Under the direction of head coach Mike Bloomgren, Rice football has progressed like a turtle crossing the road: slowly, with bumps in the path, but making progress.

This season will not only mark a new chapter in the program’s history with their move into the American Athletics Conference but also may determine the future of Bloomgren’s career at Rice. And with their season opener against Texas, Bloomgren and his Owls are eager to prove themselves to the new conference and to the new athletic director, Tommy McClelland.

Rice recently announced that McClelland, former deputy athletic director at Vanderbilt, has taken over at Rice starting Aug. 14. With a new athletic director at the helm, Bloomgren’s position may be called into question. Although the team made it to their first postseason bowl game since 2014 last year, the Owls still had a losing record of 5–8 and were in the bottom half of their conference. 

Even the former athletic director for Rice, Joe Karlgaard, wanted more from Bloomgren’s Owls.

“I’m proud of the roster and foundation that coach Bloomgren and his staff have built and how we’ve navigated the shifts to the environment so far,” Karlgaard said in a statement to The Roost. “But for us to strive for excellence in the future, we’re going to have to be innovative, progressive and values driven.”

There is also a little bit of controversy surrounding the length of Bloomgren’s contract. Bloomgren’s initial five-year contract would have expired a year ago; however, Rice offered him a contract extension in 2020, the length of which has not been released to the public.

But Bloomgren deserves credit for turning Rice around from their one-win season in 2017. He was able to patch the holes in a sinking ship and has the experience to build a football team that can be successful.

Before leading the Owls as head coach, Bloomgren started his career as an offensive coordinator at Catawba College and Delta State. After he gained some experience in his position, Bloomgren worked in the NFL for the New York Jets as assistant offensive coordinator for three years. Bloomgren then coached at Stanford for six years, rising up to become the director of offense and assistant head coach.  

At Stanford, Bloomgren implemented a short run game that was effective for their team; however, when Bloomgren applied the same technique at Rice, the results were not as effective due to a weaker offensive line.

Now returning for his sixth season at Rice, Bloomgren’s renowned recruiting skills have given the Owls a chance to have a winning record this season, despite entering a new conference. The Owls added a new asset to their team last year with five-star quarterback JT Daniels transferring from Georgia to Rice. 

Although Bloomgren is known to call a dominant run game that runs down the clock, Bloomgren may start to lean on his quarterback more this season. On the hot seat, Bloomgren may be willing to take more risks to beat Texas this weekend.