Miami’s new offensive line coach Garin Justice did not take long to dive into recruiting. One of the first players he offered was 2021 Columbus offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez after showing up to a Columbus 6 ampractice.
“I was doing some field work, then I hit the weight room, and that’s when coach Justice offered me. I felt honored. My family is all die-hard UM fans and I grew up a UM fan, so it felt great.” Rodriguez continued, “I give credit to god, my family, coach Hill, and the Columbus O-Line: Jake Aguirre, Jordan Garcia, Andre Lamas, and Dustin Vinas.”
Coach Justice may be new to the University of Miami, but Rodriguez had somewhat of a prior connection with him.
“I had known about him from UNLV because he recruited a former Columbus offensive lineman,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been talking to him non-stop lately. I think him and coach (Rhett) Lashlee are really going to come with energy this year and change up the offense. Last year, there was a lot of hype, but nobody really bought in. If I was a lineman there, I would be bought in, because from what he’s been telling me, there’s going to be some real big changes this year.”
The Canes are recruiting Rodriguez as a center prospect, and the Columbus star says he is now up to 6’4” 285 pounds. Rodriguez and Coach Justice are still in the early stages of building a relationship, but it appears Coach Justice made a strong first impression.
“He was a nice guy, and he was straightforward,” Rodriguez said of Justice. “He said he likes me at center, he sees me as an athletic interior guy. That’s where I’ve been offered by everyone, on the interior - center, guard. He says he wants to pair me with Laurence Seymore on the interior, and we can have something nice there.
“I play with a controlled rage. I’m not going to go out and get dumb penalties. I’m going to do my job, dominate the guy in front of me for the whole game, and help the team win. That’s the priority.”
Rodriguez does not play center at Columbus, but he is open to playing anywhere on the line at the next level.
“I play left tackle for Columbus because that’s what coach asked of me and that’s what the team needs to win, but I’m comfortable at guard and center,” Rodriguez said. “I went to a bunch of camps this offseason and played on the interior, FIU and FAU offered me on the spot. My coaches, coach Joe, coach Dunn, they really emphasize knowing every position on the O-Line. If one injury happens, I have to be ready to go from tackle to guard. They want us ready for every scenario, so big shoutout to them for that.”
Rodriguez has wasted no time getting his recruitment going, as he participated in multiple offseason camps last year and attended a UM junior day event as well. With the Miami campus in close proximity to his house, Rodriguez anticipates making a return trip to Coral Gables very soon.
“I’m planning to go up there with coach (Edwin) Pata, coach Justice, and coach Lashlee to meet with them, talk football, and look at the campus in 2 weeks. I’ll probably be at the junior day next weekend too. I live 5 minutes away so it’s easy to get there.”
Recognizing a tradition of Columbus offensive linemen having success by staying at home, Rodriguez is interested in continuing that legacy at UM.
“There’s a lot of great linemen from my high school that went to Miami - Mario Cristobal, Joaquin Gonzalez built a legacy there. So I’ll always keep UM as an option, to continue that legacy there would be pretty cool.”
Elsewhere in this recruitment, Louisville, Wake Forest, Georgia State, FIU, and FAU are other FBS offers for Rodriguez. It is still early in the process, but it is clear what Miami will have to do to beat out other suitors to land Rodriguez.
“Something big is always education, so that’s first. Second, is how I connect with the coaches. I’ve already developed a relationship with coach Justice, I’m already getting comfortable with him, opening up and asking questions. Other factors would be how I like the campus, how much success the football team is having – there are many factors.
By seeing an increase in college attention and winning a state title over Apopka, Rodriguez felt his 2019 couldn’t have gone much better.
“This season, individually, I felt I had my best season of football,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of schools started becoming interested in me, I got first team All-Dade. As a team and as an O-Line, at the beginning of the season, we hit 4-4 and hit rock bottom, lost to U. School pretty bad. Our senior leader Courtney came back, he really flipped everything for us. We went to states, gave it everything we had, and pulled it out.”
As for a decision?
“I don’t know when I’ll decide yet. I’m definitely going up to see Louisville sometime in spring, I’m planning on going to visit all the schools that offer me to make sure I’m making the right choice for myself. Hopefully I’ll decide before the season starts or early in the season.”
“I was doing some field work, then I hit the weight room, and that’s when coach Justice offered me. I felt honored. My family is all die-hard UM fans and I grew up a UM fan, so it felt great.” Rodriguez continued, “I give credit to god, my family, coach Hill, and the Columbus O-Line: Jake Aguirre, Jordan Garcia, Andre Lamas, and Dustin Vinas.”
Coach Justice may be new to the University of Miami, but Rodriguez had somewhat of a prior connection with him.
“I had known about him from UNLV because he recruited a former Columbus offensive lineman,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been talking to him non-stop lately. I think him and coach (Rhett) Lashlee are really going to come with energy this year and change up the offense. Last year, there was a lot of hype, but nobody really bought in. If I was a lineman there, I would be bought in, because from what he’s been telling me, there’s going to be some real big changes this year.”
The Canes are recruiting Rodriguez as a center prospect, and the Columbus star says he is now up to 6’4” 285 pounds. Rodriguez and Coach Justice are still in the early stages of building a relationship, but it appears Coach Justice made a strong first impression.
“He was a nice guy, and he was straightforward,” Rodriguez said of Justice. “He said he likes me at center, he sees me as an athletic interior guy. That’s where I’ve been offered by everyone, on the interior - center, guard. He says he wants to pair me with Laurence Seymore on the interior, and we can have something nice there.
“I play with a controlled rage. I’m not going to go out and get dumb penalties. I’m going to do my job, dominate the guy in front of me for the whole game, and help the team win. That’s the priority.”
Rodriguez does not play center at Columbus, but he is open to playing anywhere on the line at the next level.
“I play left tackle for Columbus because that’s what coach asked of me and that’s what the team needs to win, but I’m comfortable at guard and center,” Rodriguez said. “I went to a bunch of camps this offseason and played on the interior, FIU and FAU offered me on the spot. My coaches, coach Joe, coach Dunn, they really emphasize knowing every position on the O-Line. If one injury happens, I have to be ready to go from tackle to guard. They want us ready for every scenario, so big shoutout to them for that.”
Rodriguez has wasted no time getting his recruitment going, as he participated in multiple offseason camps last year and attended a UM junior day event as well. With the Miami campus in close proximity to his house, Rodriguez anticipates making a return trip to Coral Gables very soon.
“I’m planning to go up there with coach (Edwin) Pata, coach Justice, and coach Lashlee to meet with them, talk football, and look at the campus in 2 weeks. I’ll probably be at the junior day next weekend too. I live 5 minutes away so it’s easy to get there.”
Recognizing a tradition of Columbus offensive linemen having success by staying at home, Rodriguez is interested in continuing that legacy at UM.
“There’s a lot of great linemen from my high school that went to Miami - Mario Cristobal, Joaquin Gonzalez built a legacy there. So I’ll always keep UM as an option, to continue that legacy there would be pretty cool.”
Elsewhere in this recruitment, Louisville, Wake Forest, Georgia State, FIU, and FAU are other FBS offers for Rodriguez. It is still early in the process, but it is clear what Miami will have to do to beat out other suitors to land Rodriguez.
“Something big is always education, so that’s first. Second, is how I connect with the coaches. I’ve already developed a relationship with coach Justice, I’m already getting comfortable with him, opening up and asking questions. Other factors would be how I like the campus, how much success the football team is having – there are many factors.
By seeing an increase in college attention and winning a state title over Apopka, Rodriguez felt his 2019 couldn’t have gone much better.
“This season, individually, I felt I had my best season of football,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of schools started becoming interested in me, I got first team All-Dade. As a team and as an O-Line, at the beginning of the season, we hit 4-4 and hit rock bottom, lost to U. School pretty bad. Our senior leader Courtney came back, he really flipped everything for us. We went to states, gave it everything we had, and pulled it out.”
As for a decision?
“I don’t know when I’ll decide yet. I’m definitely going up to see Louisville sometime in spring, I’m planning on going to visit all the schools that offer me to make sure I’m making the right choice for myself. Hopefully I’ll decide before the season starts or early in the season.”
