Stan Rodrigues, a coaching veteran who established the men's soccer program at Eastern Oregon and has coached at several institutions along the way, including NCAA Division II Adams State, NCAA Division II member Cal State-Dominguez Hills and NCAA Division I Loyola Marymount, will begin his second season as head coach of the Shawnee State men's soccer program in 2025.
In Rodrigues' first season as head coach, Shawnee State made its first-ever appearance in a conference semifinal, going 8-8-3 overall over the course of the season. Nikos Pontikis, Guilherme Bitencourt, Eric Green, Cameron Thompson, Theo Cavaliero Trindade and Joao Coqueti Leo were each named as All-RSC honorees, while Pontikis, Bitencourt, Thompson, Cavaliero Trindade (RSC Player of the Week) and Green (RSC Keeper of the Week) were all honored with weekly awards from the conference.
Academically, Rodrigues helped raise the team GPA, of players who finished the season from the 2023-24 to the 2024-25 season, from the mid-3.1 range to 3.4.
Rodrigues ultimately began playing the sport of soccer at six years of age in Los Angeles, Calif., and played youth soccer in both Mexico and Guatemala.
Ultimately, Rodrigues played his high school soccer at Redmond High School in Redmond, Ore., where Rodrigues graduated from in 1992. He played collegiately at Lane Community College and Central Oregon Community College before heading off to play semi-professional soccer in Los Angeles as well as New York City, and attended the Major League Soccer (MLS) Combine as part of a tryout for the San Jose Clash, who joined the MLS as an expansion team in 1996.
Coaching-wise, however, Rodrigues' background in the game took off immensely through the reputation of developing his brother, Michael, who became a four-year collegiate athlete and played at the national level under Stan's tutelage.
In December 2008, Rodrigues took the helm as the head of Portland Rain FC of the Women's Premier Soccer League, which is the third tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada.Â
While there, Rodrigues led Portland Rain FC to a 10-0-1 season in 2011 and the Women's Premier League North West Conference Championship, and was named as the Pacific 9 Co-Coach of the Year. Rodrigues' group scored 44 goals and allowing just 10 during that 11-game stretch.
Rodrigues then moved on to become the Director of Soccer for the Westside Metro Timbers Soccer Club, which were based out of Sherwood, Ore. and Beaverton, Ore. -- and after four seasons of directing that program and increasing team participation in the area from three teams to 27 teams, Rodrigues moved on to become the first head coach at NAIA member Eastern Oregon, which was forming a men's soccer program for the first time in its history. Rodrigues led Eastern Oregon to a 7-9 overall record and led the Mountaineers to a 2-0 victory over No. 9-ranked Corban (Ore.), who was the defending Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Champions, then increased that mark to an 11-6-1 overall record in his second season, which still stands as EOU's best season, in terms of winning percentage, in program history.
Following stints as the head coach at Northwest College in Powell, Wyo., where Rodrigues was named as the NJCAA Region 9 Coach of the Year in his lone season there, and Adams State University in Alamosa, Colo., Rodrigues joined the Cal State-Dominguez Hills program as an assistant men's soccer coach across two separate stints. While there, Rodrigues oversaw a massive improvement from 4-11-1 in 2019 to 10-6-1 by the conclusion of the 2021 season and helped recruit classes that ultimately combined to post a 15-2-5 overall record and obtain the California Collegiate Athletic Association Runner-Up finish while finishing as the 10th-ranked unit in the NCAA Division II realm.
Within the past three years, Rodrigues has also served as an academy coach and college advisory director at the Capital Futbol Club in Salem, Ore. and was a recruiting coordinator for a NCAA Division I Loyola Marymount program that went 10-5-6 last fall.
In addition to his vast coaching experiences across the west coast, Rodrigues has earned his United States Soccer Federations (USSF) 'B' License, United Soccer Coaches (USC) Goal Keepers License I/II, USSF Adult Coaching License, USC Director of Coaching Diploma and the Dutch Coever Coaching Diploma. His decision to move to the Eastern United States simply comes from an opportunity that Rodrigues feels he has been given to help raise the bar of soccer and continue building on past seasons.
Rodrigues earned his bachelor's degree in human development from Warner Pacific University in Portland, Ore. in 2008 and obtained his master's degree in kinesiology in 2015 from Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, Calif. Rodrigues is married to his wife, Angela Rodrigues, and has three sons -- Darian (20), Vincent (30) and Zion (12). Darian, who played high school soccer at Central High School in Independence, Ore. and La Grande High School in La Grande, Ore., will be joining the Shawnee State roster alongside his father. Darian has played on five state Olympic Development Programs and was a part of two national championship teams while playing club soccer in Oregon as well as in Los Angeles, Calif.
