Columbus’ Rodriguez might be UM’s center of the future. He’s getting test run this year
Ryan Rodriguez laughed as he overheard Dave Dunn praising his play in Miami Columbus’ 28-12 win against Miami Booker T. Washington on Saturday.
It was Rodriguez’s first ever start at center and Dunn had high hopes for the senior, but Rodriguez still thought about what it would’ve been like for him a year ago.
Last season, Rodriguez started every game at left tackle for Columbus, even though everyone knew his future was as an interior lineman. Dunn didn’t want to burden him with learning how to command the offensive line in his first year in a new offense, although he made sure Rodriguez knew he expected it from him one day.
“When I first got here, I go, My goal is, one day, to get you to be able to do that. He never thought he’d be able to do it, so this week we’re like, Hey, guess what? You’ve got no choice,” the Explorers coach said. “He’ll tell you he would not have been able to make the line calls. It took him a whole year to learn the offense and it’s because it’s not easy.”
Columbus center Jake Aguirre went down with a high ankle sprain in the Explorers’ previous game against Miami Killian and Rodriguez finished the game in his place. Aguirre was out again Friday, so the Dunn had no choice but to ask Rodriguez to step up and play center for the whole game.
With the three-star center paving the way, Columbus’ top two running backs combined for 180 yards on 28 carries for an average of 6.4 yards per carry in Miami.
In April, Rodriguez orally committed to the Miami Hurricanes with the idea he could potentially be Miami’s center of the future. Now he’s finally being pressed into duty at his likely future position.
“It felt good. It felt natural,” said Rodriguez, who was invited to play in the All-American Bowl and is the No. 7 center in the 247Sports.com composite rankings. “Nothing really changed, except I just tell people where to go.”
Rodriguez has been working toward this since Dunn arrived last season. The coach returned to South Florida last year from Division III Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and brought with him an up-tempo, no-huddle offense. Rodriguez was his most athletic offensive lineman, so Dunn stuck with Rodriguez at left tackle knowing he would either kick inside to guard or tackle as a senior.
Explorers offensive line coach Jason Hill started preparing Rodriguez throughout the 2019 season and the offensive lineman moved to right guard once Julian Armella, a four-star tackle in the Class of 2022, transferred to Columbus from Miami Gulliver Prep.
Immediately, Rodriguez’s blend of strength and athleticism paid dividends. He can muscle defensive tackles inside, but he has really impressed Dunn with his ability to pull and mow down linebackers in the second level, even if he still is learning his new position.
“He’s so athletic, he’s so strong, he’s so physical. I would still say right now his comfort level isn’t like last year,” Dunn said. “He’s further along than he was last year playing a new position, so he’s going to get better.”
Most impressive was his overall command of the line. With Aguirre out, Rodriguez is the only returning starter from the Explorers’ 2019 offensive line, which helped Columbus win the Class 8A championship.
Even so, Derrick Gibson lofted high praise at the group after the Explorers beat Killian last month.
“They probably had one of the best O-lines in football,” the Cougars coach said Thursday.
The situation is all playing out perfectly for Rodriguez to become the Hurricanes’ center of the future once he gets to Coral Gables next year.
He spent last year learning and now, for at least a few weeks, he’ll get to work out some initial growing pains at his new position. Add in his experience making calls in a no-huddle offense and the 6-foot-3, 280-pound interior lineman is just ready to get to Miami already.
“It makes the other team have to run,” Rodriguez said. “It makes them uncomfortable, puts them in a position where, if they don’t adjust fast enough, they’ll be left with a mistake and we capitalize on every mistake. That’s how UM has to be.”
