ARLINGTON (1080 KRLD) - Arlington ISD is mourning the death of a beloved soccer coach.
Sam Houston High School head boys soccer coach Joey Rodriguez died Sunday night following a seven-week battle with COVID-19.
Rodriguez was fully vaccinated but had suffered from an immune disorder that made it hard for his body to fight infections.
"It's a very tough day for the whole Sam Houston family because of how strong and how involved he was," says Eric White, Sam Houston athletic director. "The entire coaching staff is affected by this because he was so present at everything he did."
Head football coach Anthony Criss says Rodriguez was much more than just the head boys soccer coach.
"He was so much a fabric, a part of this community and our school," says Criss. "He was always there watching practice; he knew all the kids. He was always a game administrator, so he saw all our home games."
Criss says he and Rodriguez would often about things completely unrelated to sports.
"Our favorite thing we loved to talk about was barbecue," says Criss. "So we're talking about different type of barbecues, new places that we would go, new places to try out, we ranked barbecue places."
Rodriguez leaves behind a wife and three kids.
He was 43-years-old.
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