By Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information
Trinity Valley Community College has announced James Rodriguez will join his wife Kathleen as co-head coach of the Lady Cardinal softball program.
Kathleen Rodriguez was named head coach last month. James Rodriguez was later hired as a coaching assistant within the athletic department.
TVCC trustees Monday night approved the co-head coach designation, which is nothing new for the husband-wife combo. They previously served has co-head coaches at Eastern New Mexico University (three years) and University of Texas at El Paso (10 years).
Team Rodriguez led Eastern New Mexico to a fifth-place finish at the national tournament in 2001.
“It was a natural decision for us to make and something they wanted to do,” TVCC athletic director Brad Smiley said. “They have a combined 26 years as co-head coaches.
“We feel this gives us the best coaching staff in the region.”
James Rodriguez is a native of San Antonio. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s University, where he was a four-year starter for the baseball team and helped the Rattlers qualify for the national tournament in 1993.
He most recently was head softball coach at McCollum High School in San Antonio.
James and Kathleen Rodriguez become the second husband-wife head coaching combo in TVCC history, joining Michael and Kenya Landers (women’s basketball, 2011 and ’12 seasons).