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Rice Football Recruiting: TE Colten Cole commits to Owls

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The first pledge of the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class is on the board. Tight end Colten Cole has committed to the Owls.

The first recruiting cycle for head coach Scott Abell and his staff was a blur, working to retain commitments, add transfers and scout out the right high school additions to the offensive and defensive schemes. The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class represents this staff’s first traditional class. Now, the Owls have their first member of that group. Tight end Colten Cole has committed to the Owls.

For Cole, the decision didn’t take long. Rice was the first FBS offer for Cole and he made the decision to commit within days of it being extended. “They made me feel at home right away by getting to know me personally,” Cole told The Roost. “They all have a positive and enthusiastic mindset when it comes to coaching.”

On the field, Cole is particularly intrigued by how Rice uses the tight end position. “Rice uses their tight ends all over the field,” Cole said. “They are in-line some, but flexed out at receiver some as well.”

We’ve heard so much about the varied looks and different ways Abell’s offense will employ to get the upper hand on defenses. Having that excitement translate from the building to the fans to the rest of this next wave of recruiting is equally infectious.

“I’m just thankful for the opportunity,” Cole said. “I can’t wait to get down in Owl country!”

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The versatility Cole displays on film sticks out immediately. He has experience lining up in the backfield as well as on the line in a more traditional tight end capacity. He’s a willing blocker who isn’t afraid to drop his shoulder and run through someone. Add in his presence on the defensive line and you get a rather robust player the Owls should be able to utilize to great effect in their highly adaptative scheme.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking Down the 2025 Signees – Defense

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The 2025 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 2025 Rice football recruiting class began with 12 signees during the Early Signing Period, the first recruiting haul for new head coach Scott Abell. That group has since been supplemented by a wave of transfers and an additional round of high school signees on National Signing Day. Of those players, 22 are current high school seniors, and 13 play on the defensive side of the ball as well as one specialist.

“It’s an exciting time for me,” Abell said upon welcoming his first signees in December. “These are my very first recruits that I have the opportunity to welcome here to Rice. I just can’t imagine anything better.”

When it came time to put a bow on that class in February, Abell remained just as emphatic. “Attracting the right recruits here, the right people [is] imperative. It’s the most important thing we do,” he said while introducing the class. “That means Year 1, the first opportunity to do that, it becomes incredibly important that we get make sure that we get the people part of that right.”

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 enrolled 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 2025 Signees – Offense

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The 2025 Rice Football Recruiting class includes several hand-picked impact players on offense. Here’s how that side of the ball stacks up.

The 2025 Rice football recruiting class began with 12 signees during the Early Signing Period, the first recruiting haul for new head coach Scott Abell. That group has since been supplemented by a wave of transfers and an additional round of high school signees on National Signing Day. Of those players, 22 are current high school seniors, and 16 play on the offensive side of the ball.

“It’s an exciting time for me,” Abell said upon welcoming his first signees in December. “These are my very first recruits that I have the opportunity to welcome here to Rice. I just can’t imagine anything better.”

When it came time to put a bow on that class in February, Abell remained just as emphatic. “Attracting the right recruits here, the right people [is] imperative. It’s the most important thing we do,” he said while introducing the class. “That means Year 1, the first opportunity to do that, it becomes incredibly important that we get make sure that we get the people part of that right.”

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 enrolled early in January

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 2/5/2025 **
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Texans, Trenches and Speed: Scott Abell introduces 2025 Rice Football Recruiting Class

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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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Rice Football Recruiting: DL Braden Bays commits to Owls

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A National Signing Day addition to the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class, Boerne defensive lineman Braden Bays has signed with the Owls.

One of the final additions to the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class was a big one, literally. Announced publicly for the first time on National Signing Day, Boerne defensive lineman Braden Bays has committed and signed with the Owls.

Rice beat out a host of interested parties for Bays’ services. At the time of his commitment he’d received offers from the likes of Utah, Washington State, UNLV, Colorado State, Tulsa, UTEP and Central Michigan as several Ivy League schools and the service academies. And how he’s headed to South Main.

Bays joins Luca Akirtava, who committed earlier in the week, and Rob Rooks as the high school representatives in the defensive line room in this class. That trio combined with transfers Dillan Botts (Mary Hardin-Baylor) and Ejike Adele (Dartmouth) makes for a robust group in the trenches for head coach Scott Abell’s first class.

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The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Bays can and has lined up all over the field and has demonstrated and ability to win inside and outside. He’s a pass rusher who moves well rather but packs some power in his punches, too, all of which jumps out quickly when you turn on the film.

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