Like a lot of people who leave Stanford University for new opportunities, Mike Bloomgren brings with him a unique, marketable concept — a trademark to codify his goals for his first head coaching job at Rice University.

It’s the phrase “Intellectual Brutality,” which Bloomgren coined in 2013 to symbolize football’s ideal mixture of intelligence and physical force. He trademarked it, helped give it life as Stanford’s offensive line coach and now intends it to be more than a hashtag for the Owls.

“It means we are going to be smart and we are going to have answers and we are going to be the physical team that nobody wants to play,” Bloomgren said. “I want our guys to walk around knowing they’re incredibly smart and that we are going to take advantage of that.”

It’s a fitting concept for Texas’ top-ranked academic university, the sort of place, like Stanford, where you never know who you’ll meet on campus.

“At Stanford, you might run into (former Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice,” Bloomgren said. “Here, it might be a retired general.

“It’s awe-inspiring to consider the history and the things that have been created on either of those campuses.”

The Owls got a first-hand look at intellectual brutes last season, losing to Stanford 62-7 in the season opener in Sydney, Australia. Rice finished 1-11, resulting in coach David Bailiff’s dismissal, and now Bloomgren’s task is to mold the Owls in the Cardinal’s image.

“I will make it no secret that we are trying to align our program with Stanford and to be the best of both worlds,” Bloomgren said, “to play great football and graduate from a place where you can get a world-class degree and play big-time football.

“And the way we are going to get this place back to that level is through being physical.”

First though, Bloomgren had to deal with the stark brutality of life and death. As the Owls were preparing for spring practice, senior defensive end Blain Padgett, 21, was found dead in his Houston apartment.

The Owls delayed practice for a week and, upon their return, set about trying to become a team capable of honoring their late teammate by their performance on the field.

“I love hearing stories our kids tell about him, how he would never back down from anything,” the coach said. “We’re in a good place now. We had a chance to grieve and get back on the field and learn what our new normal is going to be without Blain beside us.”

Bloomgren faces a tough task in rebuilding a Rice team that has won only nine games in three seasons. Graduation hit hard in the offensive front, with the departure of three-year starters Trey Martin and Peter Godber, and at linebacker, where Emmanuel Ellerbee was far and away last year’s most effective defender.

Quarterback is a question mark, too, although junior Jackson Tyner was the clear leader after the spring game.

“I don’t know how important it is to say we have this number of starters back,” the coach said. “We can say they have experience in college football, and that has value. I love the growth so far. We asked them to compete every day, and they have done a great job.”

Eighteen of 24 recruits signed in February, and all will receive a fair shot at playing time this fall.

Confidence is high, meanwhile, among the Owls’ veterans.

“We will have a winning season and go to a bowl game, and we will shock people with our productivity,” senior defensive lineman Graysen Schantz said. “Our guys have something to prove.”

And they have a new concept to master.

“Intellectual Brutality is having the mindset of knowing what you’re going to do,” said running back Aston Walter.