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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 221 – Rice Football Season Review and Signing Day Recap

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As we close the book on the 2025 Rice Football regular season, we review learnings from the year, signing day and what might be next for the program moving forward.

Rice football finishes the regular season 5-7 with a big win over UConn and many reasons for optimism. On this week’s show, we talk through how we got here, what we probably should have seen coming and what else might be in the future for the Owls with head coach Scott Abell at the helm.

We talked through it all. You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 221.

Episode Notes

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Rice Football 2025 Regular Season and Early Signing Period Recap

  • The 2025 Rice Football team overachieved vs expectations
  • Scheme shifts are hard, and it’ll probably stay that way
  • This roster wasn’t as good as we had it hoped it would be
  • What additional benefits might consistency bring next season and beyond
  • Rice flips a player from Baylor, inks highest rated recruiting class in program history

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s College Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner. If it’s happening in college football in Texas, we’re talking about it. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Rice Football Recruiting: DL Chris Knauls commits to Owls

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The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class just keeps adding more playmakers during the Early Signing Period. Defensive lineman Chris Knauls has committed to the Owls.

Months ago, Chris Knauls was one of the top targets in the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class but the timing wasn’t right. Knauls made plans to sign with Michigan State before the coaching change opened the door for further conversations with Rice. Those progressed over the past week and are paying off now. Knauls has committed to the Owls.

Knauls will be one of the highest-rated players in the Owls’ class and had a long list of interested suitors before initially settling with the Spartans. The Frisco Lone Star product had offers from Texas Tech, Indiana, Houston, Utah, Kansas State, Tulane, Boise State, Cal, Colorado and a host of others. He’s one of a growing list of players to pick the Owls over a choice of Power conference programs.

With Knauls accounted for, the class now boasts seven defensive linemen, including a pair of rush ends. Knauls is the second new addition this week to the defensive front, joining JUCO signee Brock Reddic, who made things offer on Wednesday.

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There’s so much to love with Knauls on tape. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound is quick on his feet and versatile, something that Rice will certainly take advantage of when he arrives on South Main. His length will make him problematic for opposing quarterbacks.

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The Latest on Rice Football and a Potential Bowl Opportunity

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The 2025 Rice Football season may not be over after all. Here’s what I’m hearing about a potential path for the Owls to play in a bowl game this year.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking Down the 2026 Signees – Defense, Special Teams

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The 2026 Rice Football Recruiting class includes several hand-picked impact players on defense and special teams. Here’s how those sides of the ball stacks up.

The 2026 Rice football recruiting class began with 18 signees during the Early Signing Period, the second recruiting haul for new head coach Scott Abell. Of those players, 16 are current high school seniors, eight play on the offensive side of the ball, plus one specialist.

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“I think we have found some great future Owls who are going to have an impact on our program,” Abell said during his introductory remarks regarding the group.

We’ve gone position by position breaking down each of those new people, dissecting how these Owls will help the program on the field.

* Denotes players who will enroll early in January

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** This piece has been updated to reflect new signees as of 2/5/2025 **
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Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking Down the 2026 Signees – Offense

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The 2026 Rice Football Recruiting class includes several hand-picked impact players on offense. Here’s how that side of the ball stacks up.

The 2026 Rice football recruiting class began with 18 signees during the Early Signing Period, the second recruiting haul for new head coach Scott Abell. Of those players, 16 are current high school seniors and nine play on the offensive side of the ball.

BLACK FRIDAY DEAL: Get 25% off an Annual Subscription to The Roost with code RBF2025

“I think we have found some great future Owls who are going to have an impact on our program,” Abell said during his introductory remarks regarding the group.

We’ve gone position by position breaking down each of those new people, dissecting how these Owls will help the program on the field.

* Denotes players who will enroll early in January

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
** This piece has been updated to reflect new signees as of 12/3/2025 **
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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