Coach Rogers once said, “Essex County College was the most important coaching job he had.” He goes on to say, “We didn’t have a track…We didn’t have dormitories…We didn’t have anything. We used the Seton Hall University track, and county parks to train. I was supported by President J. Harry Smith, President, and Sharpe James and we put Essex County College on the map.”  

Before Russell Rogers became an internationally recognized coach and figure at Essex County College, he was a three-letter varsity man in football, baseball, and track/field at South Side (MXS Shabazz) High School in the late fifties.  He carried his talents to Maryland State University (now Maryland University) where he became a track/field standout.  He won the 110 and 400-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays in 1961 and was voted the most outstanding athlete. Also, in 1961 Coach Rogers competed in and won the NIAI National Championship 400-meter hurdles and repeated his performance at the National Championship in 1963 by winning the 400-meter and 200-meter hurdles. 

Between 1963 and 1967, Rogers competed intensely on a national and international level in track and field where he was rated the number one 400-meter hurdler in the world. By 1969, he brought his talents and coaching to college where he served as Essex County College’s Men and Women Head Track and Field and Cross-Country Coach for a decade. His coaching accomplishments at the junior college were noteworthy and included: 

• National Junior College Coach of the Year, Indoor & Outdoor, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978. 
• Champion in Track & Field, Outdoor, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, Runner-Up, Outdoor, 1973, 1974, 1975.
• Champion in Track & Field, Indoor, 1973 (first year held), 1975, 1976, 1977, Runner-Up, 1974.
• Region 19 Coach of the Year, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978. 
• Champion in Track & Field, Outdoor, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978.
• Champion in Track & Field, 1972 (first year held), 1973, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977. 
• Garden State Athletic Conference Champion in Outdoor Track & Field, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978. 
• 1988 Sprint Coach, Olympic Games, Seoul Korea 
• 1987 Coach World University Games 
• 1985 Head Coach World Cup Team, Canberra, Australia 
• Coached 125 junior college All-Americans (first team) between 1971 and 1978. 
• Coached the first and only junior college team to win the Championship of America at the Penn Relays, in 1974. 
• National Junior College Coaching Association Vice President, Chairman of News Events, Editor of Spike & Bar Magazine.  

Beyond his time at ECC, Rogers was the track and field coach of Fairleigh Dickinson University between 1978 and 1986. In 1988, he became the sprint coach for the US Olympic track and field team in Seoul, which famously included Carl Lewis. Between 1989 and 2006, Rogers dominated as a coach for Ohio State University. He earned accolades like the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1993 when he led Ohio State to consecutive Big Ten outdoor titles.