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Max Olson
LUBBOCK, Texas — In December 2021, Jacob Rodriguez felt misplaced.
The younger quarterback had simply ended his freshman season at Virginia. Coach Bronco Mendenhall had unexpectedly stepped down. Rodriguez determined to switch however had minimal tape as a school passer and few choices. He had a creeping doubt, too, that possibly it was time to surrender his quarterback desires.
Texas Tech was keen to take an opportunity on him beneath two situations: It did not have a scholarship out there, and it did not want a QB. If Rodriguez needed to return house to Texas and play for brand spanking new coach Joey McGuire, he must be taught to play linebacker.
Rodriguez took out a pupil mortgage to pay for college. He could not discover an condo when he arrived in January 2022 and moved in along with his older brother on the College Pointe residences. He slept on the ground of his brother’s bed room, on a foam queen mattress topper folded in half for somewhat extra cushion.
He began sixth on the linebacker depth chart. He lifted weights twice a day to bulk up and watched movie to determine a place he had by no means performed in highschool. Again then, Rodriguez wasn’t envisioning sometime changing into the All-America performer he’s in the present day.
“My largest concern was probably not making an attempt to get a scholarship,” he mentioned. “I used to be simply making an attempt to make the group. I am combating to outlive.”
4 years later, Rodriguez is the Large 12 Defensive Participant of the 12 months and the very best linebacker in school soccer. His No. 4 Pink Raiders are about to play for a Large 12 championship. Then, they will advance to the Faculty Soccer Playoff. Surreal would not even start to explain it.
The mustachioed, cowboy hat-wearing captain married to a U.S. Military Black Hawk helicopter pilot is having fun with a historic senior season and experiencing a brand new degree of fame this fall as Texas Tech pushes him for Heisman Trophy consideration. No different school defender over the previous 20 years has put up the stats he has with greater than 100 tackles, seven pressured fumbles and 4 interceptions.
And Rodriguez is prepared for extra because the Pink Raiders put together for this system’s first Large 12 title recreation towards No. 11 BYU on Saturday (midday ET, ABC).
“Man, it is such a fantastic story,” McGuire mentioned. “Within the age of all this cash, which is nice — I imply, I am all for it, clearly — that is a kind of nice tales for school soccer.”
Rodriguez all the time had his believers as a record-setting quarterback popping out of Wichita Falls, Texas, however Heisman good? No, even those that know him greatest say that is getting ridiculous and see it as pure proof of his dedication. If Rodriguez might inform his 19-year-old self the place he’d be standing in the present day after his humble beginnings?
“That was a lengthy time in the past,” Rodriguez mentioned with a smile. “However I am very happy with that. I feel it is one thing that I am going to grasp my hat on for a very long time.
“There’s nowhere else I would reasonably be than right here, doing what we’re doing.”
HIS CHILDHOOD DREAM was to develop into the beginning quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings.
“Oh yeah, you betcha,” his brother Joshua Rodriguez mentioned with a chuckle.
Jacob Rodriguez was born in Hastings, Minnesota, the youngest of 5 siblings in a household that competed in every little thing, from croquet to UNO to vacation pancake adorning. Joe and Ann Rodriguez signed up Jacob and his twin brothers Joshua and Jeremiah for wrestling at a younger age as a result of “we have been breaking every little thing,” Joshua mentioned.
Jacob obtained began at age 3 and received two youth state championships by the point he was 7, pinning each opponent he confronted throughout his second title run.
“That is one cause why he is so good at tackling: all these single-leg and double-leg takedowns,” Joshua mentioned.
When the household moved to Wichita Falls in 2010, the boys have been keen to begin taking part in deal with soccer. The twins would play linebacker at Rider Excessive College. Jacob, a four-sport athlete, performed varsity as a sophomore and went on to interrupt faculty information with greater than 10,000 profession whole yards and 106 touchdowns.
“He was the man, the discuss of the city,” Rider teammate Jed Castles mentioned. “He was signing autographs after we went out to eating places.”
Rider coach Marc Bindel sometimes let his star quarterback play security, however Rodriguez was a QB in the beginning with a taking part in model that evoked Tim Tebow comparisons.
“We all the time known as him Captain America,” Bindel mentioned.
Rodriguez was an ESPN 300 recruit, however recruiters have been break up on his school projection: Ought to he play offense or protection? Then-Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein gave him his first FBS provide in 2019 and noticed his potential as an athletic quarterback.
However others noticed one thing else. In a recreation towards Canyon Randall throughout his junior yr, Rodriguez made a fourth-and-1 play on protection they nonetheless speak about to today. He burst by way of the road, grabbed the working again by his legs, lifted him within the air and slammed him on his again for the cease.
Bindel had a coach on his employees ship the clip to then-Texas Tech defensive coordinator Keith Patterson. The following day, the Pink Raiders supplied Rodriguez a scholarship as a linebacker. Baylor would find yourself doing the identical after McGuire turned its exterior linebackers coach in 2020. Rodriguez finally acquired extra affords for protection than offense.
However Mendenhall and his Virginia coaches made Rodriguez a precedence — and satisfied him he may very well be their subsequent Taysom Hill. His plans to fly out for a spring break official go to have been canceled by COVID-19. Rodriguez nonetheless dedicated and enrolled with out ever visiting campus.
“I feel all of us knew his greatest probability to make it huge was going to be on protection,” Bindel mentioned, “however in his coronary heart, he needed to play quarterback. And why would you not need to attempt to play quarterback in school?”
Virginia had a longtime starter in Brennan Armstrong, who broke single-season faculty information in 2021. However the Cavaliers additionally had a method to get Rodriguez on the sphere as a freshman. He agreed to again up Keytaon Thompson at their FBP (soccer participant) place, a hybrid function in Robert Anae’s offense that might entail just about something.
Rodriguez wore No. 98 and Thompson, a former quarterback at Mississippi State, wore No. 99. They lined up at slot receiver, exterior receiver, tight finish, working again or behind middle. They might movement all around the discipline earlier than the snap and throw blocks, run routes or take handoffs. It was intentional chaos, aimed toward complicated opposing defenses.
“It was pure creativity,” Thompson mentioned. “Loads of the stuff [Anae] got here up with, I do not even assume he knew it will work. If it seemed good, we might go together with it.”
It was an terrible lot of working, a lot in order that Rodriguez mentioned he went from 215 kilos to 185 in the course of the season. He performed 169 snaps however solely 4 at quarterback. The rookie did not count on to develop into a Swiss Military knife on offense, however he embraced it.
“I used to be having a blast,” Rodriguez mentioned. “I used to be simply pleased to be on the sphere.”
All these years later, Rodriguez believes he would’ve completed his school profession at Virginia if Mendenhall hadn’t stunned everybody by resigning that December after a 6-6 season. Thompson known as it a “completely sudden curveball.”
“I beloved it there and beloved the folks there,” Rodriguez mentioned. “However I form of went there to play for him.”
He made the 1,300-mile trek house to Wichita Falls, not sure what his future may maintain. And his cellphone wasn’t ringing.
“There wasn’t an entire lot of buzz,” Bindel mentioned.
TEXAS TECH ASSOCIATE head coach Kenny Perry excitedly known as Bindel the morning after Pink Raiders’ first spring follow in 2022.
“Jacob Rodriguez is a foul motherf—er,” Perry advised him.
The highschool coach’s reply?
“Yep, and he is taking part in without cost proper now…”
After leaving Virginia, Rodriguez had requested a number of folks to succeed in out to McGuire on his behalf within the hopes he might be a part of the Pink Raiders. Two Rider teammates, Castles and E’Maurion “Dooda” Banks, performed for Texas Tech. One among his former youth coaches, Dudley McAfee, is a Tech grad and knew McGuire properly. All three vouched for Rodriguez to the brand new head coach.
“Dooda was like, ‘Coach, if we are able to get this man on our group, we have to get him,’” McGuire mentioned.
McGuire vowed he would put Rodriguez on scholarship as quickly as one turned out there. These have been the early days of NIL earlier than collectives helped care for walk-ons. Tech might present him two meals a day, however he would wish to take out a pupil mortgage to cowl his courses and books.
“It was form of a kind of offers the place, properly, I obtained to go someplace,” Rodriguez mentioned.
Extra importantly, Rodriguez needed to settle for his future was on protection. Texas Tech already had three starter-caliber quarterbacks in future second-round decide Tyler Shough, Behren Morton and Donovan Smith.
Bindel has little question Rodriguez might’ve made it as a tricky dual-threat QB comparable to Georgia Tech‘s Haynes King had he discovered the proper alternative. Rodriguez would not fault different coaches for lacking on him throughout his month within the portal, particularly given his function with the Cavaliers.
“I actually did not have any quarterback movie,” he mentioned. “I simply had an entire bunch of different stuff.”
Ann Rodriguez suspects if he hadn’t gone to Virginia to play quarterback, he would’ve regretted by no means making an attempt. He had acquired loads of recommendation that linebacker was his greatest path to the NFL. It nonetheless wasn’t straightforward to surrender his childhood dream.
“There have been numerous tears shed and an actual thought course of about it,” his mom mentioned. “It took numerous him actually wanting inward and deciding, ‘ what? I’ll do no matter it takes.’”
It was Joshua’s concept for Jacob to maneuver in and get monetary savings. The brothers lived in a four-bedroom condo with three random roommates they initially did not know. The bed room was actually tight quarters — the brothers needed to share a toilet and closet — and Jacob would sleep close to the foot of Joshua’s mattress. Ultimately, they squeezed in a twin-sized mattress for him.
“To be sincere, I would not even know if these guys would be capable of say, ‘Yeah, I lived with Jacob Rodriguez,’” Joshua mentioned. “He was by no means there. He’d go to exercises at 5 a.m. and was gone earlier than they awoke. He’d come again at 9 p.m. after courses and movie.”
Rodriguez mentioned he’d go in for the 8 a.m. lifting session and are available again at 2 p.m. for one more whereas working to get again to 220 kilos for spring follow. His offensive information helped, however studying to play his new place was a very totally different problem. Former Texas Tech inside linebackers coach Josh Bookbinder mentioned Rodriguez had all the proper traits popping out of highschool to be a fantastic linebacker — he simply hadn’t performed the place.
The toughest half early on was the physicality of Texas Tech practices. Quarterbacks by no means get touched in these settings. Rodriguez needed to get the grasp of hitting and getting hit day after day. “I am like, ‘Dude, how can I maintain this?’” he mentioned. If he have been to queue up his 2022 follow movie in the present day, Rodriguez expects it will in all probability look “terrible.” He barely had a clue.
“The one factor he confirmed actually early was his effort was nonnegotiable,” Bookbinder mentioned. “He might not have identified precisely what he was doing at linebacker, however he was working his ass to the ball.”
Texas Tech coaches beloved the potential they noticed within the spring of 2022. When McGuire known as Rodriguez into his workplace earlier than August preseason camp, the linebacker genuinely did not know why. The top coach requested him to name his mother and father and allow them to know he was on scholarship.
“There was quite a bit to be taught, however Jacob is a soccer dude,” McGuire mentioned. “He was uncooked, however he picked up stuff so quick as a result of he is actually clever. Soccer is smart to him.”
All of the little particulars — his footwork, hand use, the angles he took in tackling, how he struck ball carriers — got here with reps and time as he graduated from taking part in on instincts to processing and higher understanding formations, units and conditions. After taking part in backup snaps as a sophomore, Rodriguez’s improvement accelerated all through his second offseason in Lubbock to incomes a beginning job getting into 2023, however a foot damage sustained within the season opener sidelined him for many of the season.
“It is such as you had all of the components on the counter,” mentioned Bookbinder, who’s now teaching at TCU. “You simply needed to combine them up and let it prepare dinner for somewhat bit.”
The Jacob Rodriguez who returned in 2024 was lastly able to put all of it along with an All-Large 12 season, ending second amongst all Energy 4 defenders with 127 tackles. And the one who returned for his senior yr in 2025?
“He is the very best participant in school soccer,” Perry mentioned.
SESI VAILAHI TOOK the handoff and ran up the center. Rodriguez met the Oklahoma State working again within the gap and stood him up. However this wasn’t your typical deal with for loss.
Vailahi staggered backward, making an attempt to interrupt free. Besides the veteran linebacker wasn’t going for a takedown. No, he was considering theft. Rodriguez ripped the soccer proper out of Vailahi’s grip and ran the opposite approach for a 69-yard landing.
Actually took it away and took it to the home.
Finest defender within the nation.
📺 @ESPNU | https://t.co/G56N3v07Kv https://t.co/SKua435dYH pic.twitter.com/1FGuLyRaEt
— Texas Tech Soccer (@TexasTechFB) October 25, 2025
He has been filling up the Heisman spotlight reel week after week. Like the 2 Kansas State fumbles he punched out. The one-handed interception at Utah. The decide he deflected to himself towards BYU, or the display screen move he jumped in entrance of towards UCF.
“Each time you search for, he is on the ball,” Morton mentioned. “The way in which he could cause and flip momentum in a recreation, there’s not one other participant within the nation who can try this.”
Rodriguez has created seven turnovers by himself. His FBS-leading seven pressured fumbles are greater than 53 groups have all season, together with Georgia, Ole Miss and Notre Dame, and he is 4 away from breaking Khalil Mack’s FBS profession report of 16.
McGuire has loads of respect for Indiana‘s Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt‘s Diego Pavia and Ohio State‘s Julian Sayin, the trio of quarterbacks at present main the Heisman race with one week to go. However he is not going to relent in campaigning for Rodriguez.
“The factor for me is there’s no person on the quarterback place that’s having a yr that we have not seen earlier than,” McGuire mentioned. “He is having a yr on the linebacker place that we have not seen.”
For comparability: Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o completed with 113 tackles and 7 interceptions however zero pressured fumbles throughout his Heisman runner-up season in 2012. Te’o was the unquestioned prime participant on the No. 1 group within the nation.
Rodriguez factors to Texas Tech move rusher David Bailey, their projected first-round decide with 12.5 sacks, as the very best participant they have. His solutions in information conferences provide reward towards teammates and coaches. However amongst his friends, there is not any query.
“This can be a proficient soccer group,” Morton mentioned, “and it is led by Jacob.”
McGuire shook up Texas Tech’s protection after an 8-5 end in 2024. He introduced in defensive coordinator Shiel Wooden from Houston, splurged within the portal with a rebuilt defensive position that price greater than $7 million and inked arguably the highest switch class within the nation.
Rodriguez thought-about going professional on the finish of final season and went by way of senior day ceremonies earlier than the house finale. However he put his belief in McGuire and watched as his coach and common supervisor James Blanchard assembled the form of roster that might lastly compete for a Large 12 championship.
“You might inform as quickly as we put pads on for spring ball: Hey, we will be a particular group,” Rodriguez mentioned. “I’ve by no means had this a lot enjoyable taking part in soccer ever.”
Texas Tech’s decided efforts to make Rodriguez a Heisman finalist took a inventive flip two weeks in the past. Forward of its house finale towards UCF, McGuire texted Joe Rodriguez to interrupt the information: Offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich was engaged on a Wildcat package deal to make the most of Jacob at quarterback.
“I mentioned, ‘Coach, that is so freaking superior,’” his dad mentioned. “I have been pushing that for 4 years. I advised him, ‘Watch out, as a result of you are going to let that beast out.’”
Joe didn’t warn his spouse that this was within the works. Jacob’s spouse, Emma, was the one who advised her inside Jones AT&T Stadium, a number of performs earlier than the second arrived within the first quarter. She requested her to attempt to keep calm. Texas Tech working again Cameron Dickey mentioned he obtained goosebumps when he overheard Leftwich ask, “Is J-Rod prepared?”
“He goes on the market,” Ann mentioned, “and we each instantly began crying.”
The house crowd obtained so loud that Rodriguez fearful he may mess up the snap cadence. However his offensive line paved a wide-open lane for a straightforward 2-yard rating. He obtained to go in and do it once more Saturday at West Virginia.
Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez along with his FIRST CAREER OFFENSIVE TD for @TexasTechFB ‼️
And he hit the Heisman as his celebration 👀 pic.twitter.com/zzOWSXR1Qr
— FOX Faculty Soccer (@CFBONFOX) November 15, 2025
“Identical to outdated instances, man,” mentioned Thompson, his former Virginia teammate.
It was all so cathartic for many who know Rodriguez greatest, who watched how relentlessly he labored to show into the linebacker he’s in the present day and know what he gave up getting right here. The dream needed to change alongside the way in which, however he would not change a factor now.
“We could not have dreamt this up,” Ann Rodriguez mentioned.
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