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Memphis football has sky-high expectations in 2024. Are those reasonable? The Tigers have a high-flying offense, questions on defense and a dearth of NIL money set aside to help solve those problems. Rivals’ Bryan Moss of the Tiger Sports Report gives us a rundown of the Tigers and their place in the AAC pecking order this season.
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Head Coach: Brian Newberry
Record at School: 5-7 (1 Yr) | Career Record 5-7 (1 Yr)
Offensive Coordinator: Drew Cronic
Defensive Coordinators: PJ Volker
This piece is part of our 2024 Rice Football Season Preview. Get access to it, as well as all other preview posts such as positional breakdowns, depth chart and schedule analysis and more when you subscribe on Patreon today or sign up for our free trial.
Head Coach: Jeff Traylor
Record at School: 39-14 (4 Yr) | Career FBS Record 39-14 (4 Yr)
Offensive Coordinator: Justin Burke | Defensive Coordinator: Jess Loepp
The 2025 Rice football recruiting class includes a commitment from players at almost every position on both sides of the ball, but until recently, it did not include any specialists. That changed this week. Kicker Landon Shaffer has committed to the Owls.
Rice was the first to offer Shaffer following a standout performance at camp this summer. The offer was a rarity for the Owls, who have only extended formal scholarship offers to a select few group of specialists since head coach Mike Bloomgren arrived on campus. This has been a position fueled, primarily, by walk-ons. Shaffer bucked the trend by proving himself worth the investment in time and resources.
Beyond the offer itself, Shaffer cited his relationship with the Rice coaching staff as the driving force behind his commitment, specifically citing his connection with special teams coordinator Peter Alamar. “He really has a lot of knowledge on my position and on top of that, he’s an amazing person,” Shaffer told The Roost.
Shaffer said the plan for the time being is for him to focus on placekicking and kickoffs, two facets of his game he feels he does best, although he’s open to handling punting duties too if called upon.
“I’m excited to be a part of what’s building in Houston,” he said.
The film is exactly what you’d expect from a kicker: lots of balls going through the posts. Shaffer demonstrates accuracy from both hashes as well as plenty of distance, drilling a 50-yard try to open his highlights. There’s some kickoff tape in there as well. Ultimately, this is a position judged first and foremost by consistency. The talent is there, though, and if Shaffer can showcase it with regularity the Owls might have just found their solution at the position for years to come.