Rice fires seventh-year coach Mike Bloomgren as program heads toward 10th straight losing season

HOUSTON (AP) — Rice fired seventh-year coach Mike Bloomgren on Sunday with the program headed toward a 10th straight losing season following losses in six of eight games.

Pete Alamar, the associate head coach and special teams coordinator, will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season, athletic director Tommy McClelland said.

Bloomgren was 24-52 and won six games in only one season, that being last year when the Owls finished 6-7 after a loss in the First Responder Bowl. The Owls also played in the Lending Tree Bowl as a five-win team in 2022.

“I want to express my sincere appreciation to Coach Bloomgren,” McClelland said. “Over his seven seasons of service as our head football coach, 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 hired Bloomgren away from Stanford in 2017. Bloomgren had been on the Cardinal staff for seven years, the last five as offensive coordinator. He previously was on the New York Jets staff.

The Owls’ only win over a Bowl Subdivision opponent this season was 29-27 over UTSA. Their other win was against Texas Southern of the second-tier Championship Subdivision. They’re coming off back-to-back road losses of 24-10 to Tulane and 17-10 to Connecticut.

Rice’s most recent winning season was 2014, when the Owls went 8-5 under David Bailiff.

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