Rice fires coach Mike Bloomgren

Off to a 2-6 start in his seventh season at the helm, Rice coach Mike Bloomgren was relieved of his duties on Sunday. Bloomgren, 47, posted a 24-52 record with the Owls. His last game was Saturday, when Rice lost at UConn 17-10. ESPN reported that Bloomgren, hired as a first-time head coach by Rice in 2018, is expected to be owed $900,000 by the school. "I want to express my sincere appreciation to Coach Bloomgren," Rice athletic director Tommy McClelland said in a statement. "... He has represented our university and football program with the utmost class and integrity. However, as I evaluated our program and compared our current and desired trajectory, I determined new leadership is necessary to guide us into the future." Rice will begin a search for a full-time replacement for Bloomgren, with associate head coach Pete Alamar assuming interim head coach duties for the rest of the season. The Owls have four games remaining, including matchups with Navy, which dropped out of the AP Top 25 poll this week, and Memphis. Bloomgren led Rice to back-to-back bowl appearances the past two seasons for the first time since 2013-14, but the Owls fell to visiting Sam Houston State in the season opener and are 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference. Bloomgren began his coaching career as an assistant at Alabama in 1999 and has also been on the staffs of the New York Jets (2007-10) and Stanford (2011-17). He is a graduate of Florida State. Alamar is longtime assistant, who has had lengthy stops at Stanford (2012-22), California (2003-09) and Arizona (1993, 1995-99). He joined Rice in 2023. --Field Level Media