Rice to hire Stanford's Mike Bloomgren as next football coach

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Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren and Rice are finalizing a deal for him to become the Owls new head football coach.

A press conference to unveil Bloomgren is scheduled for Wednesday.

Bloomgren, a noted techie, talks a lot about school culture and the athletic department being the right fit.

It a was similar message that Rice athletic director Joe Karlgaard said he was looking for the days following the dismissal of former coach David Bailiff.

Bloomgren, 40, has been at Stanford for seven years. He joined the Cardinal staff as offensive line coach and run game coordinator in 2011 after spending four seasons with the New York Jets, where he served as assistant offensive coordinator (2010), offensive assistant (2009) and offensive quality control coach (2007-08).

At Stanford, Bloomgren served as the Cardinal's offensive coordinator, associate head coach, and offensive line coach this season. He's helped develop current and former Stanford stars like Christian McCaffrey and this year's Heisman finalist Bryce Love.

Karlgaard, a Stanford graduate who last worked at the school, initially downplayed speculation that he would tap a coordinator from his alma mater.

"We have people with Stanford experience in the athletic department but I don't see myself and I don't think other people see me as a one-trick pony when it comes to hiring coaches," he said.

Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren is leading candidate to become Rice's next head football coach. Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren is leading candidate to become Rice's next head football coach. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Rice to hire Stanford's Mike Bloomgren as next football coach 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

But Karlgaard went back to his roots to lure Bloomgren from Palo Alto to Houston.

In November, Bloomgren, who's been considered for college and NFL coaching positions, spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle about the coaching rumors surrounding him.

"For me, it's always been: Don't mess with happy," he said. "I really feel like my next step is to be a head coach. I don't feel any need to take an offensive-line job in the NFL for just a little bit more money. I don't feel like that helps me towards my goal. I don't feel like taking another college job as a coordinator helps me towards my goal."

Bloomgren told the San Francisco Chronicle that he'd received about 10 college head coaching job offers over the years and that he'd been offered an NFL assistant coaching job every year since 2011.

Rice can anticipate a physical brand of power football under Bloomgren's watch—a philosophy that's helped the Cardinal excel in a pass-happy Pac-12.

The Florida native regularly utilized heavy sets, reimagining new positions to incorporate seven or even eight offensive linemen on a given play. He's also known to employ multiple tight ends.

Bloomgren's Cardinal lost the Pac-12 title game to USC but will play TCU in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28.

Rice's impending deal with Bloomgren was first reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.