UCLA Mourns the Loss of Coach Pepper Rodgers
May 14, 2020 | Football
The UCLA community was saddened to learn of the passing of head football coach Pepper Rodgers on Thursday in Reston, Va. He was 88. Rodgers, who served as head coach of the Bruins in the 1971-73 seasons and was an assistant coach in 1965 and 1966, was hospitalized after a fall at his home last week.
Rodgers was named Pac-8 Coach of the Year following the 1972 and 1973 seasons after leading UCLA to a combined 17-5-0 record in those two campaigns. As an assistant on Tommy Prothro's staff, the Bruins posted a record of 17-3-1 in the 1965 and 1966 seasons. The 1965 Bruin team went 9-2-1 and defeated top-ranked Michigan State in the 1966 Rose Bowl game while featuring future Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban at quarterback. Both teams finished the season ranked among the top-five in the final national polls.
As a player, Rodgers was a star high school quarterback in Atlanta and went on to lead Georgia Tech to a 32-2-2 record and two conference championships. He played for Coach Bobby Dodd and helped direct the Yellow Jackets to a couple of Sugar Bowl victories and a share of the 1952 National Championship. He capped his collegiate career by passing for 195 yards and three touchdowns and kicking a field goal and two extra points on his way to being named MVP of the 1954 Sugar Bowl. In 2018, he was a member of the inaugural class of the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame.
Rodgers was selected by the Baltimore Colts in the 1954 National Football League Draft, but instead entered the U.S. Air Force, where he was a pilot for five years. After he completed his military duties, he joined the coaching ranks as an assistant at Air Force. He spent nine seasons as an assistant, two at Air Force (1958-59), five at Florida (1960-64) where he coached future Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier, and two at UCLA (1965-66) before landing his first head coaching position at Kansas in 1967. In 1968, his second season at Kansas, he led the Jayhawks to a 9-2 record, the Big Eight championship and a berth in the Orange Bowl.
Following four seasons at Kansas, Rodgers was named head coach at UCLA in 1971. After his time in Westwood, he returned to his alma mater as Georgia Tech's head coach in 1974. Rodgers led the Yellow Jackets to four winning seasons in six years, highlighted by a Peach Bowl berth in 1978. He was a six-time coach of the year in his 13 seasons as a collegiate head coach – two-time Big Eight Coach of the Year at Kansas, two-time Pac-8 Coach of the Year at UCLA and two-time Southern Independent Coach of the Year at Georgia Tech.
Rodgers went on to coach professionally for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (1984-85) and the Memphis Mad Dogs of the Canadian Football League (1995). For his last job in football, he served as vice president of football operations for the NFL's Washington Redskins from 2001-04.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Janet Lake Livingston.
Rodgers was named Pac-8 Coach of the Year following the 1972 and 1973 seasons after leading UCLA to a combined 17-5-0 record in those two campaigns. As an assistant on Tommy Prothro's staff, the Bruins posted a record of 17-3-1 in the 1965 and 1966 seasons. The 1965 Bruin team went 9-2-1 and defeated top-ranked Michigan State in the 1966 Rose Bowl game while featuring future Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban at quarterback. Both teams finished the season ranked among the top-five in the final national polls.
As a player, Rodgers was a star high school quarterback in Atlanta and went on to lead Georgia Tech to a 32-2-2 record and two conference championships. He played for Coach Bobby Dodd and helped direct the Yellow Jackets to a couple of Sugar Bowl victories and a share of the 1952 National Championship. He capped his collegiate career by passing for 195 yards and three touchdowns and kicking a field goal and two extra points on his way to being named MVP of the 1954 Sugar Bowl. In 2018, he was a member of the inaugural class of the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame.
Rodgers was selected by the Baltimore Colts in the 1954 National Football League Draft, but instead entered the U.S. Air Force, where he was a pilot for five years. After he completed his military duties, he joined the coaching ranks as an assistant at Air Force. He spent nine seasons as an assistant, two at Air Force (1958-59), five at Florida (1960-64) where he coached future Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier, and two at UCLA (1965-66) before landing his first head coaching position at Kansas in 1967. In 1968, his second season at Kansas, he led the Jayhawks to a 9-2 record, the Big Eight championship and a berth in the Orange Bowl.
Following four seasons at Kansas, Rodgers was named head coach at UCLA in 1971. After his time in Westwood, he returned to his alma mater as Georgia Tech's head coach in 1974. Rodgers led the Yellow Jackets to four winning seasons in six years, highlighted by a Peach Bowl berth in 1978. He was a six-time coach of the year in his 13 seasons as a collegiate head coach – two-time Big Eight Coach of the Year at Kansas, two-time Pac-8 Coach of the Year at UCLA and two-time Southern Independent Coach of the Year at Georgia Tech.
Rodgers went on to coach professionally for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (1984-85) and the Memphis Mad Dogs of the Canadian Football League (1995). For his last job in football, he served as vice president of football operations for the NFL's Washington Redskins from 2001-04.
He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Janet Lake Livingston.
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