Robert J. Rodriguez is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player who is the outside linebackers coach for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He most recently was the defensive line coach for the Arizona State University Sun Devils football team of the Pac-12 Conference in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Rodriguez is a graduate of UTEP, where he played linebacker during the early 2000s and later return to coach the defense in 2008. Rodriguez would then coach in the National Football League as an assistant defensive coach for the Minnesota Vikings in 2015.

Early years and playing career

Rodriguez attended Montwood High School in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

and lettered in both football and basketball. He was a standout

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for Montwood and was the

El Paso Times The ''El Paso Times'' is the newspaper for the US city of El Paso, Texas. The paper is the only English-language daily in El Paso (after the ''El Paso Herald-Post'', an afternoon paper, closed in 1997), but often competes with the Spanish-languag ...

Offensive Player of the Year as well as All City first team for the 1999 season. He signed a football scholarship with UTEP, choosing to continue his playing career in his hometown. Rodriguez ranks fifth on the all-time UTEP tackle chart with 443 tackles, including 33 for losses. He led the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC) in tackles in three of his four seasons at UTEP (2001, 2003, 2004). Rodriguez was named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 after being credited with 121 tackles, including 16 tackles for losses. He was the defensive captain of the 2004 UTEP team that was ranked in the AP Top 25 for multiple weeks during the 2004 season and that played the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

in the EV1.net Houston Bowl. In 2001, Rodriguez was voted 1st team Freshman All-America Linebacker by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). After his final game with UTEP, Rodriguez was invited to play in the

East West Shrine Game East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

, one of the most prestigious college all-star games at the time. The game was played at

AT&T Park Oracle Park is a ballpark in the South of Market, San Francisco, SoMa district of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has been the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). The stadium stands along San Francisco Bay ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Rodriguez signed with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

of the

in April 2005 as an undrafted free agent. He played in all four pre-season games before being released by the team on the final cut prior to the regular season. He was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

practice squad in early January 2006. The Panthers advanced to the 2006 NFC Championship game, where they lost to the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. Rodriguez was released following the season. Subsequently, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the Cologne Centurions of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

for the 2006 season. He signed with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

in the summer of 2006 and played with the Stampeders through 2007.

Coaching career

UTEP

Rodriguez returned to his alma mater, UTEP, as the defensive program coordinator for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He was elevated to the position of linebackers coach in 2010. In his first season as linebackers coach in 2010, Rodriguez coached four of the Miners' top seven tacklers. Those four combined to lead the team in tackles seven times in 13 games.

Minnesota Vikings

Rodriguez joined the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

of the

in 2015 serving as the Assistant Defensive Line Coach under the tutelage of Defensive Line Coach Andre Patterson until the end of the 2019 football season. For five consecutive seasons, the Viking defense ranked in the top half of the NFL in total defense and in scoring defense during Rodriguez's tenure naming several defensive linemen All-Pro selections and earning Pro Bowl trips each year.

Arizona State

In 2020, Rodriguez was hired by

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

to coach the football team's defensive line under head coach

Herm Edwards Herman Lee Edwards (born April 27, 1954) is an American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players ...

Arizona Cardinals

On February 25, 2023, Rodriguez was hired by the

to serve as the team's outside linebackers coach.

Personal life

Rodriguez is married to the former Holly Taylor, who played soccer for UTEP from 2000 to 2004 and now practices law. The couple resides in Tempe, Arizona. He has remained a popular figure in the El Paso area and was voted El Paso's Favorite Athlete in the

"Best of the Border" Reader Poll in 2007. Rodriguez has been inducted into the inaugural Montwood High School Ring of Honor in 2006 and into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Robert 1981 births Living people American football linebackers Players of Canadian football from Texas Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football linebackers Cologne Centurions (NFL Europe) players Players of American football from El Paso, Texas Sportspeople from El Paso, Texas UTEP Miners football coaches UTEP Miners football players Minnesota Vikings coaches Coaches of American football from Texas American expatriate players of American football American expatriate sportspeople in Germany