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Rice Football to hire Marques Tuiasosopo as offensive coordinator

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Rice football has found its next offensive coordinator. The Owls are set to hire Cal tight ends coach Marques Tuiasosopo to run the Rice offense.

There have been a few changes to the Rice football coaching staff over the past several weeks. By the time the Owls arrive at spring practice in March they’ll have a new special teams coordinator, tight ends coach and offensive coordinator.

The men would fill those position coach roles were previously known. One, Chris Monfiletto, was already on staff. The other, Jim Jackson, was hired from UMass. We can now confirm head coach Mike Bloomgren has made his selection for the open offensive coordinator role.

Bloomgren is expected to name Cal tight ends coach Marques Tuiasosopo as his next offensive coordinator, replacing Jerry Mack who left the Owls’ staff to coach running backs at Tennessee.

Tuiasosopo played his college ball at Washington before being selected in the second round of the NFL Draft by the Raiders. He would go on to play eight seasons in the NFL before turning to coaching. Tuiasosopo has spent time with Washington, UCLA, USC and Cal. He’s coached quarterbacks and tight ends and served as the passing game coordinator at multiple stops.

Bloomgren and Tuiasosopo has crossed paths before. Tuiasosopo spent the 2007 as a quarterback with the New York Jets where Bloomgren worked as a quality control assistant. Now they’ll be reunited, not as player and coach, but as members of the same staff.

Among his notable achievements to date, Tuiasosopo helped develop Josh Rosen while at UCLA. He was also named Pac-12 Recruiter of the Year in 2015 after helping USC secure the nation’s top recruiting class.

What does this mean for Rice?

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Rice Football: Owls’ OC Jerry Mack headed to Tennessee

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Rice Football offensive coordinator Jerry Mack is headed to Tennessee. How will his departure impact the Owls on offense?

First reported by Pete Thamel, Rice football offensive coordinator Jerry Mack is set to be named the next running backs coach at Tennessee. He will join the staff of newly hired head coach Josh Heupel, who was only recently named to his position,

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Mack is the second Rice coach to move to a new job this offseason. Before his departure, Rice lost special teams coordinator Drew Svoboda to Memphis.

How does Mack’s departure impact Rice?

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Rice Football: Owls to hire Jim Jackson as tight ends coach

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There’s a new coach in town. Rice football is expected to hire UMass assistant Jim Jackson to coach tight ends for the Owls.

First reported by The Athletic, Rice football is expected to hire former UMass run game coordinator Jim Jackson. He’ll coach tight ends for Rice, a position held last year by Chris Monfiletto, who will move to the vacant special team’s coordinator role. That position opened early this offseason when Drew Svoboda left for Memphis.

Jackson comes to Rice following a two-year stint at UMass where he served as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator. Prior to joining the Minutemen, Jackson served as the offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator at the University of San Diego. His offenses led the way for the Toros, who went 38-2 in his five years on staff, averaging north of 34 points per game.

He takes over the tight ends job previously held by Monfiletto, who was in his first season in an on-field role following a promotion from his role as an offensive quality control assistant. Last fall he helped guide versatile tight end Jordan Myers to one of the most productive seasons of his career in which he led the team in receptions.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren has held a fairly consistent on-field staff during his first three seasons at South Main. The majority of the coaching staff he initially hired when he arrived in December of 2017 is still on staff at this time. Jackson will be the third tight ends coach for Bloomgren.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Superlatives for the 2021 Signees

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The 2021 Rice Football class made is flush with talent. Here are our picks for just a handful of standouts from the incoming class.

National Signing Day is in the books. With the possible exception of a key transfer addition (or two) in the months ahead, this will be the group of new players added to the Owls’ roster for the upcoming season. The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has hometowns that span from California to New Jersey. Now they’re all headed to South Main.

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The 20 new signees were hand-selected by the Rice football recruiting staff, and each comes with some sort of notoriety in their own way. If you haven’t yet, check out our breakdowns of the defensive signees and the offensive signees. Now, here’s our run down of class superlatives. Who is going to start out of the gate? Which player represented the biggest recruiting win for the Owls? Best athlete? Here are our picks.

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Rice Football and the Super Bowl: Owls’ connections to the Big Game

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There won’t be any Rice football alums participating in Super Bowl LV, but the Owls do share a few connections with the Big Game.

Super Bowl LV marks the end of the 2020 NFL Season. Seven former Rice football players have made an appearance in the Big Game. And although there won’t be any Owls’ on the field this Sunday, several share a few connections to this year’s Super Bowl.

The first link comes by way of a very recent Rice offensive lineman. Nick Leverett, who played for the Owls in 2019 as a grad transfer before going pro, was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad for the entire 2020 season. He didn’t make any regular season appearances for the Bucs and was released following the NFC Championship Game. If things work out, he could be back with the Bucs next season.

The next close call is current NFL Pro Bowler Jack Fox. Now a Lion, Fox spent a good portion of last season on the Chiefs’ practice squad following a training camp battle with incumbent Dustin Colquitt. The Chiefs have since moved on from Colquitt and turned to rookie Tommy Townsend in his place. Had the stars aligned differently, Fox could have been playing in this game wearing red and white.

The Roost Podcast: Offseason recap and National Signing Day review

Another Rice alum had a close call in 2015. James Casey, now the tight ends coach with the Cincinnati Bengals, was a member of the Super Bowl Champion Broncos at the beginning of the season, but was released in October, prior to the team’s Super Bowl 50 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

The year prior to that marked the last time Rice football was represented on the Super Bowl field by one of their own. Luke Willson, tight end for the Seattle Seahawks, appeared in Super Bowl XLVIII following the 2013 season and Super Bowl XLIX following the 2014 season.

Willson caught two passes for 17 yards against the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, becoming the all-time leader in Super Bowl receiving yards for a Rice player. Earl Cooper, who caught a touchdown pass from Joe Montana in Super Bowl XVI, had held the record previously. Willson returned to the big stage the following season, playing in the Seahawks’ last-second loss to the New England Patriots.

Beyond the individual athletes, Historic Rice Stadium shares a Super Bowl connection, too. The Owls’ home field served as the host site for Super Bowl VIII where the Dolphins beat the Vikings, 24-7.

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