Meet Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Paul Rice

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham University football squad will feature a number of new faces on the sidelines in 2018 as, along with new head coach Joe Conlin, the Rams welcome eight new assistant coaches to Rose Hill. This spring we'll get to know the new coaches, beginning today with new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Paul Rice.
 
Rice is no stranger to Conlin as the two were assistant coaches at Yale for the past five years, with Rice serving as the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator in 2017.
 
At Yale, Rice guided the Bulldogs defense to a number one ranking in scoring defense in the Ivy League in 2017 as well as a number two ranking in defensive pass efficiency. He coached two First Team All-Ivy players and one Second Team honoree and was selected as one of the top 30 coaches under the age of 30 in the NCAA/NAIA/High School ranks by the AFCA.
  
The captain of the 2009 Yale football team, Rice began his Bulldog coaching tenure as the outside linebackers coach in February 2013. He took over as special teams coordinator in 2015 and was selected by the American Football Coaches Foundation® for the AFCA 30 Under 30 Coaches' Leadership Institute in 2016. The former Yale star coached a pair of All-Ivy performers in 2015 in punter Bryan Holmes and linebacker Matt Oplinger, who repeated in 2016.
 
Prior to his stint in New Haven, Rice served as an offensive graduate assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 2012, where he helped the Yellow Jackets to a 7-7 season and a 2012 Sun Bowl victory over Southern California.

Rice was a four-year Yale starter who began his career as one of the biggest cornerbacks in the country and finished his collegiate career as a first-team All-Ivy linebacker. He accumulated 196 tackles, six interceptions and numerous big plays with the football in his hands while earning league honors three seasons.
 
A former Ohio Division III co-defensive player of the year and National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete at University High School in Cleveland Heights, Rice helped the Bulldogs lead the nation in scoring defense consecutive seasons.
 
Rice played one season for the L'Hospitalet Pioners (Barcelona, Spain) in the spring of 2011. He served as a player/coach, competing on both sides of the ball and helping the Pioners to a national championship.
 
Rice, who received a degree in political science from Yale, was a volunteer with the Yale football team in the fall of 2011.