Pepper Rodgers
- Thread starter GTRambler
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True!
stinger 1957
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That's a good chuckle, needed that.
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Pepper was a good coach, but he had a flaky way about him that turned many of the administration against him. It was rumored that he was always that way even when he played for GT. However, he had an enormous amount of confidence; it seemed Bobby Dodd liked that about Pepper.
Funny story that I heard about Pepper,,, when he was playing for Dodd, Dodd was talking with a potential recruit. Pepper was 30-40 yards away and Bobby told him to quick kick it to the sideline & threw down his hat. Pepper kicked it and it landed on top of the hat! Pepper asked, "Was that close enough, coach?"
Don't know if true, but sounds like Pepper!!
Don't know if true, but sounds like Pepper!!
Deleted member 6494
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I don't think that was Pepper. Bobby Dodd was one of the punters for Tennessee. The punters were practicing and not having a lot of effectiveness. The head coach came out to the punting group and placed his hat downfield close to the boundary line. He showed them the correct way to punt and then told them to punt the ball and hit his hat. Dodd was first and punted the ball dead center of the coach's hat; Dodd then said, "You mean like that coach"?
While Dodd was the coach at Tech, he sat in a chair in his tower and watched all the phases of the various groups of coaches and players. The same thing happened with Dodd; he came down from his tower to teach the punters and coaches the correct way to punt. He showed them and then said, "You see my chair in the tower, "will punt the ball in the chair; he punted the ball directly into the chair in the tower".
Both of these are true stories and recorded in the book, "Dodd's Luck".
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By the way, I posted earlier that I had condensed "Dodd's Luck" and posted it on Stingtalk years ago. They pinned it onto the board in a separate place. I am willing to post it on this forum and sent a notice to the owners but never received an answer from them.
Heisman's Ghost
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He also proved to be one of Dodd's biggest headaches at times when he was a player.
If Coach Dodd said that to General Neyland, then he was a braver man that I would have been. A tight ship doesn't begin to describe how Neyland ran his football teams at Tennessee.
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That is true, except for Dodd; it is told that he got away with a lot that other players could not. Bobby Dodd was a consensus All American for two straight years at Tennessee under General Neyland. He would make up his own plays in the huddle sometimes, and it totally enraged General Neyland but the plays always seemed to work.
stinger 1957
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When Dodd was coach in the first half of the fifties they were allowed 20 spring practices and Dodd would save the last day for what they called field day and they would have contest of all sorts. They would lay a blanket down on the field and both coaches and players would see who could punt the ball dead on the blanket, of course coach Dodd would participate and what I remember he out did 'em all at that particular contest.