George Rodriguez was named Calvin head men’s and women’s tennis coach on July 1, 2025.
Rodriguez comes to Calvin after spending the last three years as head women’s tennis coach at Division I George Washington University. Prior to his stint at George Washington, he was the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Division II Fresno Pacific University for two seasons. He also served as assistant and later had a brief stint as interim head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Grand Valley State.
Rodriguez originally hails from Fresno, California. In Fresno, he was mentored and coached by Hall of Fame coach Peter Smith. He is no stranger to West Michigan however, and in fact, considers the area his home. He spent his first two years collegiately at Reedley College in California, where he ended playing 1 singles his second year. He then transferred and graduated from Ferris State University in 1998 with a degree in Professional Tennis Management. At Ferris State, he was a two-year member of the men’s tennis program. As a senior, he lost only one singles match and helped the Bulldogs capture the GLIAC men’s tennis title.
After graduating from Ferris State, he worked as a tennis professional at East Hills Tennis Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He later became the head tennis professional at Norton Pines Tennis Club in nearby Muskegon. He then worked in the private business sector before accepting an assistant tennis coach position at Grand Valley State where he worked with both the men’s and women’s teams. After his tenure at GVSU, he served as the Director of Tennis at Premier Athletic and Tennis Club in Grandville. During his time at GVSU, Rodriguez was named the ITA Division II Women’s Midwest Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019 after helping the GVSU women’s program gain a national ranking with the men’s program also earning national ranking honors that season.
He accepted the Fresno Pacific head women’s tennis position during the heart of the Covid-pandemic in 2020. His first women’s tennis team in 2021 went on to finish 7-10 and win two matches at the PacWest Tournament.
In his second season at the helm, FPU introduced a men's program that showed a great deal of success in its first year as a team full of all freshmen. The team found their way into the PacWest Tournament as the No. 8 overall seed.
The women's team in 2022 had its most successful season at the Division II level, going 16-10 and finishing third at the PacWest Tournament, qualifying them for the NCAA DII West Regional. The team finished the season ranked No. 33 nationally.
He then moved from the west coast to the east coast in the summer of 2022 as he accepted the head women’s tennis position at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
At George Washington, he led the women’s tennis team to 21 victories. His 2023-24 team finished with a cumulative 3.88 grade point average for the highest GPA of any George Washington athletics team that academic year. In addition, three of his women’s tennis players have earned All-Atlantic 10 honors during his coaching tenure.
“I am extremely excited to be joining the Calvin athletics program,” said Rodriguez. “I am grateful to (Director of Athletics) Dr. Jim Timmer and the search committee for extending this opportunity. For me, Grand Rapids feels like my home. My wife is from Battle Creek and I spent many years in the West Michigan area developing bonds and friendships. I love Dr. Timmer’s vision and goals for the Calvin athletics program. Those goals align with mine. There is a strong tennis tradition at Calvin that goes back many years. My goal is to continue to build on that tradition and create something special that will last for years to come.”
Timmer echoes those thoughts from Rodriguez. “We are thrilled to have George join the Calvin athletics program,” said Timmer. “He has a great range of tennis experience and he knows what it takes to develop student-athletes. He aligns with our mission as a Christian liberal arts university and we feel he is a perfect fit to lead our men’s and women’s tennis programs forward.”
Rodriguez takes over a Calvin tennis program that saw its women’s team finish 14-6 overall this past season with a fourth-place league finish while its men’s team finished 12-9 overall and in third place in the MIAA.
Rodriguez and his wife Deb, have a son Sebastian who will be a high school freshman next fall.
