Owls staff eager to put new culture into action on the field
First-year coach Mike Bloomgren emphasized the importance of competition and the necessity for consistency in his players during Rice football’s media day Saturday.
“They’re advancing our culture,” he said of his coaching staff. “(That culture) promotes competition. It’s the pursuit of excellence on and off the field, and it’s love of our great game and their teammates.”
Bloomgren has spoken a lot about the culture he’s trying to instill on South Main. But thanks to some cosmetic upgrades at the Patterson Center — where the team convenes for meetings, meals and workouts — that message feels more legitimate.
“I think when you walk in the building today you probably saw a lot of changes,” he said, illustrating how the upgrades impact current players and recruits. “It’s different in a very good way. Those graphics allow us to tell our story of Rice football history and also show you where we want to go in the future.
“It shows that we’re committed to a process of trying to build a premier Division I program, and that’s what I want them to feel, day in and day out.”
With new branding in place, coaches are taking a patiently urgent approach to player development through training camp.
“Every day I talk about trying to move the needle more than anything. I talk about moving it just slightly just so we can get a little bit better every day, and eventually that’ll lead to what we want on the scoreboard,” offensive coordinator Jerry Mack said.
Ambitious special teams
With competitive position battles across the offensive and defensive units, conventional wisdom suggests that special teams will plug and play the backups.
But associate head coach and special teams coordinator Pete Lembo has more ambitious plans.
“It’s a matrix; that’s the best way to describe it,” he said. “A lot of people think of special teams as, ‘OK I’m a backup linebacker, I’m the third tight end.’ … The expectation is if you’re going to play on offense and defense, you’re playing on special teams, too.”
Most starting running backs might sit during kickoffs or punts to rest and avoid injury.
But Emmanuel Esukpa, a bruising 232-pound running back, also happens to be one of Rice’s top special-teamers.
“I’ll tell you he’s among the best special-teams guys on our football team, and he wants to be out there. My job with him is to make sure we’re very selective about how he helps us,” Lembo said. “It goes back to the culture of the program. We want com petitors, we want guys who are all in.”
Lembo wants to see more from some of the Owls’ more experienced players as it relates to special teams. But others — some stepping into starting roles this season — have excelled.
He cites a list of steady performers: Martin Nwakamma, George Nyakwol, Tyrae Thornton, Jordan Myers and UCLA transfer Giovanni Gentosi.
Conceptually, Lembo highlighted the importance of “hidden yards.”
“All the situations that occur in the game — a punt hitting the ground and rolling 20 yards that could’ve been fielded, a holding call on a kickoff return that negates a big return; we want those things to play in our favor,” he said.
Major role for Fox
Punter Jack Fox is hoping to capitalize on some of that good fortune this season.
As the lone Owl named to the Conference USA preseason team or a major awards watch list, the senior will be crucial in field-position battles as the offense explores its identity through the early weeks of the season.
“I’m not too worried about the offense right now,” said Fox, who has begun watching film for the first time under Lembo’s leadership. “I’ve been working more on the control aspect of punting, so end-over-end kicks inside the 20, really trying to pin them inside the 10 and inside the 5.”
Fox will handle kickoffs again but the placekicking job is still up for grabs, as is long snapper (a race between freshman walkon Campbell Riddle and senior Clayton Malcomb, a part-time deep snapper last year).
“Our approach is if you want to play on offense and defense, you better be good enough to play on special teams,” Lembo said. “If we can excel on special teams, it will go a long way to helping us get this thing turned around.”
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