University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Rodrigue Named Top 10 Recruiter By rivals.com
2/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 9, 2006
Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss Offensive Line Coach Mitch Rodrigue has been named one of the top 10 recruiters from a Non-Bowl Championship Conference, today. by rivals.com, an on-line publication that mainly focuses on recruiting.
Rivals.com rated the top 10 recruiters in each of the BCS conferences and then did a separate top 10 list for all of the Non-BCS Conferences. Out of the recruits that signed with Southern Miss on Feb. 1, four of his signees received a three-star rating by rivals.com and three of them received a two-star rating.
Rodrigue has been at Southern Miss for seven years, serving as the offensive line, tight ends and running backs coach. This past year, two of his players, George Bastiste (first team) and Travis Cooley (second team) were named to the All-Conference USA team. The offensive line paved the way for the offensive to average 357.3 yards of total offense per game and scored an average of 29.6 points per game. The offensive line only surrendered nine sacks for the season, helping the team win seven games and earn a berth in its eighth bowl game in the past nine years.
In 2004, the offensive line continued its strong play, as it gave up only seven sacks for the season. The Golden Eagles finished with seven wins and earned its seventh bowl invitation in the past eight seasons. Senior Jeremy Parquet was selected All-Conference USA second team, and Chris Clark was named to the all-freshman squad. Parquet was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Draft in April.
He coached the running backs in 1999 and the tight ends from 2000-02 before taking over as the offensive line coach in 2003. He assisted with the offensive line during his initial stint at Southern Miss, serving as the program's graduate assistant in 1989 and 1990 under former head coach Curley Hallman.
Rodrigue made his first year as the offensive line coach at Southern Miss a memorable one as the Golden Eagles won their fourth Conference USA title, was invited to the Liberty Bowl for the third time and earned a bowl bid. The program lost three starting offensive lineman to the National Football League from the 2002 squad, and Rodrigue was charged with retooling the line.
The offensive line made significant progress as the season went along and earned notice and praise from Head Coach Jeff Bower for its outstanding play throughout the second half of the season.
The line also earned respect from the rest of Conference USA, with three players garnering all-league honors. Parquet was named to the first team, while center Jim Hicks took home second-team honors. Chris White was the team's selection on the third team and Travis Cooley was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team.
A native of Thibodaux, La., and a veteran of several seasons as both offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at Nicholls State, Rodrigue helped the Colonels lead the Southland Conference in passing.
In addition to his time as the Colonels' offensive coordinator, he also served at various times as recruiting coordinator and, after the resignation of Rick Rhoades in 1995, interim head coach.
As offensive line coach, Rodrigue's linemen blocked for the school's first 1,000-yard rusher in 1996. Prior to his coaching stint at Nicholls State, Rodrigue worked for two seasons as an assistant coach at Pearl River Community College. At PRCC, he served as offensive line coach, as well as strength and conditioning coach.
Rodrigue played at Nicholls State and helped the Colonels reach the second round of the Division I-AA playoffs in 1986 as well as win the 1984 Gulf Star Conference title. He played one season at Copiah-Lincoln Community College prior to his career at Nicholls State. He was an all-district performer at Thibodaux High School.
