Pedro Arruza

Title

Head Football Coach
Email

parruza@rmc.edu
Undergraduate

Wheaton (Ill.) '95
Years at Randolph-Macon

21
Graduate

Butler '99

Pedro Arruza is entering his 22nd season as head coach at Randolph-Macon, the longest-tenured football coach in the state of Virginia.Yellow Jacket football is experiencing the most successful period in program history under Arruza and his staff.

RMC is one of three programs in NCAA Division III with nine or more wins in each of the past six full seasons (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), joining Mount Union and North Central. The Yellow Jackets had five 9-win seasons between 1881 and 2015 (1935, 1937, 1968, 1969, 1984) and have seven in the past eight full seasons.
The Yellow Jackets have a 45-3 ODAC record since 2018 (.938) and own a 50-6 overall record since 2020 (.892). RMC has won 27 consecutive ODAC contests.
Since 2019, RMC has the highest winning percentage (.892) of any college program at all levels on the East Coast (including Pennsylvania and New York). It is the third-highest winning percentage in all of Division III.
Entering the 2024 season, the Yellow Jackets had a streak of 26 consecutive regular-season wins (which was extended to 28), which ranked in the Top 5 in the nation at all levels (Mount Union, Georgia, North Central, Michigan, RMC).
RMC joined Mount Union, North Central and Wartburg as the only programs to reach the Round of 16 in the NCAA Championship in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Recent Record

83-16 (.838) overall and 55-6 (.901) in conference games since 2016.
45-3 (.938) in ODAC since 2018 with current conference win streak of 27.
59-8 (.880) overall record since 2019, third best in Division III.
50-6 (.892) overall record since 2020.
Six ODAC Championships in past nine seasons.

Recent Playoff Success

RMC is one of four programs in Division III to reach the Round of 16 in each of past three seasons
2024: 10-2 record (NCAA Final 16, #18 final ranking)
2023: 13-1 record (National Semifinalist, #6 final ranking)
2022: 11-1 record (NCAA Final 16, #13 final ranking)
2020: 5-0 record in Spring Season (ODAC Champions, no NCAA Playoffs)
2018: Upset #8 John Carroll on the road (#18 final ranking)

Additional Information on Pedro Arruza

Named head football coach at RMC in March of 2004.
Overall record of 149-72 (.674) in 21 years at RMC, including 94-43 (.686) in ODAC games. Over the past nine seasons, the Yellow Jackets are 84-16 (.840) overall and 55-6 (.900) in conference contests.
ODAC Coach of the Year six times.
State Small College Coach of the Year by Touchdown Club of Richmond eight times.

Prior Coaching Experience

Assistant coach at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1999-2004. Defensive coordinator as well as strength and conditioning coordinator for three seasons. Secondary coach and recruiting coordinator all five years. Led defensive unit that was consistently ranked among the best in NCAA Division III, finishing first nationally in total defense in 1999 and third in 2000. The Bears also had one of the country’s top rushing defenses, finishing 2nd in 1999, 3rd in 2000 and 20th in 2001. Washington University won four conference championships in five years, had a conference record of 19-1, and made an NCAA playoff appearance in 1999. In 2003, Arruza received the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Assistant Coach of the Year award, which honors assistant coaches who excel in community service, commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success and AFCA involvement.
Assistant coach at Butler University in Indianapolis from 1998 to 1999, working with the secondary.
From 1996 to 1998, served as assistant football coach and taught English at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tenn. Coached secondary and also coached running backs and helped the program advance to the state semifinals in 1996 and win the Tennessee State Championship in 1997.

Personal

A native of West Palm Beach, Florida, Arruza is a 1995 graduate of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. There, he was a four-year starter at running back, earned Division III All-American honors twice, was named first-team All-CCIW three times, and was also a three-year GTE Academic All-American, including first team honors in 1994 and 1995.
Arruza held Wheaton's all-time rushing record for more than 20 years with 3,179 career rushing yards. He is one of only two backs in Wheaton’s history to run for over 3,000 yards. In 1993 he ran for a then-school record 1,209 yards in nine games. Arruza holds single game records for rushing yards in a game (313 vs. North Central on 10/30/93) and for rushing yards in a half (287 vs. North Central on 10/30/93). He finished his career as the second leading scorer in Wheaton history and the all-time leader for all-purpose yards. Arruza served as a team captain during his senior season and was voted on by his teammates to receive the James Parmalee Award, awarded to the team’s most respected player. For his efforts, Arruza was inducted into the school's Hall of Honor in the fall of 2011.
He is a 2003 inductee into the King's Academy Athletic Hall of Fame.
He received his bachelor's degree in English from Wheaton in 1995, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Arruza went on to receive his master's degree in English from Butler University in 1999.
Arruza is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and a certified USA Weightlifting Coach. Arruza has a Level 1 certification in RPR (Reflexive Performance Reset).
Arruza and his wife, Kara, have three children: a son, Owen, a 2025 graduate of RMC; a daughter, Ella Joy, a 2025 graduate of Liberty University and currently a grad student at LU; and a son, Will, a 2025 graduate of Patrick Henry High School and member of RMC football team.