Scott Abell brings option football, winning culture to Rice

HOUSTON, TX – Scott Abell surmised after his first conversation with Rice athletic director Tommy McClelland that he was the right man for the job. The Owls were looking for a head coach with a unique offense and a history of winning at prestigious academic institutions without much history of success and Abell checked every box. 

Football was Abell’s first love growing in Virginia as the son of a dairy farmer and the youngest of three boys. He says his dad hauled around more athletic equipment than farm tools in his youth. Abell, 55, played football, baseball, and basketball as a prep star, eventually choosing a scholarship in baseball at Longwood College as a catcher and eventually drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 1992.