“If football came down to personality, Pepper Rodgers never would have lost a game.” So said sportswriter I.J. Rosenberg. Colorful, ahead of his time, and marches to his own drummer, others have said. One thing is sure; he left his mark on football and all the people he touched in his incredible life.
Born in Atlanta, GA, in 1931, Pepper was a three-sport star at Brown High School, playing baseball, football, and basketball. His football team won the Georgia state championship in 1949. He next attended Georgia Tech, where he played football under legendary coach Bobby Dodd. Rodgers was a quarterback and placekicker.
In his three seasons, he was a part of the Georgia Tech teams that went 32-2-2 over three seasons, claimed two SEC Championships (Georgia Tech was once part of the Southeastern Conference), won three major bowl games, and shared a National Championship in 1952. (When Pepper Rodgers played, freshman could not play on the varsity teams, so his Tech career was only three seasons). In 1952, Rodgers led his team to a victory in the Sugar Bowl over Ole Miss by throwing a touchdown pass, kicking a field goal, and adding three extra points. When was the last time a quarterback did that?
But that may not have been his best bowl appearance. In the 1954 Sugar Bowl, Rodgers led the Yellow Jackets to a 42-19 victory over West Virginia. He threw three touchdown passes in that game and was named the MVP. Rodgers was in the inaugural class when the Sugar Bowl created its Hall of Fame in 2018.
Rodgers was drafted in one of the later rounds by the Baltimore Colts but stayed at Tech to complete his degree. He also served as a student assistant for the football team. He next chose to enter the military, flying in the Air Force for five years, which also led to the beginning of his coaching career, becoming an assistant coach with the Air Force Academy in 1958.
Rodgers began his head coaching career at Kansas in 1967 and went 20-22 over four seasons. He accomplished a Big Eight title and an Orange Bowl appearance before moving on to coach at UCLA. His first season with the Bruins could have been more successful, posting a 2-7-1 record. But he then went 17-5 while posting runner-up finishes for the Pac-8 over the next two years, running an explosive wishbone offense that racked up a lot of points.
Over the years, many players later went on to coach football, many at their alma maters, but few made their mark as colorfully as Pepper Rodgers. To the surprise of many, Rodgers left what was arguably a better position at UCLA to take the head coaching stint at his alma mater. When he was hired, he showed up riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle and sporting a perm.
Rodgers installed the same wishbone offense he had been so successful with before, but he needed to have had the same success as he had at UCLA. His best season as a head coach at Georgia Tech was when the Yellow Jackets went 7-5, led by star running back Eddie Lee Ivery. Rodgers always felt one of the reasons for his lack of success was his inability to overcome the lack of modern facilities or the fact that the school was independent at the time.
“We were not in a conference, and the facilities hadn’t changed since I played,” Rodgers told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2015. “I knew how hard it was going to be to win there. But that had nothing to do with taking the job. It was about my love for Tech.”
After the team slipped to 4-6-1 in 1979, Rodgers was fired by Georgia Tech. He posted a record of 34-31-2 over six seasons at the school and finished his college career with a record of 73-65-3.
Pepper Rodgers was always considered a forward thinker and a bit of a maverick. When the United States Football League called in 1984, he jumped at the chance to be part of the new league. He was hired by the Memphis Showboats as head coach and went 7-11 in his inaugural season and 11-7 the following year, with an appearance in the league semifinals. Unfortunately, the league tried to go head-to-head with the NFL and fell flat after two seasons.
Pepper Rodgers was described by many as colorful, which is another way of saying he wasn’t afraid to do things a little unconventionally as a coach. This unique attitude often got him into hot water with his bosses and some of the more conservative boosters and alumni of his time. He once put on his old flight helmet from the Air Force to motivate his team. He wore a tuxedo on the sidelines to coach his USFL team against the New Jersey Generals, a team known for its free spending, thanks to its owner, Donald Trump. As one of his players once said: “He’s no clown. He’s a good coach who likes to have fun. That’s all.”
On the field, he was all business. His players and assistants alike marveled at the rigorous practice schedule and organized plan for the day. He took that plan with him, whether in the college ranks, the USFL, or CFL.
