Pepper’s legend lives on: Did KU coach really flash peace sign to MU’s Dan Devine?
.JPG "Pepper Rodgers (far left) coached the Kansas Jayhawks to the 1969 Orange Bowl. Kansas ended up losing to Penn State 15-14 back in 1969 in what came to be known as the 12th-man game.")
Franklin Cullen “Pepper” Rodgers had a short, four-year stint as head football coach at the University of Kansas.
His stay in Lawrence was long enough, successful enough and memorable enough, however, that he’s considered one of the most popular — not to mention colorful — sports personalities in KU history.
Rodgers, who died on Thursday at the age of 88, led KU to a 20-22 record from 1967 to ’70. He was coach of the Jayhawks’ 1969 Orange Bowl team, which went 9-2 and tied for the Big Eight Conference title with Oklahoma.
“KU was his first head coaching job. He loved Kansas and the people of Kansas. He really did love KU,” former UCLA head football coach Terry Donahue, who worked for Rodgers all four years at KU, told The Star Friday in a phone interview from Donahue’s home in Los Angeles.
Donahue — a close friend of Rodgers for more than 50 years — shared a few stories involving Pepper’s KU days. Rodgers went on to be head coach at UCLA, Georgia Tech and briefly in the USFL and CFL.
“We were playing a big game against Nebraska. He (Rodgers) was all fired up. He came out of the locker room and was headed to the press box side (of Memorial Stadium). He got halfway there and did a full somersault in front of the people. I’m not sure I’d seen anybody do it before or since,” Donahue said. “The people loved it. Everybody was talking about it.”
Donahue remembers a prank Rodgers pulled in front of a Sports Illustrated writer, who traveled to Lawrence to write a story on the Jayhawks during their magical 1968 season, which ended with a 15-14 loss to Penn State in the ‘69 Orange Bowl.
“Pepper said, ‘We are going to let him (writer) in our staff meeting and I want two of you (coaching staff members) to get in a big fight. I’ll throw you out of the meeting,’” said Donahue, who was chosen with another staff member — Donahue recalls it possibly being Don Fambrough — to disrupt the meeting.
“He (Rodgers) said, ‘You go outside and bang into the walls (outside the meeting room) and pretend you are fighting.’ He had some fake blood for us to put on and ripped T-shirts.
“We did what he said. Pepper came out, breaks up the fake fight and brings us back into the meeting. We walked back in all bloody with our shirts torn up. This guy (writer) ... his eyes were popping out of his head. He couldn’t believe anybody would be behaving like that. Five minutes later, Pepper started laughing and told him it was all a big joke.”
Another story offered up by Donahue is one that has made the rounds for years.
KU was getting hammered by Missouri in the closing moments of a 69-21 blowout loss in Lawrence to conclude a 1-9 season in 1969. Rodgers, with MU piling up the points, said he “flashed the peace sign (to MU coach Dan Devine) and he gave half of it back to me.”
“I don’t know if it’s a fake story. He (Rodgers) probably did that. I never asked him if it was fake,” Donahue said. “I know he said he did it at the time. It’s one of those stories he told KU alumni at banquets. They laughed until they cried. They loved hearing that,” Donahue added.
Rodgers confessed to a reporter at fromtherumbleseat.com that he “made up the story about shooting the peace sign to Devine. I used to say he only returned back half of the peace sign. I just made this story up for a group of boosters at a luncheon.”
Rodgers added to the Website: “I think Dan thought we were arch enemies. He was a great coach at Missouri and Notre Dame but not necessarily a great pro coach. I didn’t think we were ‘enemies,’ however. I think the rivalry was related more to Quantrill’s Raiders.”
Rodgers may have related the story about MU coach Devine once or twice on Pepper’s weekly KU coach’s show, aired on statewide TV during the season.
The two-time Big Eight coach of the year, who was born in Atlanta, Georgia, at times on the show revealed wacky, non-technical names for specific plays, such as: “Everybody Out For a Long Pass.”
“Yes, everybody but the linemen,” Donahue said with a laugh, of that play. “He had all kinds of names. He would make up plays. He was creative. One thing about Pepper is he was not afraid to take a chance, to do things unorthodox, to go against conventional wisdom and thinking.”
A music lover, Rodgers would sing Christmas Carols on his TV show during his final coaches show of the season.
“Pepper brought a high school recruit into Georgia Tech one time, a player who was being heavily recruited,” Donahue related. “He brought him in and said, ‘I can sit here and tell you all about Georgia Tech for an hour or put on some music we can listen to and enjoy. Which would you prefer?’
The player said, ‘I think I’d rather hear some music.’ So they sat an hour listening to music. They never talked football. I can’t remember if they signed the player or not,” Donahue added.
Rodgers left KU after a 5-6 season in 1970 for UCLA where he went 19-12-1 in three seasons. He left the California school for his alma mater (Rodgers was a standout quarterback at Georgia Tech) in 1974. He went 34-31-2 in six seasons at Tech. He also coached Memphis of the USFL and coached a year in the CFL. He also was vice president of football operations for the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
“I do think a lot gets overlooked as far as what a good coach he was. People think he was preoccupied with antics,” said the 75-year-old Donahue, who is the winningest coach in UCLA history (151-74-8 record in 20 seasons, 3-1 in the Rose Bowl).
“He was a showman. He enjoyed entertaining people (like ones at Georgia Tech who saw him drive to work on a Harley his first day on the job in 1974). He was a really good coach in addition to that,” Donahue added.
Donahue remains indebted to his longtime pal, who had a star-studded coaching staff at KU that included Donahue, former KU head coach Fambrough, John Cooper (became head coach at Ohio State), Dave McClain (head coach Wisconsin) and Dick Tomey (head coach Arizona).
“He gave me my start. I started working for him at 23 — spent four years at Kansas, three at UCLA. We were fast friends the rest of our lives. He was a great person, a great coach and great friend.”
The two buddies returned to KU during the 2016 season to spend Rodgers’ 85th birthday at Memorial Stadium where the Jayhawks lost to TCU, 24-23.
“They introduced him (during the game) and the fans gave him a very loud ovation. People showed their appreciation. I think he understood how they (KU fans) felt about him after that,” Donahue said.
Rodgers died Thursday in Reston, Virginia, where he and his wife of 45 years, Janet Lake Livingston, a former TV actress, lived since 2004.
Rodgers according to the Los Angeles Times was taken off life support after suffering complications from a fall in his bathroom. He sustained arterial bleeding that preceded a stroke and a heart attack, Rodgers’ son, Rick, told the Times.
“The doctors told us this would be a serious thing for a 19-year-old, much less an 88-year-old,” Rick Rodgers told the Times. “He had movements and he stabilized, but he never responded to sight or sound.”
Rodgers is survived by his wife, sons Rick and Kyle and daughters Terri and Kelly, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild, the Times indicated. No date for a possible memorial service has been announced.
This story was originally published May 16, 2020 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Pepper’s legend lives on: Did KU coach really flash peace sign to MU’s Dan Devine?."
