Jimmy Rogers was introduced as the 21st head football coach in South Dakota State University history on Jan. 20, 2023, continuing his long association with Jackrabbit football that began as a student-athlete and has continued through the coaching ranks.
Rogers played an integral role in the Jackrabbits winning their first national title in football during the 2022 season by directing a defense that led the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing defense by allowing only 88.1 yards per game on the ground. SDSUÂ tied for the FCS lead with 18 interceptions and also ranked second in total defense (274.1 yards per game), third in scoring defense (15.8 points per game) and fourth in turnovers gained (26).
The Jackrabbits finished the 2022 season on a school-record 14-game winning streak and held the No. 1 ranking in both the Stats Perform media poll and FCS coaches' poll the final two months of the year.Â
Rogers was honored as the 2022 FCS Coordinator of the Year by FootballScoop.com, and also was selected to participate in the AFCA's 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute.
A former standout defensive player for South Dakota State, Rogers returned to his alma mater in June 2013 to coach the Jackrabbit linebackers. The 2022 campaign marked his first — and only —  season as the team's sole defensive coordinator duties after sharing the role for three seasons. He previously was elevated to assistant head coach after the 2019 campaign.
In his first season, Rogers directed a linebacking corps whose three regular starters — R.C. Kilgore, T.J. Lally and Charles Elmore — combined for 290 tackles. Kilgore led the team with 134 tackles and also led the nation with five fumble recoveries en route to first-team all-Missouri Valley Football Conference recognition.
Rogers again coached a 100-tackle performer in 2014 as Lally led the squad with 117 tackles en route to earning second-team all-MVFC recognition.
The 2015 Jackrabbit linebacking crew again featured the squad’s top two tacklers as Lally turned in the third 100-tackle season of his career with a team-best 102 stops and Jesse Bobbit added 97 tackles. Lally received second-team all-MVFC recognition for the third time, while Bobbit was an honorable mention selection.
Under Rogers’ guidance, Christian Rozeboom burst onto the Football Championship landscape in 2016 by being named MVFC Freshman of the Year and finishing second in the balloting for the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award as the top freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision after tallying a team-best 132 tackles. In addition, fellow linebackers Jesse Bobbit and Dallas Brown capped strong careers in 2016. A second-team all-league selection, Bobbit ranked second on the squad with 110 tackles, while Brown led the team with three interceptions.
Rozeboom anchored the Jackrabbit linebacking corps over the next three seasons as he registered 100-plus tackles each year in becoming the SDSU career tackles leader with 475. He also earned first-team all-MVFC honors four times and was a three-time All-America selection. A multiple-time finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award as the top defensive player in the FCS ranks, Rozeboom would later sign a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Rams.
Besides Rozeboom’s team-leading 111 tackles, fellow starting linebackers Seven Wilson (83 tackles) and Logan Backhaus (79 tackles) ranked second and third, respectively, on the team in 2019. Backhaus also shared the team lead with four interceptions and three forced fumbles.
In taking on a new and expanded role in 2019, Rogers helped direct a Jackrabbit defense that ranked in the top three of the MVFC in seven different defensive categories, including a second-place showing in total defense (294.8 yards per game) and third in scoring defense (16.7 points per game).
Rogers' linebacking corps again earned multiple awards en route to the FCS title game during the 2020-21 season that was moved to the spring. The team's starters ranked as the top three tacklers during the 10-game season as Adam Bock (74 tackles), Logan Backhaus (72 tackles) and Preston Tetzlaff (70 tackles) paced the squad. Backhaus was honored on a number of All-America teams, while Bock was a freshman All-America honoree and Tetzlaff was awarded the NCAA Elite 90 Award at the national championship.
Jackrabbit linebackers were again the team's top two tacklers during the 2021 season as football returned to the fall. Sophomore Adam Bock registered a team-high 125 tackles and Isaiah Stalbird was second on the squad with 73 total stops. Bock was a late addition to the list of finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award and received All-America honors from several organizations after earning first-team all-MVFC recognition.
Rogers coached a 100-tackle linebacker in eight of his 10Â seasons leading the position group.
Depth within the linebacking corps was key to the Jackrabbits' success as the defense overcame injuries to several players at various points of the 2022 season. Eight different players drew starting assignments at linebacker, with transfer Jason Freeman leading the team with 84 tackles. Bock, who repeated as a first-team all-MVFC selection despite missing the second half of the conference season due to injury, ranked second on the squad with 76 tackles, with Stalbird ranking third with 55 stops. Tucker Large, who split time between linebacker and safety, joined Freeman on the MVFC All-Newcomer Team.
Earlier during his tenure with the Jackrabbits, Rogers helped mentor special teams units that consistently ranked among the best in the FCS ranks. SDSU ranked in the top five nationally among FCS programs for blocked kicks two seasons in a row (2017, 2018) and also ranked seventh in kickoff returns during the 2017 season with an average of 25.13 yards per return as Cade Johnson set a single-season SDSU record with 839 kickoff return yards and returned a pair of kicks for touchdowns en route to being named to a pair of freshman All-America squads.
A native of Hamilton, Arizona, Rogers previously served as a graduate assistant at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. He spent the fall of 2012 as an offensive graduate assistant, working with the offensive line. In the spring of 2013 he transitioned back to the defensive side of the ball as he worked with the team’s linebackers.
Immediately after his collegiate playing career ended, Rogers spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at South Dakota State, working with the team’s defensive backs in 2010 and linebackers in 2011. He also assisted with the special teams units both seasons.
As a player, Rogers lettered for the Jackrabbits from 2006-09 and was a two-time all-conference selection. He led both the team and the Great West Football Conference with 110 tackles in 2007 as South Dakota State claimed the league title and Rogers was a first-team all-GWFC selection. He again led the squad in tackles in 2008 with 93 en route to earning second-team all-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors.
He was a captain on the Jackrabbits’ first FCS playoff team in 2009, recording 66 tackles his senior season to finish his four-year career with 312 stops in 46 games. He also intercepted three passes and forced three fumbles in an SDSU uniform.Â
