texas base while still developing roots out of state. 21 of the 34 players on the list play in Texas. Out-of-state players hail from Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, South Carolina and Virginia.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

The Roost Podcast | Ep 48 – Jack Fox interview and Special Teams Preview

By

The final episode in our three-part 2020 Rice Football season previews, Carter and Matthew discuss the Rice Football special teams and catch up with Jack Fox.

The start of the 2020 Rice Football season has been delayed. Rice will no longer play Lamar on Sept. 26 (Find out more about the schedule and the potential ripple effects of that decision on our Patreon page). But when they do play, podcast listeners will have ample insight on the roster.

This week Carter and Matthew catch up with former Rice punter and current Detroit Lion Jack Fox. He told us about his offseason, what he learned in the punter conclave in Birmingham, Alabama and how he’s approaching the battle for the starting job with the Lions. We also covered the specialists at Rice and what to expect from that unit on the field in 2020.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 48.

Episode 48 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Schedule news and other updates are coming fast and furious. Make sure you hit the button and subscribe on Patreon so you don’t miss what’s happening behind the scenes. As always, thanks to all of you who have followed the show on Twitter and left a review on iTunes. It’s quick, but it makes a difference.

Become a Patron!

  • Rice Football Special Teams Preview
    • Punter Charlie Mendes – Unproven, but has done well in preseason and practices. Will have to learn to be consistent in live-game situations, but the ability is there.
    • Kicker Collin Riccitelli – Stanford transfer once compared to Joe Burrow. No, he’s not winning the Heisman, but Riccitelli should find success at Rice after sitting behind All-Pac12 honoree Jet Toner.
    • Long snapper Cam Riddle – Jack Fox said Phil Steele doesn’t know what he’s talking about if he ranked Riddle lower than No. 1 in C-USA. (Steele had him No. 2)
    • NCAA weighing eligibility ruling: Proposition would allow all athletes an extra year of eligibility regardless of how many games they play in the 2020-2021 academic year.
  • Jack Fox interview: Jack updated us on…
    • What training for an NFL job looks like in the midst of a pandemic, including a gathering of pro punters in Birmingham, Alabama. The punter conclave (or rendevous as Jack called it) helped hone his game to prepare for the fall
    • Intricacies of punting that go through his head while he punts that casual observers might never consider
    • What he’s learned from Year 1 to Year 2 and his confidence heading into another competition

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football announces 2020 schedule, game times and tv info

By

The 2020 Rice Football schedule has start times and TV information. With kickoff approaching, here’s where you can watch the Owls this season.

All currently scheduled Rice games are expected to be televised on Saturdays on either ESPN3 or ESPN+. You can subscribe to ESPN+ here.

Conference USA games will be broadcast on a combination of several media platforms including ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN+, CBS Sports Network and Stadium. Nonconference games could be featured on other networks depending on affiliations of the host broadcast partners.

Listen Now: Check out our Rice Football season preview episodes on The Roost Podcast

The 2020 C-USA Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5. It will be aired on CBS Sports Network with a kickoff time to be announced at a later date.

Rice is scheduled to begin their season on Saturday, Oct. 3 againast Marshall. Their home opener is slated for the following weekend against UAB at 6:00 p.m. The remainder of the home games will be afternoon kickoffs.

The entirety of the C-USA schedule is available here. Southern Miss is the first C-USA team scheduled to play this season. They will host South Alabama on Thursday, Sept. 9 on CBS Sports Network. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. CT.

Here’s the 2020 Rice Football schedule

10/3 @Marshall ESPN3/+ 1:00 p.m. CT
10/10 UAB ESPN3/+ 6:00 p.m. CT
10/24 Middle Tenn ESPN3/+ 2:30 p.m. CT
10/31 @So. Miss ESPN3/+ 2:00 p.m. CT
11/7 UTSA ESPN3/+ 2:30 p.m. CT
11/14 @LA Tech ESPN3/+ 2:30 p.m. CT
11/21 @North Texas ESPN3/+ 1:00 p.m. CT
11/28 UTEP ESPN3/+ 12:00 p.m. CT

Whether there is football this fall or not, there’s going to be plenty to process as everyone works to find a new equilibrium in college sports. Stay current on those updates and following the always-active recruiting cycle by subscribing to The Roost on Patreon today.

Become a Patron!

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts