Rice fires head coach Bloomgren after 2-6 start

• Pete Thamel, ESPNOct 27, 2024, 03:17 PM ET Close College Football Senior Citizen Author for ESPN. Insider for College Gameday.Rice has actually fired

coach Mike Bloomgren, who went 24-52 in his 7 seasons with the Owls, it was revealed Sunday.

“I wish to express my genuine 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 stability. However, as I evaluated our program and compared our present and preferred trajectory, I identified brand-new leadership is required to guide us into the future.”

Bloomgren is expected to be owed $900,000.

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Associate head coach Pete Alamar will take control of as interim head coach for the rest of the season. The university will immediately start a look for a long-term replacement for Bloomgren. Rice (2-6) has 4 games remaining, including prominent matches over the next two weeks versus Navy and Memphis.Bloomgren had some momentum entering into the 2024 season, as Rice went to back-to-back championship game for the first time since 2013 and 2014. The Owls, however, never got on track this season, losing the opener in the house to Sam Houston State and beginning 1-4 in AAC play.Rice lost at UConn on Saturday in what would be Bloomgren’s

final game as head coach.The Owls have expressed stronger athletic aspirations under brand-new university president Reginald DesRoches, and there’s been a current dedication in investment.”The opportunity for Rice football to stand out has never been higher, “McClelland stated.

“I am confident we will recognize a coach who will lead our program and student-athletes into a new period of success.”Bloomgren is a long time college and NFL assistant who rose to prominence through his work at Stanford from 2011 to

2017.