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The next Thorterback? It's part of what drew Rodriguez to Virginia

Three-star QB Jacob Rodriguez loved the idea of being the next Thorterback at UVa.
Three-star QB Jacob Rodriguez loved the idea of being the next Thorterback at UVa. (Rivals.com)

Maybe if he had been born in Texas, the idea of leaving the Lone Star State for college would have seemed much less realistic. And maybe if he had connected with a coaching staff closer to home, the idea of going out of state to play ball wouldn’t have seemed so alluring.

But that’s not the way it was for three-star Wichita Falls (TX) Rider signal caller Jacob Rodriguez, who couldn’t have known upon his first conversation with UVa’s coaches—when he first heard the term “Thorterback”—that he would end up committing to the Wahoos before April was over.

The 6-foot-1, 210 pounder, who first heard from QBs coach Jason Beck in the fall, was one of several commits the Wahoos rattled off last week. For Rodriguez, it came at the end of a recruitment that began several months ago but gained steam quickly.

“It was at the end of the football season,” he told CavsCorner, “and then into basketball season, that’s when they really started recruiting me hard and really when I started feeling it the most. At that start, I didn’t know anything about UVa. Coach Beck and I talked and I didn’t know anything about them. Talking to him, he laid everything out there about UVa.”

Anyone who has followed UVa’s recruiting efforts at quarterback understands the way Beck and OC Robert Anae search for the right fit. The fact that they were on Bronco Mendenhall's when Taysom Hill was at BYU wasn’t lost on Rodriguez because that’s in part how they made clear what they were looking for at that spot.

So, then, you won’t be surprised to hear that Rodriguez was introduced to “Thorterback” very quickly.

“That first conversation,” he said with a laugh. “it was that very first conversation. He talked to me about Taysom Hill and the Thorterback thing. I didn’t know Coach Beck, didn’t know any of them, didn’t know anything really about UVa. So when he was explaining things, he talked to me about what they run and the first name that came up was Taysom and of course Bryce [Perkins] had a great year this year as well. So, we talked about him, too.”

How would Rodriguez define Thorterback?

“Superhero,” he said simply. “Being able to throw the ball with consistency and accuracy and also being able to run the ball dominantly while also being a leader on and off the field.

Beyond the way they saw him fitting in, UVa ended up getting his commitment because the coaches really connected with him.

“It was really a lot of things,” Rodriguez said. “Building up to it, it was all the coaches. I got on some Zoom calls with them and talked to them and they are real, genuine guys who are family guys. That was a big thing in my recruitment that I was looking for, was people. So I kind of felt like those were genuine guys and people I wanted to be around.”

As has been the case for several of the commits UVa has pulled in recently, Rodriguez actually made his decision several days before the public announcement.

“It was that Wednesday before I committed,” he explained. “I had a Zoom call that day with the entire offensive staff and so, after talking to those guys, when I was already leaning that way a little bit, it made me think a lot. So that night, that’s when I decided and told my parents. They were on that Zoom call with me. The next day, I had a Zoom call with Coach Mendenhall and Coach Beck and decided then that I was going to tell them at the start of the call. That was pretty exciting. After that, I just took a few days to relax and then announced it on Monday. They got an edit for me, which was really cool too.”

Now, as mentioned above, Rodriguez—though he considers himself a Texan—was not born there. Which makes his thought process on leaving the state and heading a ways away all the more understandable.

“I’m originally from Minnesota,” he said. “We moved to Texas when I was around 8 and I started playing football down here. I was a wrestler when we lived up in Minnesota. So, started playing football down here and I loved it. My goal had always been to go out of state for college because I’m not really from Texas even though I consider it my home. I’m still pretty Texan but I’m okay with leaving. I don’t know why but that’s always been a goal of mine, to be out of state. It just so happened to be that this was the right fit for me and it happened to be out of state. I would’ve been happy to stay here and go in-state but this is the way it fell. And I’m excited.”

Watching Rodriguez’s highlights, it’s clear that he could play a variety of positions and other schools certainly liked him on the defensive side of the ball.

“I’ve always, especially in little league, played all over the place,” he said. “I played everywhere. So I just grew up playing quarterback and then everything else, whatever the team needed. So I would always work on quarterback but athletically, I can still play other spots too. I don’t really focus on other positions necessarily. I just go out and play those positions.

“Texas Tech and Baylor and Iowa State, they offered me as a linebacker,” added Rodriguez, who plans to enroll early at UVa. “So, I would love to and I’m totally open to it, but the fit was at Virginia.”

That fit is why, at a time when so many players are struggling with the fact that they aren’t able to take spring visits, Rodriguez was comfortable moving forward and shutting down his recruitment.

“Luckily I was able to do a lot of virtual tours so I got to see things that way,” he said. “It was a hard decision, without being able to see it for myself and really get that feel for it. I’ve been to some other schools around this area but, I mean, I’m pretty confident in saying that Virginia is beautiful in comparison to north Texas.

“It was definitely tough not being able to visit places in general but I don’t think any of that played too much of a factor because of being able to see things online and the way they introduced things to me.”

The flip side of the dead period and all that, of course, is when you don’t have to worry about it. And now, with his decision made, Rodriguez doesn’t have to any longer. As you might expect, that’s been a good thing.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “It really is. It’s something that’s been a goal I’ve had since I was a little kid. The first step to that goal, of playing college football, is complete. And it feels great. It’s a lot less pressure. There’s a lot of security that you have knowing that you can go out there and just play and have fun and not worry about the future so much.”



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