Louisiana-Monroe quarterback Rhett Rodriguez, son of longtime coach Rich Rodriguez, has been hospitalized and is in intensive care with a lung injury he suffered during Saturday’s game against Troy, according to his father.
“Our family would like to thank everyone who has reached out with their thoughts and prayers for Rhett, as he is currently in the ICU at the hospital because of a lung injury from last night’s game against Troy,” Rich Rodriguez wrote in a tweet on Sunday.
Rodriguez told ESPN that his son was still on a ventilator in the ICU as of Sunday evening.
Warhawks head coach Terry Bowden said in a statement Sunday that Rodriguez was taken to Francis Medical Center with “severe trauma injury to the upper chest.” He said the extent of Rodriguez’s injury and his length of stay in the hospital are currently unknown.
Rich Rodriguez, the former head coach at West Virginia (2001-07), Michigan (2008-10) and Arizona (2012-17), is in his first season as the Warhawks’ associate head coach and offensive coordinator under Bowden. He also coaches the quarterbacks.
His son, a graduate transfer from Arizona, was named the starting quarterback this summer after enrolling in January and joining the program in the spring. He began his career at Arizona playing for his father and former coach Kevin Sumlin. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Rodriguez completed 10 of 16 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown in the Warhawks’ 29-16 win against Troy on Saturday night.
