Trojans’ Know-It-All

Jacob Rogers’ football education started long before he lined up for his first game, when he was 8.

As the son and grandson of Oxnard-area high school football coaches, Rogers was learning the game’s Xs and O’s right along with his ABCs.

“Ever since I was able to sit up at a table, they were drawing plays and teaching me,” Rogers said. “I’ve always been a student of the game.”

Rogers, a 6-foot-6, 305-pound senior offensive tackle for USC, learned his lessons well.

Last season, after he’d protected Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer’s blind side and assisted in the revival of the Trojans’ dormant rushing attack, Pacific 10 Conference coaches selected Rogers to the all-conference team.

This season, despite a strained left foot and a sprained right ankle, Rogers has solidified his status as an All-American candidate and NFL prospect by helping the third-ranked Trojans extend their winning streak to 11 games.

“He’s like a coach on the field,” said Tim Davis, USC’s offensive line coach. “He understands the whole game.”

Rogers’ attention to the intricacies of all positions, especially along the offensive and defensive lines, came at the behest of his father, J.T., who coached his son in youth football and as offensive coordinator at Oxnard High.

Rogers played quarterback during his freshman year of high school before moving to tight end for his last three seasons. He also played linebacker, defensive end and punter.

“My dad always taught me to learn what everyone around you is supposed to do, because when you get into game time, situations happen and you might have to help somebody out,” Rogers said.

Rogers, 22, majoring in public policy and management, is as quick to lend a hand off the field as he is to offer help on it. With a shaved head and disarming smile, he moves easily among teammates of all backgrounds and ethnicities, offering encouragement and humor along with wisdom gained as the longest-tenured player in the Trojan program.

Freshman quarterback John David Booty, who skipped his last year of high school to enroll at USC, said Rogers eased a tough transition for an 18-year-old living more than 1,000 miles from home. Shortly after Booty arrived in Southern California from Shreveport, La., Rogers invited him to his parents’ home in Oxnard, introduced Booty to his friends and took him to dinner several times. They continue to talk daily.

“He’s done anything you could possibly imagine a senior leader to do for a young freshman, especially me coming out a year before I was supposed to,” Booty said. “He’s been kind of a godsend to me the first few months, just showing me the ropes and showing me the way.”

Rogers shrugged his broad shoulders when asked about Booty.

“There were guys, when I was first here, who helped me out,” he said. “It’s just a tradition that has been passed on.”

By arriving ahead of schedule, Booty continued a growing USC tradition pioneered by Rogers.

According to USC officials, Rogers blazed that trail for future Trojans when he graduated from high school shortly after his senior season and enrolled at USC for the 1999 spring semester.

Since then, sophomore fullback Brandon Hancock, sophomore punter Tom Malone and twin freshman defensive backs Brandon and Ryan Ting have followed similar paths to USC.

“I wasn’t trying to do anything special -- I just wanted to get a head start on my classes and learning the system,” Rogers said.

Rogers has always been ahead of other kids his age.

According to his father, Rogers weighed more than 11 pounds when he was born.

“He was just humongous,” J.T. Rogers said. “Everybody called him Baby Huey.”

Jacob had grown to 6-2 by the time he was 12 and excelled in baseball, football and basketball, even though he was playing in older divisions because of his size.

Rogers spent his first year at USC as a 235-pound tight end before former coach Paul Hackett moved him to tackle in the spring of 2000. By that time, Rogers had increased his weight to 265 and had undergone surgery on both shoulders and his right hip.

“Hackett just explained to him, ‘You’ll probably never get drafted as a tight end. But there’s tremendous potential and a lot of upside to moving to the line,’ ” his father said.

John Michels, a former Trojan offensive lineman and first-round draft choice serving as a volunteer assistant, initially tutored Rogers on the field.

“He told me, from the beginning, that my feet would help me with the transition,” Rogers said. “I didn’t know yet what I was doing with my upper body, but I was able to make up for it with my feet.”

Rogers played behind Brent McCaffrey at left tackle as a redshirt freshman in 2000, then became a starter in 2001.

Last season, he helped the Trojans average 142.5 yards rushing a game and kept Palmer out of harm’s way as the Trojans returned to national prominence.

Rogers is eager to follow Palmer into the NFL, but for now he is focused on helping the Trojans to another outstanding finish. USC begins its Pacific 10 Conference schedule Saturday at California.

“We bring a little bit of each team I’ve been with here,” Rogers said. “The thing that we lacked in years past, that we captured last year, was confidence.

“Before, we kind of questioned ourselves here and there. But now we’ve come together and we really have a tight-knit team.

“I think this has the makings of something really special.”