Sonny Cumbie describes critical moment in TCU getting Justin Rogers

Getting to the right rental car counter at the right time may have helped TCU get four-star quarterback Justin Rogers.

Co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie had landed in Shreveport on a recruiting trip two years ago, en route to Bossier City’s Parkway High School to see a quarterback — or so the rental agent figured.

“I’ve got a TCU shirt on, and the guy looked up from his computer and said, ‘You’re here to see the junior quarterback,’ ” Cumbie said. “I said, ‘yeah.’ He said, ‘You know they’ve got a younger one.’ I said, ‘Yeah, Justin Rogers, freshman, he’s really good.’ ”

Cumbie smiled as he spoke to reporters Tuesday at the Alamo Bowl, because he was about to tell them what he learned that day about the agent renting him his car.

“It happened to be Justin’s brother,” Cumbie said. “So from that moment, our relationship was really strong. You remember moments like that.”

Rogers signed a letter of intent with TCU last week and became the highest-rated player to sign with TCU since 2000.

TCU coach Gary Patterson said Rogers’ personal sense of loyalty and a strong relationship with Cumbie kept other schools from stealing him away. Rogers committed to TCU on May 31.

“Great family, great kid,” Patterson said. “His word means a lot to him. And his relationship with Sonny and the rest of our staff has been important to him.”

Cumbie said Rogers will enroll at TCU in January and transition to rehab on his ACL injury with the college trainers.

“It’ll be good to start working with him. It’s a long road ahead,” Cumbie said.

Cumbie called Rogers “highly, highly, highly motivated,” which will help him in his recovery and once he is on the field.

“Justin is a very physically unique talent,” Cumbie said. “Very strong-armed. Accurate. Gets the ball out of his hands, moves well in the pocket and when things break down, he’s able to extend plays. He’s a very motivated kid — highly, highly, highly motivated. Loves to work, loves to study. All those boxes check off with him.”

Cumbie fought off LSU and other major schools to hang on to Rogers. Two years ago, that other Parkway quarterback ended up at another Big 12 school.

“Coach [Rusty] Burns and I both kind of vowed that we were not going to let this one get away,” Cumbie said. “Part of the reason we didn’t get the other one is probably because we waited around too long to get in the game with him. So we were not going to let this one get away.”

NOTE: The TCU women’s basketball team has announced that its game against West Virginia on Thursday at Schollmaier Arena has been moved to 6 p.m. The time is being adjusted to accommodate Horned Frogs fans that want to attend the women’s basketball game, as well as watch TCU football in the Valero Alamo Bowl, which kicks off at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

This story was originally published December 26, 2017 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Sonny Cumbie describes critical moment in TCU getting Justin Rogers."