Jump to content

Pete Rodriguez (American football)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pete Rodriguez
Biographical details
BornJuly 25, 1940
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 30, 2014(2014-11-30) (aged 74)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Alma materWestern State College
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1968–1969Arizona (GA)
1970–1973Western Illinois (assistant)
1974–1975Florida State (DC/DL)
1976–1978Iowa State (DC)
1979–1982Western Illinois
1983–1984Michigan Panthers (DL)
1985Denver Gold (DL)
1986Northern Iowa (DC)
1987Ottawa Rough Riders (DC)
1988–1989Los Angeles Raiders (ST)
1990–1993Phoenix Cardinals (ST)
1994–1997Washington Redskins (ST)
1998Seattle Seahawks (AHC/ST)
1999–2003Seattle Seahawks (STC)
2004–2006Jacksonville Jaguars (STC)
2009New York Sentinels (ST)
Head coaching record
Overall14–28
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 Mid-Con (1981)

Pete Rodriguez (July 25, 1940 – November 30, 2014) was an American football coach of Mexican American descent.[1][2]

College coaching career

[edit]

Rodriguez broke into coaching as a graduate assistant at Arizona (1968–69) and later served as defensive coordinator at Western Illinois (1970–73), Florida State (1974–75), Iowa State (1976–78) and Northern Iowa (1986). He served as head coach at Western Illinois from 1979 to 1982.

Professional coaching career

[edit]

USFL

[edit]

Rodriguez served as defensive line coach for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League from 1983 to 1984. He was part of the USFL's first championship team, helping the Panthers to the title in 1983. He spent the 1985 season as defensive line coach with the Denver Gold.

CFL

[edit]

Rodriguez was the defensive coordinator for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League in 1987.

NFL

[edit]

Rodriguez entered the National Football League as the Los Angeles Raiders special teams coach (1988–89). He served in a similar capacity with the Phoenix Cardinals (1990–93), Washington Redskins (1994–97), Seattle Seahawks (1998–2003) and, most recently, the Jacksonville Jaguars (2004–2006).

UFL

[edit]

Rodriguez served as the special teams coach for the New York Sentinels of the United Football League in 2009.

Involvement with USC

[edit]

In July, 2010 the Los Angeles Times reported that he was the coach hired by Pete Carroll as a special consultant for USC's kickers during the 2008 football season. The use of additional coach was one of the items that the NCAA found to be a Major Violation and subjected USC to the "Loss of institutional control" finding. Carroll had defended the hiring as being done with the knowledge of the USC compliance staff however the compliance staff reported that this was not the case.[3]

Personal

[edit]

One of Rodriguez's daughters, Regina M. Rodriguez, is an attorney who was nominated multiple times to serves as a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.[4]

Death

[edit]

Rodriguez died in San Diego[5] on November 30, 2014, of a complication following an undisclosed surgery, after being in a coma for months.[6]

Head coaching record

[edit]
Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Western Illinois Leathernecks (Association of Mid-Continent Universities) (1979–1982)
1979 Western Illinois 3–8 1–4 5th
1980 Western Illinois 4–6 0–4 5th
1981 Western Illinois 5–6 2–1 T–1st
1982 Western Illinois 2–8 0–3 4th
Western Illinois: 14–28 3–12
Total: 14–28
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Pierson, Don, Chicago Tribune, "FROM RAILROAD BOXCAR TO NFL SIDELINE, SEATTLE COACH SPECIAL"(Sep 17, 1999, Sports Section, Page 5); "Times have changed, but there are not too many Mexican-American coaches anywhere in the.."
  2. ^ "Long-time coach Pete Rodriguez dies". foxsports.com. Associated Press. December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  3. ^ Pringle, Paul (July 14, 2010). "Carroll's rules violation could hurt USC". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ Sanchez, Victoria (September 23, 2015). "Pioneer for Hispanics in NFL nominated for Hall of Fame". KUSA. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  5. ^ "The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest".
  6. ^ "Long-time NFL special teams coach Pete Rodriguez dies at age 75". December 4, 2014.