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"I can't wait to see what kind of personality we're going to have, offensively and de- fensively"   "I'll tell you, these guys -- talk about a resilient bunch of young men; I'm the third head coach in three years"   "That's the thing about football -- you need to win; you have to play hard. But in football, you can have fun, too"   "We're not going to be who we're not. We're going to go out there and we're going to be well coached; we're going to play passion- ate football -- and we're going to let the chips fall where they might"   "Our colors are blue and grey" (Mark Anderson photos)

HOUSTON (Aug. 6) -- Rice head coach David Bailiff welcomed some 35 members of the working press along with his team members, new and old, this steamy Monday, as Rice football's annual Media Day went off without a hitch, conveying as it unfolded an unmistakable impression of undaunted enthusiasm among the toilers in the vineyard.

"What a great day it is," Coach Bailiff growled to an R-Room semi-full with players, Rice staffers, fellow coaches and of course the media types. "We've got 40 new faces that are going to go through practice this afternoon," he added. "We've got 28 freshmen, plus those guys who didn't go through spring training with us due to injuries."

"I can't wait to see what kind of personality we're going to have, offensively and defensively. And that's what happens right now. Right now is a time to develop the attitude and the chemistry, and see what kind of personality the team has -- will we hold up on third and one? Is the offense going to be able to get that tough yard?"

"All those questions are going to be answered by September 1," Coach Bailiff said pointedly.

After tipping his hat repeatedly to Rice Athletic Director Chris del Conte, the new Rice head man faced the inevitable questions about his succession to the coaching throne formerly held by Todd Graham, who bolted in the middle of the night and who now reigns in a minor duchy 400 miles to the north in the former Indian Territory.

Give credit where credit is due, in that regard, Coach Bailiff told his interrogators.

"He created momentum that we have to build on," he said, summing up Todd Graham's whirlwind year on South Main. But also give credit to the Rice men who currently wear the uniform, he added.

"I'll tell you, these guys -- talk about a resilient bunch of young men; I'm the third head coach in three years. And all they have done from the day we've first got here -- is everything we've asked. They come over here every day with a smile on their face and work hard."

Lute:  it's about being at Rice

Veteran offensive lineman and season-saver Lute Barber told us, however, that the task at hand really wasn't all that difficult. It seems Lute, and all 90-odd of his teammates believe they're at home on South Main for two reasons: first, to get a college education, and second, to play winning football, no matter who's the man in charge.

"We're all excited for this new staff to be here," he noted. "We've been concentrating on the football part of it, not the drama and controversy."

Standout linebacker and pre-season defensive MVP Brian Raines said that he amount of progress made in the spring portends well for results on the field this fall.

"Coach Bailiff and the staff did a great job of working with the low numbers they had in the spring," the Braines noted. "It turned out that the whole routine was more fundamentally sound. The coaches make sure that we all understand what's going on with us and around us -- not just getting out and free-lancing."

Now it's hog-calling time in Nebraska, though. With 40 de facto newcomers lining up for August drills, there's still plenty more work to be done.

"In spring, we had only four linebackers working," Brian observed, not counting himself, who spent the entire spring shaking off an injury he played with the previous fall. "Now we have ten. That means you have to concentrate a lot harder on what you're doing, to try and get it right the first time, rather than letting the reps take care of the situation."

But the Owl players, to a man, cite what they perceived to be a smooth turnover from the Graham to the Bailiff administrations. Running essentially the same offense didn't hurt. And neither did the switch from a 3-3-5 defensive set to a four-man defensive front -- a universally popular move among Owl defensive players.

"It's been a smooth transition," senior OL Robbie Heos told us. "I think the big thing that has changed -- certainly it's true on the offensive line -- is that we've gone back to fundamentals, instead of repetitions."

"And that mean's a lot. We've got our fundamentals down. Now we're better able to start working on getting a lot better with the spread offense."

Rice '07 schedule looks like rebirth of SWC

That offense will need to put up some points in September, it seems. Jaded media members reminded the new head man that he's going to be going against three former Southwest Conference foes:  Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor, two on the road, all before the first cool snap. The Owls have got to be underdogs in at least two of those games, possibly all three.

"Isn't it great!" was David Bailiff's surprising retort. "We're not going to be who we're not. We're going to go out there and we're going to be well coached; we're going to play passionate football -- and we're going to let the chips fall where they might. We're going to set the standards high -- because people wind up doing what's expected of them."

"I don't think we need to make any predictions. We're just going to work hard, and be who we are. We're going to win the ones we're supposed to, and win some of those we're not supposed to."

"That's the thing about football -- you need to win; you have to play hard. But in football, you can have fun, too."

The Old English "R" said here to stay

Perhaps the most interesting revelations of the day focused on the story behind the new uniforms -- that is to say, the new, blue-and-grey, Old-English-R'ed unis that Owl fans have seen hints of in recent days.

(The new, all-blue helmets were displayed in front of the R-Room speaker's rostrum, but introduction of the entire, head-to-toe ensemble is being held back pending further rollout plans by Nike, Rice's new supplier.)

"The players kept coming to me wanting new uniforms," Coach explained, detailing how the move to new duds started gathering momentum during the off-season. "And I said, 'I'm not changing the uniforms. That's not what we do.'"

"Then we started getting the e-mails from the old lettermen that they didn't like the uniforms. Chris del Conte started telling me he was getting the same sort of emails."

"So we sat down and formed a committee of ex- lettermen, people who are passionate about Rice, and members of the team, and they've designed this uniform -- and it's not going to change."

Nope. The AD has plans to adopt a policy, it seems, to the effect that the "OER", made nationally known by the Rice baseball team, is THE Rice emblem.

"And the next guy who comes in here is not going to change it, and the next guy's not going to either," Coach added emphatically. "Those days of changing are over. It is what it is -- and it was designed by a lot of these guys in this room, and a lot of guys who've lettered before them."

"I think it's a classic look that won't have any need for change."

Coach B, Chris del Conte, and the Rice staff fielded quite a few gripes via emails and phone calls about last year's uniform design and colors. "There were so many different opinions on the old uniforms," Coach said. "I can tell you that the biggest complaint was, that people didn't like the yellow. That was in almost every email and phone call. The yellow had been added just last year. The yellow is now out."

"Our colors are blue and grey."

--Paul T. Hlavinka
   Webletter Editor

Footloose....

Rice  RB Marcus Knox successfully evades a pretty good linebacker (Andrew Sendejo) in
Saturday's action (PTH photo)

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