ATLANTA -- Pepper Rodgers believes he benefited coaches everywhere when he sued Georgia Tech for fringe benefits the school refused to pay after firing him two years before his contract expired - and got a settlement.
Rodgers, out of coaching from the time Georgia Tech fired him in December 1979 until he recently became head coach of the new Memphis (Tenn.) Showboats in the U.S. Football League, reached that settlement Wednesday.
'I didn't do it just for me,' said Rodgers who was a head college coach for 13 years, including four at Kansas, three at UCLA and six at Georgia Tech. 'It wasn't the money so much as the principle. I felt an injustice needed to be corrected.
'From now on, schools and coaches will play closer attention to their contracts, they'll be more likely to make sure everything is in writing.'
Rodgers continued to receive his $35,175 salary and various insurance premiums during the two years remaining on his contract after he was fired Dec. 18, 1979, but the school refused to settle on fringe benefits.
Rodgers sued for $331,030. A Fulton County Superior Court ruled in favor of Georgia Tech, but was overruled last March by the Georgia Court of Appeals which said Rodgers was entitled to such fringe benefits as profits from radio and television shows, summer football camps, the use of a new car and tickets to professional sports events.
At that time, Rodgers attorney, John Dunlap, said 'The significance of the opinion is that now you don't just look at a coach's base salary, but all the legitimate fringe benefits that go with the job.'
Rodgers and Homer Rice, who became athletic director at Georgia Tech after Rodgers left, announced the settlement jointly. Neither would reveal the amount of their compromise, but both said it was 'fair'.
'Coach Pepper Rodgers and the Georgia Tech Athletic Association are pleased to announce they have reached an amicable compromise on all issues between them,' said Rice. 'The litigation pending in the State Court of Fulton County is being dismissed.'
'I'm glad it's over,' said Rodgers, a quarterback at Georgia Tech during the 1951-52-53 seasons and an assistant coach there in 1954. 'I'm glad to once more be a member of the Georgia Tech family. There was never anything personal about my suit. It was just something that, in all fairness, I felt needed to be done.
'We have been talking compromise for some time,' said Rodgers. 'I wasn't trying to high ball Tech, they weren't trying to low ball me. I had no problem with what came out of it. We were treated fairly and hope they feel they were too.
'Homer Rice, who wasn't involved in the start of all this, was a big help in bringing this thing to a head,' said Rodgers.
During his six years as head coach at Georgia Tech, Rodgers had a record of 34-31-2 with four winning seasons and a berth in the 1978 Peach Bowl. He was let go after his team posted a 4-6-1 mark in the 1979 season, being succeeded by Bill Curry who went 1-9-1, 1-10 and 6-5 his first three seasons and is 1-5 so far this season.
