Nance’s friendship main reason Da’Rick Rogers now with Vols
The power of friendship cannot be underestimated in the decisions of Calhoun's Da'Rick Rogers (left) and Nash Nance to sign with Tennessee. (AJC photo by Bob Andres)
It requires some context to understand Da’Rick Rogers’ decision to leave Georgia at the altar on the eve of national signing day and follow his best friend Nash Nance to Tennessee.
And make no mistake about it — Nance and his family are the primary reason Rogers signed with the Vols.
“The power of friendship is huge,” Rogers told the AJC’s Bob Andres after he signed his letter-of-intent with UT on Wednesday.
Despite coming from divergent backgrounds, Rogers and Nance are indeed the best of friends. They met while they were attending the Darlington School, a private boarding school in Rome.
“We’re pretty much like brothers, black and white brothers,” Rogers said in a previous interview with the AJC.
Said Nance: “He’s more like a brother than a friend. I’ll always be there for him.”
That close relationship extends to the Nance family, which happens to be one of the most successful and affluent families in Calhoun-Gordon County.
Bob Nance, Nash’s grandfather, founded Nance Carpet and Rug Company, Inc., in the early 1970s and grew it into a major player in the prevalent carpet and textile industry of Northwest Georgia. Mike Nance, Bob Nance’s son and Nash’s father, took over the business in the mid-1980s and runs it today.
Rogers was born and raised in Atlanta but moved to Northwest Georgia with his mother, Deborah Rogers, after his parents divorced. Rogers attended the Darlington School, a private boarding school in Rome, on an athletic scholarship.
It was at Darlington that Rogers met Nance. The two boys became close friends, as well as stars on the football team.
For reasons still unclear, Rogers was unable to continue his education at Darlington after his sophomore year. I asked Rogers to explain his departure in an interview this past November.
“Well, mainly they wanted me to be a leader throughout the school,” Rogers said. “And it was kind of hard because it was conflicted with me being a bigger athlete and them not really seeing athletes like me around the school. People felt intimidated by me and that made it hard for me to be a leader around the school. I tried and it just didn’t work out. It was just kind of like bashing heads all the time.”
It was on the suggestion of Mike Nance that Rogers ended up at Calhoun High School.
“I knew Nash Nance and I knew his dad really well; we were best friends at the time,” Rogers said. “[Mike Nance] said, ‘Calhoun has a great program. Instead of going back to Atlanta you can come up here and I can look out for you and help you out.’ So I came up here and that’s been the best move for me.”
Since then, the two boys have been inseparable and Rogers has become almost like another member of the family. Rogers spends the night over at the Nances “two or three times a week,” Nash Nance said. He also takes vacations with and spends holidays with the family.
Rogers refuted claims that he actually lived with the Nances for a period of time.
“I never stayed with him,” Rogers said. “We have our own house here in Calhoun. But I’m always over there hanging out with him, spending the night, just spending a lot of time with him.”
Nance remained at Darlington his junior year but transferred to Calhoun for his senior season. It was a somewhat controversial move that resulted in the Yellow Jackets’ starting quarterback from the previous season, Michael Johnson, quitting the team. Johnson had led Calhoun to the state championship finals the previous year. The Yellow Jackets lost in the state finals again this past season.
This past summer, Nance and Rogers were together again. In early June, they held a joint news conference to announce their college choices. Nance, a 4.0 student, said he was going to sign with Vanderbilt. Rogers put on a Georgia hat and said he was going to be a Bulldog.
Eight months later, neither young man followed through.
Both remained, in their words, “rock solid” in their commitments to their original schools through the New Year. It wasn’t until Jan. 5 that Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron slid into Calhoun — bypassing the accepted protocol of informing the high school coach they were there — and introduced the possibility of Nance and Rogers coming to Knoxville as “a package deal.” After meeting an hours-long meeting with both players at the Nance home, the Vols coaches convinced them to take an official visit to UT together on Jan. 22.
That offer exposed the soft underbelly of those “rock-solid” commitments. Mississippi State, Louisville and Arkansas all came forth with similar offers in the following weeks. And after Kiffin jetted to USC in mid-January, new Tennessee coach Derek Dooley and his staff came right back to Calhoun and re-extended the offer.
Playing together had been something the boys had discussed before. They actually brought it up with Georgia first. But they were informed long ago that the Bulldogs did not intend to sign a quarterback in their 2010 recruiting class.
However, Georgia ended up offering and accepting the commitment of Lassiter quarterback Hutson Mason just before Christmas. That did not sit well with the Nances.
“After they offered Hutson Mason I wasn’t really thrilled with them,” Nash Nance admitted last month.
Mason set a state record with 4,560 yards and 54 touchdowns last season and ended up being named Gatorade Player of the Year in Georgia. Nance threw for 3,018 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior. Rogers, his main target, established the state receiving record with 1,641 yards.
Even in the last two weeks of the recruiting period, Rogers maintained he was still committed to Georgia. “They don’t have anything to worry about,” he said. “They know I’m locked in.”
But when Nance decommitted to Vanderbilt and committed to Tennessee on Jan. 27, it was evident that Rogers was likely soon to follow.
He called Richt this past Tuesday to inform him he wasn’t coming to Athens.
“It was hard calling [Richt],” Rogers told reporters at his signing ceremony Wednesday. “Of course no head coach is going to be happy that they’re losing, I guess, their top recruit. He just said, ‘I wish you’d come. We’re still thinking about you. Your scholarship will still be there in the morning. I wish you’d rest on it and decide what you need to do to make you happy.’ ”
His friendship with Nance, Rogers admitted, was a major factor.
“Nash is his own person,” Rogers said. “But him being my best friend, by logic, it affects me. At the end of the day it was my decision. After listening to everything and what everybody had to say, I still had to sit down by myself and think about what I had to do and pray about what I had to do.”
The answer: Follow his friend to Rocky Top.
AJC Top 50 | Georgia commitments | Tech commitments
Please follow me on Twitter.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
977 comments Add your comment
Diamond Dog's Parole Officer
February 5th, 2010
10:59 am
Why does anyone even bother to read this article. Lake Oconee Dawg gave us the real scoop a few days ago… Wow.
Vick=Dog killing thug
February 5th, 2010
10:59 am
GaGator
In my opinion, your an idiot
giles
February 5th, 2010
11:00 am
It’ll be interesting to see if Rogers can handle the pressure. I mean, he’s not just playing for himself, he has basically got to produce enough on the field to show the Vol fans he is worth two scholarships, since that’s exactly what UT gave up to get him. Should be interesting.
athensTNdawg
February 5th, 2010
11:00 am
He more than likely would have been a great addition but UGA will survive without him. Well get Charone Peake or someother high profile recruit next yeat When A.J. goes pro cuz of the potential of immedeite playing time and lack of recievers on the depth chart.We do gotta stop this trend of half the best in-state players goin elsewhere though.
UGASlobberknocker
February 5th, 2010
11:00 am
Thats about as good of a reason to flip as Ive ever heard.. Good luck to both of them 11 games a year.
TOPP DAWG ATL.
February 5th, 2010
11:01 am
We have AJ GREEN people…………………..
Zaxby's
February 5th, 2010
11:02 am
Mike Nance is a scumbag. Living off his daddy’s money and wheeling and dealing just so he can have a little cute button with his son’s picture on it that shows everyone he “plays” at UT, instead of Vandy. What a dingleberry.
Dropped Da' Ball
February 5th, 2010
11:02 am
Get over it dawg fans …once again CMR has dropped the ball. Wont be the first time and wont be the last. CMR has always had big blunders since he has been the coach at UGA so get over it mutt nation and move on to next years comedy of errors.
McDawg
February 5th, 2010
11:03 am
its a ladies perogative to change his mind
Fides | goddess of honesty
February 5th, 2010
11:03 am
Georgia Football. RIP. There’s a new sheriff in town and he’s coaching at Tennessee. Da’Rick could see the worm turning. Coach Dooley will make Tennessee a top-tier program and probably will drop Georgia yet another notch down in the SEC. Players wanting a decent coach can look to Tennessee now or can check in and see who’s coaching at Georgia at any space in time. Sad.
Other George
February 5th, 2010
11:03 am
Does anyone know whether Rogers has even has grades, sat, etc… to qualify?
McDawg
February 5th, 2010
11:03 am
dingleberry exactly
Lakedawg
February 5th, 2010
11:03 am
Sorry, I don’t buy it. If it was so important that they play
together then why did they commit to different schools and
remain committed to different schools for months ? Evidently
the word of neither player meant anything, but something with
this is fishy…..the timing of it has an air of impropriety.
If true, I guess that’ll come out in an NCAA investigation.
Why would a 4.0 student give up a free Vanderbilt education ?
Jay Cutler proved that a Vandy QB can make it to the NFL.
As for the poster who said “Georgia lied to Nance”, THAT’S
the lie – only after a position change by UGA QB Logan Gray
became an option for next year did Georgia decide to pursue
a QB, and the Calhoun QB wasn’t the best one available.
I for one am tired of hearing about this. I wish both
young men well, but this is GEORGIA and we want to hear
about OUR (UGA’s) signees.
There’s no way that Georgia can sign ALL of the
top players in our state…..there are just too many of
them. UGA historically (generally) gets the Georgia
kids that UGA wants…..those choices haven’t always
worked out (Jasper Sanks over Jamal Lewis, for instance),
but they don’t always work out for any school. Obviously
we could’ve kept Da’Rick Rogers by offering Nance instead
of Mason, but our staff determined that that wasn’t the
best choice – and I respect that. So Tennessee was
desperate enough to do that, but we weren’t – our choice,
not some kind of recruiting breakthrough by Tennessee.
There’s usually some mitigating circumstance that results
in a top Georgia kid going to Tennessee – Eric Berry (father
went to UT), Lewis (we wanted Sanks), Rogers (friend/daddy
issues), and so forth. Very seldom does a top Georgia kid
with no UT ties (that UGA really wants) end up at Tennessee –
we’ve had more of that to Auburn and Florida State over the
years than I’d like, but not so much to Tennessee.
Time to move on…..let’s hear about OUR school, AJC.
In our state, Georgia fans outnumber any other school’s by
a factor of 10. Tennessee is not part of north Georgia,
it’s another state and they DO have their own newspapers
and internet. Let them use theirs – I’m tired of seeing
it on here and I’d bet that most everybody else is too.
Go Dawgs !!!
Dawg'sdawg
February 5th, 2010
11:05 am
wonders why no one ever mentions that UT would be Vanderbuilt or Memphis if 75 percent of their recruits actually came from the state of Tn…lol
The Truth
February 5th, 2010
11:05 am
Everyone knows that Tennessee and GA Tech are the two biggest outlaw schools in America. Good luck to those two young men. They are going to need it. I feel sorry for them.
GaGator
February 5th, 2010
11:05 am
GaDawg & Vick=Dog killing thug
At least Nash had a offer from Vandy, little Ogletree had nothing, ZERO offers.
Looks guys when you start calling people names, you have already the lost the arguement.
Grow up.
Athens Dog
February 5th, 2010
11:05 am
First, Mason was one of the highest rated HS qb’s in the country, so you cannot blame CMR for signing him. Secondly, these are 18 year old kids we’re talking about. of course they change their minds. It’s what teenagers do, for pete’s sake. Good luck to the kid, all of the kids, for that matter. They’re kids. Hopefully they have good careers, lose to Georgia every year, and go on to great lives.
Never forget these are kids.
Palmetto State Dawg
February 5th, 2010
11:06 am
Hey Rogers, if you and Nance are so tight, why didn’t you commit to Vanderbilt when he did? The fact of the matter is that little spoiled Nash Nance was upset that UGA passed on him, so he and big daddy convinced Rogers (who obviously cannot think for himself) to go to UT to get back at UGA. Darick, does Nance’s mommy pick your clothes out for you everyday before school?
Fides | goddess of honesty
February 5th, 2010
11:06 am
Coach Dooley has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Da’Rick thought so. Coach Dooley and Da’Rick are going to be SEC champs someday soon.
An editor
February 5th, 2010
11:07 am
It’s Nance Carpet and Rug, not Nash.
Coach Paul Johnson
February 5th, 2010
11:07 am
Liars, that’s all they are – the both of them.
RockyFlop
February 5th, 2010
11:07 am
Tennessee got Rogers yet their fans aren’t satisfied. They want us to believe it’s b/c he saw ‘how great’ it is in Knoxville. Obviously he went for his friend. Better lock up your women hillbillies cause the ladies go crazy when DuhRick takes off his shirt.
Athens Dog
February 5th, 2010
11:07 am
Lakedawg…extremely, very well said.
TTindall
February 5th, 2010
11:08 am
Wait a minute, I thought he went there because of the campus and D. Dooley? Now I am confussed, isn’t that what he said just yesterday? And I also read that he was not even considering UT while Kiffin was there. Boy did UGA dodge a bullet. I agree, the Dad did a slaes job and R’Rck got sold for the good of little Nance, who could not get into a big time school on his own. Lets see how long that “best friend” status lasts. No sour grapes, just the what the boy said. Good luck to them both at UT, I I truly mean that.
The Grinch
February 5th, 2010
11:08 am
dawgrific
February 5th, 2010
10:42 am
Auburn had a great recruiting year because they signed 32 players. Of course 32 recruits are going to rank higher than the 19 we signed. That being said, Auburn knows full well all of these kids will not be on campus in the fall. No matter how hard they may try, those numbers just cannot be manipulated to the point that everyone will be on next year’s squad.
Psych Ward Nurse
February 5th, 2010
11:09 am
Please get Fides her meds. She’s running around in just her orange undies and calling herself the Goddess of Honesty again.
The Grinch
February 5th, 2010
11:10 am
Fides | goddess of honesty
February 5th, 2010
11:06 am
Yeah, you’re right. They’ll be at the SEC Championship game real soon. Mr Nash promised to buy them tickets so they could watch it live. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Fides | goddess of honesty
February 5th, 2010
11:10 am
Da’Rick will be wearing orange when he next comes to Athens – and he’ll be playing for a Dooley. By that time, most of the Georgia staff will be gone and rent-a-coach will be in place. Looks like Tennessee has a coach for life. Tennessee is the new Georgia. Georgia is the new FSU without the wins.
Slowmo
February 5th, 2010
11:10 am
I feel bad for Rogers. This bundling of scholarship offers are unfair to great players. His best friend gets a scholarship to UT if he agrees to go with him, otherwise his friend goes to a second tier university. The NCAA needs to reconsider these kind of arrangements.
For rogers it was unfair to put that on him. Guess it worked out for Nance.
UGA runs this state
February 5th, 2010
11:10 am
Mike Nance needs to have his head checked if he thinks his son is in the same league as Mason. Also, Coach Bobby Johnson at Vandy said that the Nance kids Scholly was pulled and from what I’ve seen, Nance will never see the field at UT. I know it, you know it, the AJC knows it. There is no legit reason UGA would offer the Nance kid and if UT had a ethical bone, they would not either, especially in the manor they did. UT has burned many a bridge in the state of Georgia. The first rule is, you NEVER go around the head coach & a kids Mama. I’ve seen a lot of dirty stuff, but Nance has taken it to the next level. But for a fan base that defended Lane Kiffen, I’m not surprised.
The Grinch
February 5th, 2010
11:11 am
Psych Ward Nurse
February 5th, 2010
11:09 am
Nah. She’s running around screaming “UT Wild Boyz, UT Wild Boyz”. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
RxDawg
February 5th, 2010
11:11 am
Oh well. It was Rogers choice, just as it was all of our own choices which school we attented as well. I’m growing tired of hearing about it, let’s move on.
P.S. Thanks for giving the inside story on it though Chip.
Its not pronounced that way
February 5th, 2010
11:12 am
Some of you idioits dont know nothing just like Obama doesnt know how to pronounce Corp”S”man. The program is tanking…. so get a clue blunder dawgs!!
Its not pronounced that way
February 5th, 2010
11:13 am
“dont know anything”
Dawg'sdawg
February 5th, 2010
11:13 am
Georgia State will be able to recruit better athletes from inside the state of Ga than there are in the state of Tn.
Dawg Fud
February 5th, 2010
11:14 am
collegefootballfan,
re-read the article. Georgia said it did not “intend” to offer a QB.
Sort of like Nance “intended” to enroll at Vanderbilt.
Fides | goddess of honesty
February 5th, 2010
11:14 am
Coach Dooley at Tennessee doesn’t sound right, does it? But the Dooley name and the Dooley character now reside in Tennessee. Georgia, meanwhile, has an NFL coordinator that is more powerful than the head coach. Recruits don’t trust Georgia anymore. They trust a Dooley. Tennessee is the new Georgia.
The Grinch
February 5th, 2010
11:14 am
Its not pronounced that way
February 5th, 2010
11:12 am
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Great post.
First, you call others “idioits”, then you say “dont know nothing”. Don’t know nothing? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Spoken like a true Vol fan.
Ron Mexico
February 5th, 2010
11:14 am
I’m gay.
Its not pronounced that way
February 5th, 2010
11:17 am
idiots…. I stand by my teleprompter !….
The Grinch
February 5th, 2010
11:17 am
Fides | goddess of honesty
February 5th, 2010
11:14 am
“Tennessee is the new Georgia.”
So you’re saying the Vols will go 8-5 next year? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Ironic
February 5th, 2010
11:18 am
Vick = Dog blah blah blah- Maybe before you call someone an idiot you should learn the difference in your and you’re. Priceless! Your an idiot? You’re an idiot!
Fides | goddess of honesty
February 5th, 2010
11:18 am
Dooley Football is still being played. It’s being played in Tennessee. Good, honest, tailback football and a tough defense. Honor. Integrity. Dooley. Tennessee. Of course, Georgia still has AJ. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!
UGASlobberknocker
February 5th, 2010
11:19 am
There a lot of my fellow Dawg fans on this board that need to show a little class. If anyone here has teenagers (or had em) then they know indecision is a trait most share at that age. To rip a kid for changing his mind is classless and idioitic. Remember when you were 18..were you an all knowing adult.?..No. Lighten up dawg fans and leave the classless comments to those people from other schools.
BIGDAWG
February 5th, 2010
11:19 am
Man its obvious that Da’rick has a dependance on Nash and family. He will sit next to him in class with his shades on peeking at his paper.
He can’t stand on his own!
Chances are neither plays a down in college.
poopdawg
February 5th, 2010
11:19 am
Sounds like Nance shed some Tebow Tears when UGA offered QB Hutson Mason. So Nance wanted to be a dawg? Why didn’t Nance follow Rogers from Darlington to Calhoun before their junior year, he waited till his senior year? I do think having them together will help Rogers more in the future than Nance. Congratulations to both for landing the scholarships.
AltamahaDawg
February 5th, 2010
11:19 am
Whatever!
bob horner stayed hurt
February 5th, 2010
11:20 am
TailBack U….Troupe was the top rated receiver in the state of Georgia when he siged in Feb 2007…ajc super 11 and a 4 star recruit…hopefully he’s a late bloomer and has a good year..he’s either a red shirt sophmore or a junior…
Mt. Pleasant Daeg
February 5th, 2010
11:20 am
Da Rick seems ot be implying the Richt lied–he seems to be saying Richt promised him he would sign his little buddy if he signed a qb in 2009, then didn’t.
I don’t buy it. No evidence of that.
Lots of public proof Da rick went back on his word to Richt–Rogers even admits it.
He’s trying to lay the blame for his lack of commitment on Richt, when Rogers is the one who broke his word for sure.
dawgrific
February 5th, 2010
11:20 am
Mr. Ball, calm down and quit talking to me like I am some non-caring, uneducated loser who cares about nothing but football. My point in all of this is……he was a LONG-TERM commitment, and he changed his mind under questionable (at best) circumstances. I am an educator of HS kids at one of the best schools in GA (magnet, with even numbers regarding race, by the way), and we pull from all over our county. I DO care about what happens to kids, and I DO care about developing character in kids, and I DO believe that any child, no matter what their background, should be expected to be responsible for their words and actions. You seem to have ingnored my posts, when I said a couple of times, I HATE when kids pull this stuff, and yes, even when it favors my Dawgs, but of course I will take a talented kid, who wouldn’t?! This specific situation stinks (shady), and I personally think that he is making a bad decision for his future, given UGA’s success at getting players to the NFL. That said, go and save-the-world in ways that make a difference, and not by writing essays on response sections of sports articles. GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!