Darryl Dale Rogers (May 28, 1934 – July 10, 2018) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player and coach. He served as the head coach at California State College at Hayward—now known as

California State University, East Bay California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 pos ...

(1965),

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

(1966–1972),

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

(1973–1975),

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

(1976–1979), and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

(1980–1984), compiling a career college football record of 129–84–7. From 1985 to 1988, Rogers was the head coach of

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL), tallying a mark of 18–40. In 1991, served as head coach of the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

(CFL), coaching the Blue Bombers to a 9–9 record and an appearance in the East Final.

Early life and education

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, Rogers graduated from Jordan High School in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. After attending

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village and the Pacific Coast Campus in central Long Beach ...

, Rogers transferred to Fresno State College (now

). At Fresno State, Rogers completed two degrees in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explora ...

, a bachelor's degree in 1957 and master's degree in 1964. He played at end, with both wide receiver and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

roles, on the

Fresno State Bulldogs football The Fresno State Bulldogs football team represents California State University, Fresno in NCAA Division I FBS college football as a member of the Mountain West Conference. The green "V" on the Bulldogs' helmets, uniforms, and playing field symboli ...

team in 1955 and 1956. In the

1957 NFL draft The 1957 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on November 26, 1956, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia and its final twenty-six rounds on January 31, 1957 at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel also in Philadelphia. This w ...

, the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

selected Rogers in the 24th round.

Coaching career

In 1961, Rogers became defensive backfield coach at

Fresno City College Fresno City College (FCC or "Fresno City") is a public community college in Fresno, California. It is part of the State Center Community College District within the California Community Colleges system. Fresno City College operates on a semester ...

. He served as the head coach at Cal State Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) in 1965, Fresno State from 1966 to 1972,

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

from 1973 to 1975,

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

from 1976 to 1979, and Arizona State from 1980 to 1984, compiling a career college football record of 129–84–7. Rogers was then the head coach of the

from 1985 to 1988, where his record was 18–40. He went 7–9 in 1985 (with home wins over four playoff teams), 5–11 in 1986, 4–11 in 1987, and 2–9 in 1988, for a career record with the Lions of 18–40. One of his more famous quotes during his unsuccessful tenure with the Lions was when he once wondered aloud to reporters after a loss, "What does a coach have to do around here to get fired?" He was succeeded by Wayne Fontes. In 1991, Rogers served as head coach of the

of the

(CFL) coaching the Blue Bombers to a 9–9 record and an appearance in the East Final. After the CFL stint, Rogers was named head coach of the Arkansas Miners of the fledgling

Professional Spring Football League The Professional Spring Football League (PSFL) was an outdoor american football minor league slated to begin in 1992. The league had a preview show on SportsChannel America in late 1991/early 1992, laying out the ten teams that would play. The ...

. However, the league never made it out of its first training camp and folded just ten days before the start of the 1992 season.

Personal life

Living in

Friant, California Friant (formerly, Converse Ferry, Jones Ferry, Hamptonville, and Pollasky) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 549 at the 2010 census, down from 778 at the 2000 census. Friant is loca ...

in his final years, Rogers was married for over 50 years. He died on July 10, 2018 in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

at the age of 84.

Head coaching record

College

NFL

CFL

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Darryl 1934 births 2018 deaths American football defensive backs American football wide receivers Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Cal State Hayward Pioneers football coaches Detroit Lions coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football players Michigan State Spartans football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches Junior college football coaches in the United States Sportspeople from Long Beach, California Players of American football from Long Beach, California Players of American football from Los Angeles Long Beach City Vikings football players Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles Sports coaches from Los Angeles Detroit Lions head coaches