Corky Rogers

"Corky Rogers"' had the best won-lost record of any high school football coach in Florida and was named 2004-05 National High School Coach of the Year. In 2008, he began his 40th year of coaching and his record at the end of 2007 was 361-68-1. [ [http://www.bolles.org/upper/athletics/football/coaches Bolles School website: Athletics/Football/Coaches-Corky Rogers] ] [ [http://www.fhsaa.org/news/2007/1210.htm Florida State High School Athletic Association: December 10, 2007-News Release FHSAA announces coaching staff for All-Century football team] ]

Youth

Charles Buxton Rogers, IV was born in Bay City, Michigan in 1944, but his family soon returned to Florida. His nickname “Corky” came from his father, Chuck, who read about World War II hero Colin Kelly from Madison, Florida who called his own son Corky. There was a strong father-son tradition in the Rogers family. Chuck was a member of Lee High School’s first graduating class and played football there. Corky also graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville in 1961. He was a three-sport athlete, playing for the Generals’ 1960 mythical state championship football team, the 1961 baseball state championship team and the basketball team. Chuck played football at the University of Florida before beginning a 40-year career with the Jacksonville Recreation Department and Corky wanted to do likewise. Unfortunately, Florida wasn’t interested in Corky, so he enrolled at the Florida Military Academy prep school and spent a year under coaching icon Willard “Dub” Palmer. Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Dodd offered Rogers a scholarship, so he became a Yellow Jacket. Rogers was a quarterback on the Tech freshman team, a varsity defensive back for two seasons, then a wide receiver for his senior year in 1965. Coach Dodd made a big impression on the young Rogers and he told this story at an interview:

“Years later, (Coach Dodd) was down here for an alumni reception at a hotel out at the beach. My wife and I went out to see him. He was on the balcony where this elderly woman was serving boiled shrimp. Coach Dodd said, ‘Y”know, if you tell that lady her hair looks nice, you’re not going to run out of boiled shrimp all night, and what’ve you done? Something honest, fair and nice. Do that and people are going to want to do something nice for you.’
That’s the best coaching lesson I ever got.”Georgia Tech Alumni Association: Winter, 2005 Yellow Jackets Magazine-"Corky" Rogers by Tom Cornelison]

Rogers was drafted by the Baltimore Colts, but had to serve a year of active military duty as a member of the Army Reserve. He came back the next season, but with receivers like Raymond Berry, Jimmy Orr and John Mackey on the roster, he didn’t make the final cut.

Lacking one semester for graduation, he returned to Georgia Tech and received a degree in Industrial Management in 1968.cite web |url= http://www.fhsaa.org/news/2005/0425.htm |title= News Release: April 25, 2005 Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame’s 2005 induction class |accessdate= 2008-08-01]

Lee

Rogers returned to Jacksonville and spent three years as an assistant football coach at Jean Ribault High School before taking the head coaching position at his alma mater, Lee High School, in 1972. He recorded 10 straight district titles from 1977-1986 and coached LeRoy Butler, who went on to become a four-time All-Pro safety for the Green Bay Packers. The goal that eluded him at Lee was a state championship, and it still bothers him:

"It certainly is one of the real disappointments in my career," he said. "We had the players to do it. We just didn't get it done and I'm the one that must answer for that. But I do think it was a growing period in my life where I learned what it takes. And maybe not winning one kept me that much more hungry when we came over to Bolles."

In 1989, Rogers wrestled with the decision of leaving Lee High School after 17 successful seasons and accepting the head football coach position at the Bolles School. He had spent nearly half his life at Lee as a player or coach and Bolles, a private school of the rich and well-heeled, was traditionally viewed as the enemy of the public-school system. Rogers and his long-time assistant, Wayne Belger agreed that they needed a change and support at Lee had waned.cite web |url= http://www.americanfootballmonthly.com/Subaccess/Magazine/1999/June'99/bolles.html |title= American Football Monthly: June, 1999-Florida's Bolles School by Gene Frenette |accessdate= 2008-07-28]

Bolles

In 1989, Rogers took the helm of the football program at The Bolles School in Jacksonville.Bolles is a well-financed private school with both a strong academic and athletic reputation. In 2005, Sports Illustrated ranked it as the 9th best high school athletics program in the country. The campus looks like a small college and contains sports facilities that many colleges would envy.Since their arrival, Rogers and his coaching staff have transformed a good program into a great one. His wing-T offense has led the Bulldogs to seven state championships and two runner-up finishes that span three school size classifications. Rogers’ success has catapulted him to the top of the list of Florida’s winningest high school football coaches. He took over the top spot with his 314th win in September 2004. Notably, among the Florida high school coaches with more than 300 wins, Rogers is the only coach with fewer than 100 losses.cite web |url= http://www.fhsaa.org/programs/hof/alpha/rogers_corky.asp |title= Florida High School Athletic Association: Programs Hall of Fame-Charles "Corky" Rogers, Coach |accessdate= 2008-07-28]

The biggest difference in the Bulldogs since the arrival of Rogers & Co. is the year-round weight training and strength training programs. The Wing-T offense was also a factor, but not as much as the players understanding that championships are won in the weight room before you take the field.

"The first day Corky was introduced to the players in the weight room, he got down and bench-pressed more weight than any of them did," said Frank Callihan, the team's play-by-play announcer since 1975. "Wayne Belger did the same thing. That got the kids' attention. They won't tolerate the players not fulfilling their weight-room obligations."

A common misconception about Bolles is that they are always loaded with blue-chip college prospects. More often than not, they aren’t, so Rogers must get the most out of players with no chance of ever playing a down of college ball.

"As coaches, we don't do a lot to make Division I football players; they pretty much make themselves," according to Rogers. "Where we come in is to have more influence on the guy who struggles just to be competitive."

Rogers has established this outstanding success by focusing on a single objective: developing his players into young men who possess the character-building skills necessary to win at football and life.Another reason for success is continuity. Only three coaching assistants have left the Bolles program during Rogers' reign; two of them have since returned.cite web |url= http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/091804/spf_16676368.shtml |title= Florida Times-Union: Dec 7, 2004-Corky is not motivated by milestones |accessdate= 2008-07-28]

Corky Rogers Day

On December 18, 2005, during halftime of the Jacksonville Jaguars 10-9 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Rogers was presented with a silver plate commemorating his accomplishments and the award for the 2004-05 National High School Coach of the Year. The Jaguars showed a short slide show of various headlines and pictures from Rogers' 34-year coaching career on the JumboTrons. However, Rogers was most touched by the 300-plus former players that came onto the field during the ceremony. There were players from each of the teams Rogers coached, many of whom Rogers hadn't seen since coaching them. "I had no idea," said a teary-eyed Rogers. "I thought the (current) players from the school would be here but I had no idea that all these players would be here." After leaving the field, the throng of players continued to cluster around Rogers under the stadium. Some posed for pictures with their former coach and others were hugging teammates they hadn't seen since their playing days. "Corky is more than a just a football coach," said J.D. Hall, who played for Rogers at Lee High School and is the current head football coach at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville. "He was a father figure to me." [ [http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121905/jag_alltales.shtml Florida Times-Union: Dec 19, 2005- ALL-TALES: Emotional Rogers honored at half] ]

All Century Team

Bolles' Corky Rogers was named to the Florida High School Athletic Association's All-Century Team Coaching Staff. As part of its ongoing celebration of “100 Years of Florida High School Football,” the FHSAA announced a 33-player and 12-member coaching staff for the All-Century Team. The FHSAA honored the All-Century Team players and coaches at halftime of the Class 5A state championship game in Orlando on December 14, 2007. [ [http://www.fhsaa.org/news/2007/1212.htm Florida State High School Athletic Association: December 12, 2007-News Release FHSAA announces 33-member All-Century football team] ] [ [http://www.bolles.org/news/detail/corky_rogers_named_to_fhsaa_all_century_team_coaching_staff/ Bolles School website: News-Corky Rogers Named to FHSAA All-Century Team Coaching Staff] ]

Highlights

*39 Year Coaching Career Record: 361-68-1 (through 2007 season)
*220-29 at Bolles (1989-2007) with 7 State Championships and 2 runners-up
*141-39-1 at Lee High School (1971-88) with 10 straight district titles from ‘77-‘86
*Named National High School Football Coach of the Year for 2005 by the National High School Coaches Association
*Most wins among high school football coaches in Florida history (361)
*Tied for most state titles among high school football coaches in Florida history
*2005 football squad named one of the top 25 teams to watch in the nation by Street & Smith's.
*Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame (2005)
*Life member of the Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) and inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2002.
*ACA Life Membership Award for outstanding contribution to high school athletics and the coaching profession
*USA Head Coach for NFL Global Junior Championships IX (2005)
*Sunshine Network Coach of the Year (2002)
*FACA-Dairy Farmers Football Coach of the Year (2002)
*Nominated for NFL High School Coach of the Year (2002)
*Head Coach of the North-South All-Star Football Classic (1990)

Disappointments

Rogers has also endured his share of lows, the greatest being the death of his father, Chuck, as his 1980 Lee team was making a run toward a state title. The Generals fell short that year in the state semifinals when an offside penalty on Gainesville's 1-yard line in the closing minutes derailed the winning touchdown.

Rogers' teams missed out on three state crowns (1980, '81 and '96) during seasons when his starting quarterback got injured in the playoffs. His '84 Lee team also lost a triple overtime playoff game to Pensacola Escambia, the eventual state champion, in which Emmitt Smith was held under 100 yards for the only time in his high school career.

Ironically, Rogers' most talented team at Bolles fell two points short of perfection in a 14-13 state championship loss to Bartow in 1996. Ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today, the Bulldogs lost their starting guard to an injury on the opening kickoff, then had the game's entire complexion change when quarterback/cornerback Chris Reier fractured his ankle on the first series. Rogers described the bizarre circumstances afterwards "like being in a game of five-card stud with only three cards."

Future

When asked how long he planned to continue coaching, Rogers said, "You just don't know how you're going to feel from one year to the next." Coach Rogers will continue to coach until activities like fishing and golfing become more important or his health becomes an issue. Rogers and his wife, Linda, have two married daughters, Tracy and Jennifer, and six grandchildren.

Another exclusive group he might join is the 400-win club. With 361 wins, Rogers would likely have to coach through the 2011 season to reach that plateau, which has been achieved by just four coaches. [ [http://www.nflhs.com/News/Records/11man_coaching.asp NFSHS the home of High School football: 11-Man Football-Team-Coaching] ] The all-time leader is Summerville High School's John McKissick, 81, who is 556-130-13 and in his 58th season at the school. The other 400-win club members are Pete Adkins (405-60-4) of Jefferson City High School (retired); G.A. Moore Jr. (404-81-9) of Pilot Point High School and John T. Curtis Jr. (404-47-6) of John Curtis Christian High School.

Rogers puts no timetable on when he will retire.

References

External links

* [http://www.bolles.org/upper/athletics/football/coaches Bolles School website: Athletics/Coaches-Corky Rogers]