Q&A: Bolles coach Corky Rogers closing in on victory No. 400

When Bolles defeated Palm Bay Bayside last Friday, coach Corky Rogers moved to within reach of an amazing achievement - career win No. 400.

The Bulldogs will try to deliver the milestone win Friday as the team travels to South Florida to face Plantation American Heritage. Only seven coaches in the country have ever reached 400 wins in high school football. On the cusp of joining such a distinguished list, the 67-year-old Rogers spoke with Times-Union high school sports editor Hays Carlyon earlier this week.

You've coached in five decades now. How has the high school game changed?

There have been adjustments, but I think the basics of the game are still the same. I was at a clinic one time, and a guy brought out a playbook from [legendary Tennessee coach] Robert Neyland from around 1923. It was like parchment. But everything in it pertains to today. There were formations out of the shotgun, although it wasn't called that. So no one is inventing anything new. It gets down to execution and blocking and tackling.

What about the kids? How have they changed?

In some ways, they've never changed. People still want to be taught. There's still a desire to learn, and if they think you can help them, they will put up with what you tell them to do. I've had wonderful assistants, and we all believe in the same things. I think the kids see that and get in step with the way things should be done. The technology is different with computers and cellphones. Really, the main thing is we have to do much more conditioning work. The kids are inside more and aren't as acclimated to the heat as they used to be.

When did you realize coaching was something you had a real talent for?

When I was 15 years old, I worked at Murray Hill Park that summer as a part-time employee. I got to coach a baseball team of kids around 10 or 11 years old. When we divided into teams, all the older coaches picked their teams first and gave me what was left. I enjoyed working with them, and as it ended up, we had the best team in the park. I really enjoyed the feeling and enjoyed the camaraderie. I was helping them, but I learned from them, too. I think deep down I always wanted to coach.

Were you ever at a point in your career where you almost took a job that would have led you down a different path?

In my mid-to-late 30s I had a couple colleges contact me. There were other high schools as well, some in town and some not. My family was young at the time, and I didn't want to move them.

Other coaches say often that you're one of the greatest when it comes to halftime adjustments. How difficult is it to see something and then be able to get high school kids to implement it in just 20 minutes of time?

First off, I'm not sure I'm that good at it. But I think the longer you coach with a certain system, it helps. People ask me how I saw that. Well, I saw it because I know where to look. If you know your system, you know where to look. It's not rocket science. When a coach keeps changing systems, it's harder to find answers when things aren't going well. Look at the spread. The guys that have been doing it the longest are the ones that can find the answers quicker.

What pops into your mind when I say 400 wins?

Well, anybody that really knows me knows that I just never think about it. Last Friday was one of the greatest victories I've ever had. We're struggling right now. I just hope it happens this season. I guess I'm too naive or stupid to think about those things. When I played basketball, I had a lot of colleges interested in me. I never wanted to know how many points I had scored during a game, because it changed how I would play the game. Baseball and softball were the same way. I didn't want to know I was 3 for 3 because I thought it would affect my next at-bat. So I don't think about that stuff and just focus on trying to win the next game.

There is a magnitude to all of this, because you have to win 10 games a year for 40 years. We didn't win 10 every year, but that's a long haul. A lot of great players have made that possible. I do care about that.

You have to start at a young age. I was 28, and [you have to] be lucky to be at the right schools. A lot of people don't have what I was given. I know I've been blessed. You also have to have the health to maintain that energy level.

What do you remember about win No. 1?

It was against White [in 1972], and they were a first-year school. It was played in the Gator Bowl, and something odd happened in that game. There were two penalties on fair catches. I think the guy signaled for it and then ran to get the penalty, but it's odd how your mind remembers things like that.

That must have been great when teams played in the Gator Bowl. Do you wish they still did that?

If they ever wanted to truly get this city back together, they would play games there Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights when the Jaguars are on the road. Some nights we played in front of 4,000. But, other nights it was 25,000 fans, 23,000 fans or 18,000 fans.

Who was the greatest player you ever coached against? Not necessarily who went on to have the best career, but who was the player who you guys just couldn't seem to stop?

[Baltimore Ravens receiver] Anquan Boldin is the greatest I ever saw. [Bolles beat Boldin's Pahokee team 29-14 in the 1998 Class 3A state title game]. He never came off the field. He was such an aggressive person. If he hadn't finally gotten tired, I'm not sure we would have won. I always thought he was better as a safety.

Has college football recruiting gotten out of hand?

The colleges haven't gotten out of hand. It's the Internet and the people trying to become agents. I truly believe the coaching profession is 99 percent clean. We're human, and we make mistakes. The thing that bothers me the most is when these 10th-graders are being recruited. That, I think, is ridiculous. We don't like it, because if a kid can think, 'Well, I'm not feeling real good, and I already have a scholarship, so how hard do I need to practice today? I got what I need, so I can tank it.'

Think you'll get to 500 wins?

No, no, no. Four hundred is hard enough. I'll be glad to get to that. I go game by game and just see what happens.

Hays Carlyon: (904) 359-4377