By Juan Montoya
The closest "Coach" Joe Rodriguez" got to win a state championship while he was on the side lines was the 47-14 drubbing administered to the Brownsville High School Golden Eagles by the Seguin Matadors in in 1969 in the regional round to finish 10-2.That year, the Golden Eagles shared the District 26-4A championship with Harlingen and advanced to the state playoffs by virtue of a 27-0 win over the Cardinals in the regular season. In bi-district, they won 25-15 over Corpus Christi Miller.
Rodriguez, now a member of the BISD board of trustees, was the head coach of the team, and Tom Chavez, now Rivera's head coach, was an assistant. Other members of the coaching staff included Albert A. Ortiz, A. Hector "Buddy" Garcia, Lorenzo Sanchez (now BISD CFO), Raymond Rodriguez and Gonzalo Garcia.
Alas, he never won a state championship, yet was able to turn that loss into a cottage industry that propelled him (and his acolytes) into a career based on that "ya mero" claim to fame. From there, Rodriguez was able to be a board member, then Athletic Director, and now board member again.
And he has made up for the lack of achievements at state level by becoming a vendor to the district of sports equipment for BSN Sports,a sister company under the umbrella of Varsity Brands, a national corporate sports-equipment giant.
And now, to make up for the lack of statewide athletic achievement, he has become the BISD's "Lord of the rings."
In 2015, River High School won the 6A District UIL Boys Soccer championship. That year, the staff at Rivera decided that the achievement merits a keepsake for team members and held fundraisers to purchase the players, coaches, and some administrators rings to commemorate the momentous event.The school's booster raised the funds to pay for the rings, and the district chipped in for jackets. They bought them from Herrf Jones, the sister company to Rodriguez's BSN Sports under Varsity Brands. Among the rings for non-players was included a complimentary one for Rodriguez.
Why Rodriguez? He, after all, is no longer a coach, but a board member. The rings cost $895 each for a total of $39,380.
If you perchance run into Rodriguez, you will see that he wears that complimentary Rivera soccer championship ring proudly.
Then, when the Porter Early College High School won the UIL Class 5A boys soccer state championship in 2016, they decided to buy the team, coaches, and administrators championship rings, too. The total was Among the "complimentary" rings was one for "Coach" Joe, too. But while the Rivera rings for non-payers were $895, this one was $995. This time the total cost for the rings and jackets was $31,025.
And when Herrf Jones competitors inquired of the BISD administration within five days of Poter winning their championship if they could offer competitive bids for the rings, they were told in no uncertain terms that the principal and administration had already decided to buy from Herrf Jones.
After a controversy that stretched into the beginning of 2017 as to who was going to pay for the rings, the members of the board approved the district paying for the players rings (at $895 each) and for the other non-players to pay the $995 for theirs. But included in the invoice was a ring for Rodriguez (at $995) offered as a "complimentary" gift for the "Coach."
Did "Coach Joe" pay for the rings? That's not likely, after all, his sister vendor company Herrf Jones got the business and it's good politics to give one to your advocate on the board. The BISD has been a good customer for BSN Sports and Herrf Jones from 2011 to 2017.
Since 2011, when Rodriguez has been on the board this last time, BSN has sold a total of $2,440,219 in sports equipment to BISD. All the company sells is high-end brands such as Nike, etc., which Joe browbeats coaches in the district to order. At a conservative estimate of a 15 percent commission, "Coach" Joe pocketed a cool $366, 032. Some suggest it's more like 20 percent.
Being on the BISD board surely doesn't hurt Joe "Lord of the Rings" Rodriguez's business. No wonder he is running for reelection. If anything, he has shown that he has been a master at squeezing the 1969 Golden Eagle "turnip" for all the blood it's worth.
Will voters continue to have him feeding at the pig trough, or will they opt to give candidates Dr. Prisci Roca Tipton or Randy Gonzalez the nod and put the old "Coach" to pasture?