Father's Day is special for nation's fifth winningest prep football coach Corky Rogers

Father's Day has been especially important to the Rogers family of Jacksonville, Fla., since patriarch Corky Rogers underwent emergency 7-bypass heart surgery in January of 2012.

The ultra-successful high school football coach at Bolles (Jacksonville, Fla.) was headed for shoulder surgery when a test revealed massive blockages and the doctors took a 180-degree turn. A three-hour surgery, hospital time and another two days later to take care of a medication problem enabled him to make  a strong recovery.

But that wasn't a big surprise.

You don't win 423 high school football games without grit, a game plan, the ability to adjust or a strong finish. Rogers has displayed it all in a 44-year Hall of Fame coaching career, the same traits he has shown as a father to his two daughters and the hundreds of players he has mentored over six decades. 

His wife of 45 years, Linda, said her husband went into heart surgery much like he prepared for a game on Friday night.

"I remember saying and thinking that I wasn't ready to let him go," she said. "He's a strong man. He told me things he wanted done (always with a game plan) before they put him down (for surgery)."

Corky and Linda have two daughters, Tracy Yost and Jennifer Drawdy, who both were cheerleaders for their dad's team.

Tracy, who lives across the street from her parents, admitted, "I've never been more scared of anything. He's just always been there for me."

Jennifer added, "I was shocked and, of course, scared. I was quoting Bible verses over him, but he's such a strong man. I knew that if anybody made it, then it would be him. He had peace. I can't imagine life without him. He's been such an influence in my life and the lives of my husband and children."

Corky, who praised his doctors, said with a pained laugh, "My shoulder still kills me today."

He never got the shoulder surgery.

But his heart was fine. Good enough to return to the field for the 2012 season. He led Bolles to a 12-2 record and Class 4A state runner-up honors. His career win total (at Lee and Bolles) places him No. 5 in high school history. He also has won 10 state championships and is a member of the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

At age 69, he already is preparing for the 2013 campaign. But he still feels the pings from a painful past.

Drunk driver

The heart surgery was the second medical crisis in Corky's life. In 1988 he was struck by a drunken driver and suffered a severely injured left leg.

"I had close to 16 surgeries (over the years)," Corky said. "I was in the hospital for two months. The last surgery was about five years ago and I still have rods in my leg. That really slowed me down. I couldn't run or jump (for demonstrations). I can ride a stationary bike and lift weights."

Said Linda: "That was awful, because at the same time his mother had open heart surgery. I had to wheel him to the hospital. That was worse than this (heart bypass). He lost so much weight. He had dark hair. When he came out of the hospital, his hair had turned gray."

Before becoming a coach, he had a fine career as a player at Jacksonville Lee, starring on a state championship baseball team and a mythical state championship football team.

At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds with a 4.6 time for 40 yards, he later played football for legendary Bobby Dodd at Georgia Tech University and had two tryouts with the Baltimore Colts under Don Shula before joining the Navy.

Corky met Linda, a former cheerleader and a stewardess at the time, on a blind date and they soon were married. He started out selling insurance.

"It was a surprise," Linda said of his early shift to coaching. "I thought by now he'd be a CEO. I think he knew all along. He loved sports and just wanted to coach. He didn't like being inside and wearing a suit. But I loved being around all those kids, too."

Linda, who retired from teaching after 39 years, and her girls quickly fit into Corky's life as a football coach.

"The girls grew up around sports," Linda said. "It was just second nature to us. We loved it. He'd bring home film and we'd do it on the wall when he was at Lee. I got to be best friends with the wives of his coaching friends. We'd have coaches and their wives over every Friday night (after games)."

Humble beginnings

The Friday night socials have been part of the Rogers family life ever since Corky became head coach at Lee (Jacksonville) in 1972. He had been an assistant at Ribault (Jacksonville) for three years and his head coach only had Friday night parties when the team won. The first year Ribault was 0-10 and Corky vowed never to let a loss keep him from bonding with his staff and other friends.

His family not only followed him in football, but also attended most of his games during a 30-year career playing amateur softball.

As a busy coach and athlete, Corky wasn't always available for family time.

"He did the best he could," Linda said. "We did trips every summer to the beach and we visited my parents. To be a good coach, he had to put a lot of effort into that. But the kids never resented it and the grandkids adore him."

 Corky is the first to admit that he was gone a lot and gives Linda much credit for raising their daughters.

His biggest regret:  "If there was anything you could ask of a coach it would be that he could go back and spend more time with his family."

When Tracy, now 43, was born, Corky already had hoped for a boy and was going to name him Rocky. He wound up getting a black lab (ironically also a female) and naming her Rocky. She was a family fixture for 16 years.

She related, "He was very tough on us girls growing up. He obviously wanted me to be a boy. We had to get good grades. I played softball at Lee and my dad was my coach. He would double up on me, extra hard. I ended up quitting the team. I became the scorekeeper, team manager and traveled with the team. in the locker room, he always tells the story that 'If I could cut my daughter, I could cut you.' "

Corky said Tracy was a good hitter, but needed a lot of work on defense, so he always hit extra balls to her.

Still, Tracy says, "I've always been closer to my dad because I'm a lot like him. We're both very strong-willed, confident, outgoing and people-pleasers. Football was our life and it still is with my kids. We've been to college games and have Jaguars season tickets. We tailgate. It's huge for us. I don't like to brag, but people will say 'Oh, you're Corky's daughter. Oh, he's a legend.' It always makes me so proud."

Jennifer, the youngest at 40, concedes she remembers nothing except football growing up.

"It was exciting, fun and a big deal and we loved Fridays," she said. "I remember making cookies for them (the players). The kids would hang out at our house. It was probably to keep them out of trouble before the game. I did have (crushes), but I will not give names. It struck me how they'd always come back (after graduation) and rave about him."

Among Bolles cheerleaders Jennifer was the acknowledged football expert.

"It was nice, because I knew more about football than the other cheerleaders," she said. "He won his first state title (in 1990) when I was a senior."

Softer side

Though driven and a task-master, Corky had a softer side, Jennifer said.

"He's really funny and likes to dance (but not in public)," she said. "His mom made him take dance lessons. He always had funny cars. The kids used to give them names like 'Prince Mobile' (after the artist)."

Jennifer said her dad has been a father figure to many of his players over the years.

"He'd have them come over and mow our lawn," she said. "We had people live with us once in awhile. A lot of dad's greatest friends are ex-players. It's just an honor to have him as my dad."

But she wishes football didn't take him away so much.

"It's a big regret that he wasn't around a lot," she said. "Now that we're parents, we realize things he wasn't at. But we always felt loved."

Corky admits that he never stops caring for his players, no matter how old they are.

"We've loaned money to so many people," he said. "We rarely get it back. You're trying to help and you move on."

Now the next generation has arrived and Corky finally has a chance to coach some special boys with three football-playing grandsons on the horizon. Tracy's son, Mason, will be an eighth-grader at Bolles, while Jennifer's sons, Sennett and Price are ages 11 and nine, respectively.

Jennifer says that Sennett is a spitting image of his grandpa at the same age.

"We can be harder," Corky said. "I run a camp in summertime and all three of my grandsons have been in the camp. I am with them for a week. I don't pull any punches for them. I'd love the opportunity to do that (coach them in high school). It would be a treat."

Mason, a 5-8, 142-pound linebacker, is quite proud of his famous grandpa.

"They (his friends) think it's really cool and always want to meet him," Mason said. "I want him to be there for me to play football and coach me. He taught me how to tackle, catch and to run routes better. He lets me run some of his plays to test them out sometimes (in backyard games)."

Asked if he expects his grandpa to be tougher on him than others, he replied, "Yes sir."

Asked if he is scared, he replied, "Kind of."

World's oldest teenager

The younger generation does have one advantage: the boys always beat their grandpa at video games like "Madden."

His oldest grandchild, Sidney Yost, will be a junior at Bolles and is following in the footsteps of her mother and aunt by being a cheerleader.

"I've been a cheerleader since I was five or six and I always wanted to cheer for his team," Sidney said. "I knew he was the coach and that was a big deal. It's really fun to be with him on Friday nights. He always hugs me and we'll talk, so it's brought us closer."

Though his family members call him "The Oldest Teenager in the World," he will turn 70 in December. He won't give up that affectionate nickname without a battle.

When will he retire?

"I really don't know," Corky said. "I'm still teaching (PE). I did math for many years. It's year to year. Certainly the school has treated me excellently well. I don't know when the time is right to step down. They claim we have the oldest coaching staff in the country. My assistants are 68, 66 and 63 with one at 42, who is young enough that he can still demonstrate things.

"We know each other so well that it's kind of hard to back away."