In 2021 Kadeem Rodgers earned the role as head football coach for Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. After spending time with the program previously as an assistant coach and serving as a head coach for Millbrook School in New York, Rodgers says he is, “where I want to be.” He told JZ Media’s Jordan Zlomislic in an interview, “My first memories were at practices, and around football. My father coached football, and I ended up playing for him myself. I remember as a kid at school I was always writing up plays. I had my book open, on one page there was the school work and the other had my own playbook I was writing up. I’ve always wanted to be a high school football coach. I know the power coaches have in athletes lives growing up, and I want to help young athletes become the best versions of themselves.”
He and Episcopal are coming off of a 3-6 season in 2021, but he’s ready to turn that around for the 2022 campaign and build up the football program in Alexandria to the best of his ability. “We were the only boarding school in our league, and dealing with COVID it put us behind the other teams that we played. It wasn’t a great season, but it excites me to get better, and it gives us an opportunity to deal with losing.” Rodgers explained, “We can re-evaluate and come back better for next season, as a coach I’m looking forward to it.”
Historically, Episcopal has a great football team. In past years they have been able to win a number of games and even championships, but what makes them even better, and what is more important for the school is the amount of football players that have made it to the next level. Episcopal has football players playing at the division one level with schools varied from Wake Forest, Notre Dame to Yale and Dartmouth. It speaks for itself at that point, where Episcopal is successful for bringing players to the next level athletically at a high level, but also academically, seeing student athletes go to Ivy League schools. Coach Kadeem Rodgers told Zlomislic, “The proof is in the pudding. There are guys that have made it and are getting sent to division one schools and even Ivy League schools. Athletics and academics, what is better than that.”
Some players that have come out of Episcopal recently have been international students. With the rise of football talent in other countries like Canada, as well as countries over seas, Episcopal, as a boarding school has been able to help athletes like Luiji Vilain, Jonathan Sutherland, Chris Fournier, and Patrice Rene from Ottawa find homes in the NCAA and each one of them are likely to find homes as professionals as well. The boarding school, and the football team are great for young athletes with big dreams, Coach Rodgers just wants to be able to help the next generation of athletes. “I want to be able to build with this team here (at Episcopal) and coach a program that is known to play for one another, known for acting of class, and a team full of resilient and responsible individuals. I want to not only help my team become the best versions of themselves, but I want to be the best version of myself when I am around them.”
JZ MEDIA 