Franklin C. "Pepper" Rodgers has been a head coach in college football, the United States Football League and the Canadian Football League. He was the head coach at University of Kansas, UCLA (1971-1973), and Georgia Tech, and an assistant at the United States Air Force Academy and the University of Florida. He also served as vice president of football operations for the Washington Redskins. His tenure as Memphis Mad Dogs head coach was marred by him complaining about the Canadian Football League's style of play citing it should be a four down league.[citation needed]
He was a member of Georgia Tech's 1952 national championship team as a backup quarterback and placekicker. As a coach, he led Kansas to the 1968 Big 8 championship, the Jayhawks' last conference championship in football to date. In 1984 and 1985, he later coached the Memphis Showboats of the USFL, where he was the first professional coach of future Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White.
His last coaching job of note was the Memphis Mad Dogs of the CFL in 1995 as noted above.
He is the author of Fourth and Long Gone, a fictional book published in 1985 that is a bawdy roman à clef of Rodgers' experiences as a college football coach and recruiter. He also wrote an autobiography: "Pepper", written with Al Thomy. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1955.
| Sporting positions |
Preceded by
Bill Fulcher |
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Football Head Coaches
1974-1980 |
Succeeded by
Bill Curry |
External links
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