The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class is in the books and head coach Scott Abell couldn’t be more excited about this newest crop of Owls.
Inking the 2025 Rice Football Recruiting class has been top of mind for head coach Scott Abell since he was hired roughly two months ago. Abell is still in the process of moving and only recently got his car to Houston, joking about this nomadic life over the last few weeks that centered around Rice Football and this incoming group of athletes.
“Year one, for everyone, you’re really laying a foundation for what it’s going to look like moving forward and you’re creating the energy behind that,” Abell said. “The most important resource behind all those things are people and the most important people in our program are the athletes. Attracting the right recruits here, the right people [is] imperative. It’s the most important thing we do.”
Abell was formally able to introduce those athletes on Thursday, officially welcoming 10 new signees to bring his 2025 class total to 22 high school players and eight transfers with room for a few more at the conclusion of the spring semester. Those adds get the Owls’ roster near 100 players for spring ball and, Abell hopes, will set his staff and this program up for success.
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In Abell’s eyes, the defining characteristics of this class are three fold. First and foremost, the group includes 17 Texas High School Football players, underscoring Abell’s adamant declaration that starting with local talent from the state’s established programs will be the bedrock for this program.
Then, when it came to descriptors of the types of players in that group, Abell pointed to two things: the trenches and team speed.
“We desperately were in need of adding depth and building for the future up front on both sides,” Abell remarked. “I think winning football in the trenches is the most important thing and we will focus on that year and year out and that shows up in this recruiting class.”
The Owls signed 11 such players: five high school offensive lineman, one transfer offensive linemen, four high school defensive linemen (counting rush end DeReyon Jenkins Jr.) and one transfer on that side. Rice also holds commitments from one more transfer in each group which should arrive in the summer.
As for speed, the phrase “who can really run” was repeated when describing multiple players and position groups. “I think it’s important to put players on the field who can run at all levels on both sides,” Abell said. “I think we did a great job of doing that.”
Spring football is just a few weeks away. Soon enough, Abell and his staff will get to see what these players look like inside the white lines on South Main. Even as much as Abell admittedly adores speed, that day can’t come quickly enough.
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