Robert J. Rodriguez is an

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

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) West division, and play t ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(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 (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

and

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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)#Offen ...

for Montwood and was the El Paso Times 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, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

(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: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

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, one of the most prestigious college all-star games at the time. The game was played at AT&T Park in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Rodriguez signed with the Tennessee Titans 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

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

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

with the Cologne Centurions of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

for the 2006 season. He signed with the Calgary Stampeders of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

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. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

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 research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

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

Herm Edwards Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Phil ...

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 2000–2004 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 El Paso Times "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