Pete Rodriguez (July 25, 1940 – November 30, 2014) was an American football coach of Mexican American descent.[1][2]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 25, 1940 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | November 30, 2014 (aged 74) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Western State College |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1968–1969 | Arizona (GA) |
| 1970–1973 | Western Illinois (assistant) |
| 1974–1975 | Florida State (DC/DL) |
| 1976–1978 | Iowa State (DC) |
| 1979–1982 | Western Illinois |
| 1983–1984 | Michigan Panthers (DL) |
| 1985 | Denver Gold (DL) |
| 1986 | Northern Iowa (DC) |
| 1987 | Ottawa Rough Riders (DC) |
| 1988–1989 | Los Angeles Raiders (ST) |
| 1990–1993 | Phoenix Cardinals (ST) |
| 1994–1997 | Washington Redskins (ST) |
| 1998 | Seattle Seahawks (AHC/ST) |
| 1999–2003 | Seattle Seahawks (STC) |
| 2004–2006 | Jacksonville Jaguars (STC) |
| 2009 | New York Sentinels (ST) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 14–28 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 Mid-Con (1981) | |
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 1979–82.
Professional coaching career edit
USFL edit
Rodriguez served as defensive line coach for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League from 1983-84. 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
- ^ 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.."
- ^ "Long-time coach Pete Rodriguez dies". foxsports.com. Associated Press. December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ Pringle, Paul (July 14, 2010). "Carroll's rules violation could hurt USC". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Sanchez, Victoria (September 23, 2015). "Pioneer for Hispanics in NFL nominated for Hall of Fame". KUSA. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
- ^ "The Seattle Times | Local news, sports, business, politics, entertainment, travel, restaurants and opinion for Seattle and the Pacific Northwest".
- ^ "Long-time NFL special teams coach Pete Rodriguez dies at age 75". 4 December 2014.