Rice hires Stanford assistant Bloomgren as head coach

HOUSTON -- Mike Bloomgren has been hired as the coach at Rice.

Rice announced Wednesday that Bloomgren agreed to a five-year contract with the Owls after spending last season as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Stanford. He takes over for David Bailiff, who was fired on Nov. 27 after Rice finished 1-11 in his 11th season.

Bloomgren worked at Stanford for the last seven seasons. He was the offensive line coach from 2011-12 before taking over as offensive coordinator in 2013.

Bloomgren says: "In my seven years at Stanford, I have seen firsthand how elite college athletics and academics can not only coexist, but thrive together. I want to create an environment at Rice where…