Tony Reno is considered the favorite for Rice’s job

The Rice Owls are close to hiring Yale’s Tony Reno as the football program’s next head coach, sources tell Dave Campbell Texas football. Reno spent decades in Ivy League circles and became the head coach of Yale University in 2012. He won four conference titles during his time there, including the 2022 and 2024 championships. Yale is currently 7-2 in 2024.

Reno, 50, is from Oxford, Massachusetts, and is known as a top recruiter in the Ivy League. He played free safety at Worcester State in Massachusetts and gained coaching experience as defensive coordinator at his alma mater from 1998 to 2002. He was the defensive line coach at Yale from 2004 to 2008 and the special teams and defensive line coach at Harvard from 2009 to 2011 before taking the Yale position to become head coach.

Reno’s son Dante is a freshman quarterback at South Carolina who signed in the 2024 class. The 6-2, 214-pound freshman threw for 2,358 yards and 20 touchdowns and scored eight scores on the ground as a senior. He was an Under Armor All-American and an Elite 11 finalist as a prep star. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he transferred to Rice to start for his father.

Former Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren was fired Oct. 27 in his seventh season after the Owls lost to UConn in Week 9 and were just 2-6 on the season. He went 24-52 as head coach at South Main and initiated Rice’s move from CUSA to the AAC before the 2023 season. His Owls reached bowl games in 2022 and 2023 but never finished a season with a winning record.

Rice’s last successful season was 2014, when David Bailiff led the Owls to eight wins. That was also the last season Rice won a bowl game. The program won 10 in 2013 and 2008.