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 and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccala ...

(1965),

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

(1966–1972),

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

(1973–1975),

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

(1976–1979), and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

(1980–1984), compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

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) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(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 thei ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, Rogers graduated from Jordan High School in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. After attending Long Beach City College, Rogers transferred to Fresno State College (now

). At Fresno State, Rogers completed two degrees in

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

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 symb ...

team in 1955 and 1956. In the 1957 NFL draft, the

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

selected Rogers in the 24th round.

Coaching career

In 1961, Rogers became defensive backfield coach at Fresno City College. 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 from 1973 to 1975, Michigan State from 1976 to 1979, and Arizona State from 1980 to 1984, compiling a career

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

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, at the age of 84.

Head coaching record

College

NFL

CFL

References

{{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 Detroit Lions head coaches Fresno City Rams football coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football players Long Beach City Vikings football players Michigan State Spartans football coaches San Jose State Spartans football coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches Players of American football from Long Beach, California Players of American football from Los Angeles Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles Sports coaches from Los Angeles