With heavy lifting done, Owls in good place
Despite the frenetic pace, dashing through airports from city to city, there’s a certain calm about Rice coaches as Wednesday’s national signing day approaches.
“We’re in such a good place,” coach Mike Bloomgren said. “I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get all of (our targets) or not, but I hope to.”
At this juncture, Rice has most of its class in the fold with a few graduate transfers expected to join by Wednesday or shortly thereafter.
Since the December signing period, a 17-man class has added four commitments.
Duncanville defensive tackle De’Braylon Carroll and Atascocita linebacker Myron Morrison announced their commitments in mid-January. Offensive lineman Connor Hughes, a walk-on from Katy, opted for Rice over several offers from lower-division schools this past week.
The Owls also are adding one or two potential quarterbacks to this class in late January after former commit Trevor Bycznski flipped to Buffalo during the early signing period. Taking his place is Tom Stewart, a former Harvard quarterback who threw for 1,614 yards, 14 touchdowns and a pair of interceptions in nine games in 2018.
Jovoni Johnson, a high school quarterback from Arkansas, could be the other. He visited the Rice campus during the second weekend of January.
The early signing haul has enabled Rice’s staff to plant roots and cultivate relationships into 2019 after having to put last year’s class together on the fly.
As a result, the staff was able to spend the bulk of January focused on future classes.
The Owls might add two to four graduate transfers this week, although that number will depend on the graduate school acceptance and test score results of certain targets.
Those targets include a pair of Stanford teammates in fullback Reagan Williams (32 career appearances) and center Brian Chaffin, a former four-star recruit with 28 games under his belt.
“When you bring in those guys who have played a lot of college football, they’re going to help our locker room right now,” Bloomgren said of the impact graduate transfers can make on a program. “Whether it’s an area of need, sometimes those guys can be outstanding band-aids. When you get someone who you signed and believe in sometimes, they’re not quite ready to play a 12-game college football season.”
The Owls also could turn heads through the transfer portal if a University of Texas running back with local ties announces his commitment to Rice.
“In a lot of ways they’re not just football players, they’re the old playercoach if you will,” Bloomgren said of graduate transfers. “They’re such big pieces of the puzzle.”
Bloomgren is excited about the foundation his current class of commitments and signees provides. He’s also happy to see his relationships evolve on the recruiting trail.
“We’re doing things that have never been done here,” he said of the Owls’ national recruiting successes and that Rice has added walk-ons who shunned scholarship offers at other schools.
“For the right kid who sees the value in Rice and wants to be great at both, we’re going coast-to-coast and we’re winning with those kids. We’re getting them to want to come here,” Bloomgren said. “Everybody we’re bringing in the program and everyone who’s in the program now is really starting to see this game through one lens from a work standpoint and also how fun it is to work our butts off.”
Like last year, major contributors could join the program late.
And again, opportunity awaits thanks in part to the Owls’ more abrupt departures. Defensive linemen Zach Abercrumbia and Roe Wilkins announced their transfers in early January while freshman offensive lineman Devin Amodio left the team a week later.
“I’m really excited about what we’re bringing in,” Bloomgren said. “It’s going to be really exciting to sign those guys and see a full year of work come to fruition.”