Coach/Dad Does Good Job Juggling Roles With Notre Dame Target Khamauri Rogers

Khamauri Rogers‍ certainly has the physical tools to be considered one of the top cornerback prospects in the country, but his father and head coach at Holmes County Central High School believes it’s his football IQ that sets him apart.

How much of that intelligence for the game comes from being the son of a coach?

“I like to think all of it,” Marcus Rogers laughs. 

Rogers has been attending high school football games on Friday nights with his father since he was two years old.

“He always rode the bus with me, sat with me up until it was time for him to play his junior high games,” his father says.

And he’s been watching film with his father for almost as long.

“He had to watch it like a coach,” Marcus Rogers says. “It's a lot different when the head coach is in your household. He has somewhat of an advantage as far as that. It can be a gift or a curse.”

Marcus Rogers has always been cognizant of that line between pushing his son and pushing his son too far.

“I could have burnt him out,” he says. “I didn't want to put too much on him. I wanted to make sure that I put just enough.”

As a 2022 prospect with dozens of offers from many of the nation’s top programs, it would seem Marcus Rogers adeptly navigated that line. Khamauri Rogers’ offer sheet currently includes Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Miami, Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Oregon among several others.

“Now, he's excited and intrigued and watches film on his own,” his father says. “I tried my best with my first child to try to stand back out of the way and not be too hard on him.

“I think his best attribute is his film study, just watching a kid and eliminating half the routes out of the route tree by alignment and assignment, just being cerebral, being a student of the game mentally can take you a long way.

“With him watching film a lot and taking half of that route tree and condensing it down to what he thinks may be coming and just kind of anticipating things. He's a kid who plays centerfield in baseball and used to play quarterback, so he's able to diagnose things quicker than someone else.”

It can still be tough at times as his current coach, but Marcus Rogers taps into other avenues within their support system.

“I have another coach, I say, 'Man, go over there,’” he explains. “Coming from a different voice and coming from a different person. Sometimes, he gets tired of me getting on him, so I have to change my approach and my style sometimes.”

Physically, Rogers is growing into his body and current stands at 6-1, 168 pounds.

“He's a rangy kid. Arms are long. Legs are long and he's great in his hips.”