Pepper Rodgers

Franklin Cullen "Pepper" Rodgers (October 8, 1931 – May 14, 2020) was an American football player and coach. As a college football player, he led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to an undefeated season in 1952 and later became their head coach. He also coached collegiately for the Kansas Jayhawks and UCLA Bruins before leading professional teams in Memphis, Tennessee, in the United States Football League (USFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL).

Rodgers was a quarterback and placekicker for Georgia Tech. After the Yellow Jackets won the Sugar Bowl and earned a share of the national championship in 1952, they again won the bowl game the following year, when he was named the contest's most valuable player (MVP). Rodgers began coaching as an assistant for the Air Force Falcons and later the Florida Gators and UCLA. He became a head coach with Kansas in 1967, and later returned to UCLA and then Georgia Tech as their leader. He compiled a career college coaching record of . where he became a three-sport star in football, basketball and baseball at Brown High School. His football team won a state championship in 1949. As a junior in 1952, he led the Yellow Jackets to an undefeated 12–0 season and share of the national championship after throwing for a touchdown and kicking a field goal in a 24–7 win in the 1953 Sugar Bowl over Mississippi.

Coaching career Rodgers was selected in the 25th round of the 1954 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts, In 1955 he joined the U.S. Air Force, , this is the program's most recent conference championship. They played in the Orange Bowl in Miami, but lost 15–14 to Penn State.

Rodgers returned to UCLA as its head coach in 1971. UCLA finished and ranked No. 15 in the final AP rankings. In 1973 they were and ended ranked No. 12. After the season, he returned to Georgia Tech as its head coach, compiling a 34–31–2 record in his six seasons.

Rodgers was also the head coach of the USFL's Memphis Showboats from 1984 to 1985 and for the CFL's Memphis Mad Dogs in 1995. With the Showboats, he coached future Pro Football Hall of Fame player Reggie White. While coaching for the Mad Dogs, Rodgers was noted about his dislike of the rules of Canadian football.

Executive career At 69, Rodgers was considered for the Washington Redskins' head coaching position before Norv Turner's eventual firing during the 2000 season. He was instead appointed the team's vice president of football operations, a position in which he served from 2001 to 2004.

Writing career Rodgers wrote Fourth and Long Gone, a novel published in 1985 that is a bawdy roman à clef of his experiences as a college football coach and recruiter.

Later years Rodgers later lived in Reston, Virginia, where he died on May 14, 2020, at the age of 88. He was married to actress Janet Lake.

Head coaching record College

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Professional USFL Team Year Regular season PostseasonWon LostTiesWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result MEM 1984 7 11 0 4th in Southern Div. did not qualify MEM 1985 11 7 0 3rd in Eastern Conf. 1 1 Lost in SemifinalsTotal 18 18 0 1 1

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CFL Team Year Regular season PostseasonWon LostTiesWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result MEM 1995 9 9 0 4th in South Division did not qualifyTotal 9 9 0 0 0

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Publications