(Brandon Rodgers Family courtesy photo)
SUNDOWN – There appears to be a trend of people making job changes to get back closer to family since the Covid-19 pandemic. That was a driving force in Brannon Rodgers in making a tough decision to give up a successful program with the Jacksboro Tigers in North Texas to take over another tradition rich football program with the Sundown Roughnecks.
Rodgers grew up in Petersburg where his father Steve Rodgers was a coach for the Buffaloes for 27-years, 20 of those as the defensive coordinator for Joe Roberson. Brannon Rodgers had two coaching stints at Crosbyton sandwiched around four years as assistant to Roberson in Lockney. Rodgers was an assistant at Crosbyton for four seasons the first go around right out of college, then came back for his initial head coaching stint for 11-years at Crosbyton. His success at Crosbyton led to the most recent tenure at Jacksboro.
“We had a good run at Jacksboro with a district championship and three runner-up finishes. I am real proud of the 19-6 record in district at Jacksboro. We enjoyed the people, the players and the facilities. We have nothing but fond memories of Jacksboro, but our heart was still in West Texas. Getting closer to the family was important to us,” explained Rodgers.
Rodgers is married to Misty Bertrand who grew up in Floydada and they have numerous family members still in Floyd County including her parents, Randy and Connie Bertrand. Brandon and Misty’s oldest child, Ty is attending Texas Tech. Their youngest Audrey is a sophomore in high school.
Misty has a career as a Speech Language Pathologist, which she is hoping to continue in the Sundown area. Brannon noted Misty is very good in her profession.
The opening at Sundown was enticing when former Lockney athlete Adam Cummings left the Sundown job to take on the challenge as the first football coach in the brand new West Plains of the Canyon ISD that opens its doors in August 2022. Sundown has had 13-seasons of eight or more wins in a football season since 2000. The Roughnecks have been one of the most consistent 2A football programs on the South Plains for the past two decades. Cummings was a big piece of that success during his four year stint.
“We played Sundown a handful of times while I was at Crosbyton. From afar I was impressed with the Sundown ISD and way the community rallied around the school,” Rodgers noted.
Rodgers has the pedigree to carry on the winning tradition at Sundown. He had a record of 72-51 at Crosbyton from 2004 thru 2016 which included back-to-back powerhouses of 11-2 in 2016, and 13-1 in 2015. The Chieftains won seven playoff games in his tenure which is one of the best runs in history of the school in Crosby County. Then Rodgers followed that up with a 37-21 record with the Jacksboro Tigers in 3A-2 that included a district championship and five playoff teams.
Rodgers has a game plan philosophy of being a run-based offense, but capable of passing if needed. “I have evolved through the years to a coach that we will attack offensively with what the opponents defense allows – run or pass. Similar thing on defense we will run either a 4-2-5 or a 3-4 depending on what type of scheme we may face. That is where I differ from dad, he had one defense and stuck with it. He was a very good defensive coach with his style and I have mine,” Rodgers explained with a chuckle.
The wins is what makes Rodgers a good choice to coach anywhere, but what he did in his first year at Crosbyton of dealing with a serious drug problem that penetrated the Chieftains locker room proved to be what kind of man Brannon Rodgers really is. Brannon did as much as any school personnel to take this problem head on, and he reverted in his strong Christian faith to provide leadership to help these boys and the entire school. Rodgers then began to build the foundation of what it takes to succeed not just in football, but also in life. The results of what he did at Crosbyton could easily be a script for a movie of perseverance based on a true story.
“I was 29-years old when this took place. It was on the verge of being a catastrophe for the community of Crosbyton. I learned a lot from that experience that has molded me to this day – whenever there is adversity you attack it head on. I have stayed in touch with numerous players that went through the terrible situation. They have turned out to be good solid men today. It makes me emotional during many follow-up visits. I will never forget it,” Rodgers firmly said.
Floydada and Sundown more than likely will be placed in the same district for football when the next UIL Realignment unfolds this Thursday, February 3. If so, I will look forward to seeing what kind of team Brannon Rodgers has put together by October. I know this, the Roughnecks will play with character.
