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Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking Down the 2026 Signees – Defense, Special Teams

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The 2026 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 2026 Rice football recruiting class began with 18 signees during the Early Signing Period, the second recruiting haul for new head coach Scott Abell. Of those players, 16 are current high school seniors, eight play on the offensive side of the ball, plus one specialist.

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“I think we have found some great future Owls who are going to have an impact on our program,” Abell said during his introductory remarks regarding the group.

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 will enroll 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: K Tommy Bauchiero commits to Owls

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The first specialist of the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class is on board. Kicker Tommy Bauchiero from Brentwood Academy (TN) has committed to the Owls.

An action-packed weekend on South Main doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Fresh off a wave of commitments in recent days, the 2026 Rice Football recruiting class continues to stockpile talent. This time, Rice has added its first specialist of the class into the fold. Kicker Tommy Baucheiro from Brentwood Academy (TN) has committed to the Owls.

Bauchiero also had an offer from UConn at the time of his commitment, picking the blue and white Owls over the similarly color-schemed Huskies. He earned his Rice offer in camp a few weeks ago by winning the field goal and kickoff competition.

The addition of Bauchiero brings the 2026 class to 11 members, and counting. He’s one of four players to announce a commitment to the Owls in the past four days, proof of an exciting round of camps and official visits on campus over recent weeks. SLOT Jai Jacobs-Ford and linebacker Jayden Cupitt are the other new additions from the weekend.

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Bauchiero’s highlights are exactly what you’d expect to see from a kicking prospect. He kicks the ball hard and far, including a 59-yard field goal during the year. He’s got a big leg and will give the Owls a kickoff man, in addition to his field goal duties.

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