Background
Jacob Rodriguez (rod-REE-gez), the youngest of five children, was born and raised in Hastings, Minn., by his parents (Joe and Ann). His father was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma in 2010. Jacob has two older sisters (Katie and Nicole) and twin older brothers (Joshua and Jeremiah).
Rodriguez wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers, starting with wrestling at age 3. He won Minnesota youth state championships at the ages of 5 and 7. Rodriguez also played little league football and often lined up as a quarterback. At age 10, the family relocated to Wichita Falls, Texas (100 miles northwest of Fort Worth), where Rodriguez’s love for football only increased. He continued playing quarterback throughout Pop Warner, then at McNiel Middle School. In July 2023, he married his high school sweetheart (Emma), whom he met in a youth group at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls. Emma attended West Point and is now stationed in Fort Riley, Kan., as a U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot for a medevac unit.
Rodriguez attended S.H. Rider High School in Wichita Falls (the alma mater of Chicago Bears quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett), which closed in 2024. He played on the Rider Black freshman team in 2017 until he was called up to varsity and served as backup quarterback; he completed his first pass for a 46-yard touchdown. Rodriguez became a varsity starter as a sophomore and played both ways, at quarterback and safety (and had the chance to play with his older brothers, who were seniors in 2018). He passed for 1,602 yards, rushed for 1,301 yards and was named district Newcomer of the Year in 2018. As a junior in 2019, Rodriguez passed for 3,003 yards and 33 touchdowns, adding 1,247 rushing yards on 149 carries (8.4 average). As a senior, he led Rider to 10 wins and the 2020 state semifinals. Rodriguez was named district MVP as a senior with 2,415 passing yards, 503 rushing yards and 41 total touchdowns (32 passing, nine rushing). He set Rider career records for passing yards (7,085), total yards (10,136) and total touchdowns (106). Rodriguez also lettered in baseball, basketball and track, setting personal bests of 19 feet 10.5 inches in the long jump and 41-0.5 in the triple jump.
A three-star recruit, Rodriguez was the 26th-ranked athlete in the 2021 class and the No. 58 recruit in Texas. He received his first scholarship offer after his sophomore season, from Division II Midwestern (Texas) State. Rodriguez picked up his first FBS offer a few months later, from Kansas State (May 2019). During his junior season, several programs offered him to play defense, including Baylor, Houston, Indiana, Iowa State and Texas Tech. But Rodriguez wanted to stay at quarterback, and Virginia was one of the few programs to give him that opportunity. (It’s also closer in proximity to West Point, where his future wife attended school.)
He signed with the Cavaliers and was the sixth-ranked recruit in former head coach Bronco Mendenhall’s 2021 class. He played quarterback, running back and wide receiver as a freshman, but Mendenhall stepped down after the 2021 season and Rodriguez elected to enter the transfer portal. His older brother (Joshua) was a walk-on linebacker at Texas Tech at the time, and he was comfortable with newly hired head coach Joey McGuire. But a transfer to Lubbock came with a position change to linebacker and a scholarship waiting list. (Rodriguez on his transition to linebacker in 2022: “I had no clue what I was doing … I was screwing up left and right.”) Until he was put on scholarship in the fall of 2022, Rodriguez slept on the floor of his brother’s apartment.
He graduated with a degree in general studies (December 2024). Rodriguez accepted his invitation to the Senior Bowl.