By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

When Kevin Rogers resigned as William & Mary's offensive coordinator at the age of 65, he never said anything about "retirement." In fact, in his official statement, Rogers made it clear he hadn't "closed any doors."

Three years later, an old friend invited him in.

Rogers, whose resume includes coaching in the Power Five and NFL, was hired last month as a senior offensive assistant with the Cleveland Browns. He'll be working for rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski, who Rogers first met in 2006 when they were on the Minnesota Vikings' staff.

"We've known each other for 14 years now, and I was hoping he'd think of me," Rogers said. "Was I guaranteed it was going to happen? No. But this was the kind of thing I was looking for. I wasn't just looking to get back into coaching. It had to be the right opportunity.

"It's not like I felt there was a huge market for my talents at all, but there were things I wanted to do. And one of the things I wanted to do was get back into the NFL. I was fortunate to get back in with a guy I really like and care for."

Rogers said his job will be to provide "another pair of eyes with forty-plus years of experience." Those eyes have seen plenty over the last four decades, which have included time at Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Boston College as offensive coordinator and Virginia Tech as quarterbacks coach.

Rogers' 2015 offense at W&M averaged 31 points and 412 total yards a game — ninth and seventh, respectively, in program history. Kendell Anderson rushed for 1,418 yards (second on W&M's all-time list) and quarterback Steve Cluley passed for 2,768.

The Tribe took a step back in '16, but that's not the reason Rogers stepped down. The truth is, and few outside the program knew this, he was in agony.

Rogers had major back problems that, he said, "were killing me." He went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for a spinal fusion procedure. The first part lasted 16 hours, the second another eight. He spent three weeks there.

"It just started to wear on me, and I needed a break," Rogers said. "At William & Mary, just because it's an (FCS) school, that doesn't mean you work any less than you would at Ohio State or Florida or anywhere else.

"In fact, you work more because you don't have as many people on staff. It was grinding me to a pulp, and I needed to get it taken care of."

Although he has weakness in his lower legs, Rogers said he is pain free. He keeps fit by taking daily walks. In fact, he was on one when Stefanski phoned with a job offer.

"When Coach Stefanski called me, I said, 'You've got to know I use a crutch and I don't run anywhere.' And he said, 'Doesn't make any difference.'"

Rogers was 54 and Stefanski 24 when they came together in Minnesota. Rogers was the quarterbacks coach; Stefanski was assistant to head coach Brad Childress before becoming Rogers' aide in 2009. That season, with Brett Favre at quarterback, the Vikings went 12-4.

After the 2010 season, Rogers returned to the college game —as offensive coordinator at Boston College in '11, as quarterbacks coach at Temple in '12, and as OC at William & Mary from 2013-16. Stefanski, meanwhile, climbed the Vikings' ranks and became offensive coordinator in 2019.

On Jan. 9, two days after Minnesota lost in the playoffs, Stefanski was hired as the Brown's 18^th head coach. He takes over a franchise that hasn't made the postseason since 2002, when Stefanski was a junior defensive back at Penn.

Stefanski considers Rogers an experienced and trusted voice.

"I remember being a young coach in this league and having the opportunity to pick Kevin's brain on so many coaching topics," Stefanski said in a Browns' release. "He truly was a great mentor and it's so important to have that element on your coaching staff. Kevin is going to be a great resource for all of our players and coaches."

Cleveland finished 6-10 last year for its 12^th consecutive losing season. Stefanski will be the team's fourth different head coach since the end of the 2017 season.

There is talent, especially on offense. Nick Chubb rushed for 1,494 yards, third in the league, and eight touchdowns last season. Quarterback Baker Mayfield, going into his third season, has a pair of play-making receivers in Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.

Among their offseason moves, the Browns got significantly better at tight end by signing former Atlanta Falcon Austin Hooper and drafting All-American Harrison Bryant from Florida Atlantic.

"And they took an offensive tackle (Jedrick Wills of Alabama) with their first pick in the draft," Rogers said. "The only problem is, guys like that haven't been developed yet because everything has been virtual. There's been no hands-on at all."

The Browns are scheduled to open on Sept. 13 at Baltimore. But as we've seen with the Major League Baseball season, which is barely two weeks old, COVID-19 remains as big a threat as ever.

This training camp will be unlike any in the franchise's 74-year history. Players began an "acclimation period" on Monday with conditioning and strength training in groups of no more than 15. Full team practices are to begin next Friday.

"Even when we start practicing for real, the squad's going to be split so you don't have all the players at one specific position on the field at the same time," Rogers said. "You've got to split up your wide receivers, split up your backs, because if one guy in your room gets sick, you lose them all.

"There's a game plan every day just to get into work. We get tested every day. We just had our physicals today. It's involved, it really is. The cooperation is amazing."

The weirdness aside, Rogers is excited about the latest chapter in his coaching career, which began in 1974 at Bayside High in Virginia Beach.

"I really had no idea this opportunity would come, and I'm thrilled for it," he said. "As long as I've been in the profession, I can't remember being more appreciative of an opportunity than I am with this one."