The Purdue men[apos]s and women[apos]s track and field programs announced the hiring of Mark Rodriguez on Friday, June 16, as the Boilermakers' new assistant coach in charge of the men's and women's throwing events. Rodriguez comes to West Lafayette from Miami University, where he served as an assistant for the women's track and field team for the last four years.
"I'm excited for the opportunity to come to Purdue and coach in the Big Ten Conference," said Rodriguez. "I've known and respected Coach (Jack) Warner for a number of years, and I consider it a fantastic opportunity to be able to work with him now. I'm also very excited about the chance to work with the outstanding throwers in the current Purdue program and the ones I'll have the opportunity to recruit at Purdue and in the Big Ten Conference."
In his three seasons with the Redhawks, Rodriguez mentored the throwers and multi-event athletes and led them to an extensive series of improvements and accomplishments. His athletes broke a school record, posted multiple NCAA Championship qualifications and made 64 entries or improvements on Miami's all-time top-10 lists. In addition, he was very successful on the recruiting front, bring in some of the Redhawks[apos] top classes in recent history, and assisted in a number of team management and administration duties.
"I'm very pleased that Mark has accepted the opportunity to coach our throwers at Purdue," said Boilermaker head coach Jack Warner. "He has a great reputation as a coach and recruiter, and his desire to compete in the Big Ten along with his coaching experience will provide for a smooth transition for our group. The Boilermaker throwers have built an important tradition within our program and Mark will do great things to build upon that legacy."
Prior to Miami, Rodriguez spend time coaching at four other NCAA institutions, most notably an impressive three-year stint at the University of Louisville and 10 years at Indiana State University. At Louisville, Rodriguez guided the Cardinals to multiple new school records and slew of successes at the conference and national level. He also helped Louisville through its transition from Conference USA to the Big East conference without losing any steam in its conference scoring and success.
Rodriguez helped the Sycamores to six Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) championships in his 10 years at Indiana State in addition to four top-20 showings at NCAA Championship meets. His athletes rewrote the school[apos]s records books over and over, breaking 51 Sycamore marks in his tenure, while smashing 37 meet records and 13 MVC marks as well.
His other two coaching opportunities came at the NCAA Division III level, serving at Buena Vista University and Manchester College, where he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1994. Rodriguez started his collegiate career with the Boilermakers, but transferred to Manchester after a career-ending hand injury suffered in an auto accident.
"It's been a dream of mine to return to Purdue to coach," said Rodriguez. "I was never able to show what I could do as an athlete due to my injury, and now I have an opportunity to come back and achieve some of my original goals."
Rodriguez is set to officially join the Boilermaker staff on August 2.