Pretty crazy wrinkle. I don’t think I’ve seen this all too often where a coach is hired from a different program mid season and takes over as the immediate head coach for the upcoming series. Quick turnaround. 

And he still has a win over aTm this year while at Texas State.

 

 

I'm happy for Coach Pierce. I don't know if the Rice program will ever be what it was, but it can be much better than it has been in recent years. There is a LOT of work to be done as far as infrastructure goes, but I believe Coach will do good things there.

Sure looks like Coach Pierce was talking to Rice while Coach Cruz was still in place & in the beginning of his season.  

Enjoy brutal 3rd base coaching 

This is classic 

 

1 minute ago, THookem said:

 

He leaves Texas State with a win over the then No. 1 team in the country.

Hope he gets the Rice job. That would be a good fit for him.

I don't think I ever recall a coach being fired and an outside replacement hired during a season?

As a Rice alum (UT undergrad), happy for Pierce and Rice, but .... weird.

5 hours ago, THookem said:

 

Iffy lol dude was rearranging chairs on the deck of the titanic last couple years. It was so obvious last year change was needed

Coach Pierce had some major character flaws when at Texas. If he learned from that he could be a great head baseball coach. Either way I think he will do well at Rice where expectations aren’t sky high. 

14 hours ago, THookem said:

Sure looks like Coach Pierce was talking to Rice while Coach Cruz was still in place & in the beginning of his season.  

Frankly, Pierce didn't have to do too much. There's a large faction of former players who pushed for Pierce to get the job this offseason. They kept pushing until it happened. 

He will be an upgrade there.  I thought Berkman might have been a better choice than Cruz, but who knows.  I always respected Rice baseball but they have really tanked the last few years.  They were one of the few sports there that was consistently good.  I think he will help them and hope he learned something from his time at Texas.  Good luck to Rice baseball.

It’s definitely a good spot for Pierce.  

44 minutes ago, .45s said:

He will be an upgrade there.  I thought Berkman might have been a better choice than Cruz, but who knows.  I always respected Rice baseball but they have really tanked the last few years.  They were one of the few sports there that was consistently good.  I think he will help them and hope he learned something from his time at Texas.  Good luck to Rice baseball.

 

 

On 3/18/2025 at 8:51 AM, .45s said:

He will be an upgrade there.  I thought Berkman might have been a better choice than Cruz, but who knows.  I always respected Rice baseball but they have really tanked the last few years.  They were one of the few sports there that was consistently good.  I think he will help them and hope he learned something from his time at Texas.  Good luck to Rice baseball.

Berkman absolutely would have been a better choice than Cruz, but the Rice academic admin, faculty, and community still dislike Lance for the public stance he took on transgender stuff. The tide is turning on that issue, so he will likely be viewed more favorably soon. He's a volunteer assistant there this season and he likes Pierce, so that's fun for him.

On 3/17/2025 at 11:21 PM, Drunk randoke said:

Iffy lol dude was rearranging chairs on the deck of the titanic last couple years. It was so obvious last year change was needed

Terrible roster management,  Terrible at NIL, Terrible at hiring staff. Also wants to micro manage.  Baseball was dead with him here.