It did not take long for Rice to find a successor. David Pierce was named head coach on Monday, returning to South Main where he was an assistant to the legendary Wayne Graham from 2003-11. “It was an easy decision to come back to Rice,

After leaving Rice, Pierce was the head coach at Sam Houston State and Tulane from 2012-16. He then took over at Texas and coached the Longhorns for eight seasons. While in Austin, Pierce compiled a 297-162 record and led Texas to three conference championships and three College World Series appearances.

Rice University is hiring David Pierce as the school's new head baseball coach, the school announced on Monday night. The move was first reported by Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball. The 62-year-old Pierce is replacing Jose Cruz Jr.