The source for Rice sports news
Head Coach: Tom Herman
Record at School: 0-0 (1 Yr) | Career FBS Record 54-22 (6 Yr)
Offensive Coordinator: Charlie Frye | Defensive Coordinator: Roc Bellantoni
Few position rooms seemed as nebulous entering the 2023 Rice football season as the safety position. The unit returns just one starter, albeit a good one in Gabe Taylor, placing a large portion of the needed production on relatively new faces. Who rises to the challenge and what does it mean for the defense this season?
This piece is part of our 2023 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.
Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren summed it up rather well in his comments following the Owls’ 10th fall camp practice. “I’ve done this too long to be surprised that the defense is ahead at scrimmage number one,” he remarked, going on to reiterate his confidence in the offense and the growth of the team as a whole.
This practice report will dig into what the defense did well as well as identify some of the key problems the offense had. There’s a lot to improve before Rice football hosts its second scrimmage next week.
Keeping track of eligibility and positions can be challenging and there wasn’t one single source that had the most up-to-date information — now there is. In addition to the roster tracker and as a complement to the roster, which has been updated to account for all the final additions and changes with the start of camp, this grid tracks every Rice football player by position and classification. Position changes from last season and/or the spring are also detailed below.
This piece is part of our 2023 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.
For the first time in several seasons, quarterback is not at the top of the fall camp “to-do” list for the Rice football coaching staff as they work to formalize a depth chart heading into the season. That is a major win at this point in the calendar, but it doesn’t mean the work is done. Rice has several position groups without clearly defined answers. Here’s where those stand as camp gets underway.