Rod Rutherford
{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1980)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Rod Rutherford
| image =
| caption =
| position = Quarterback
| number = 12
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|12|12}}
| birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lbs = 223
| high_school = Pittsburgh (PA) Perry Traditional Academy
| college = Pittsburgh
| undraftedyear = 2004
| pastteams =
- Carolina Panthers ({{NFL Year|2004}})
- Pittsburgh Steelers ({{NFL Year|2005}}–{{NFL Year|2006}})*
- Hamburg Sea Devils ({{HSD season|2007}})
- Erie RiverRats (2008)
- Wheeling Wildcats ({{CIFL Year|2009}})
- Erie Storm (2010)
- Western Pennsylvania Sting (2012)
| pastcoaching =
- Pittsburgh (2007)
Quarterbacks coach - Saint Vincent College (2008)
Defensive backs coach - Pittsburgh (2009)
GA, Linebackers coach - Indiana (PA) (2011–2015)
Wide receivers coach
| highlights =
}}
Rod Rutherford (born December 12, 1980) is an American football coach and former quarterback. Rutherford spent time on both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers rosters, mostly as a practice squad player. Rutherford entered the National Football League (NFL) when he was signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers the following year in Super Bowl XL as a practice team player over the Seattle Seahawks.
Early life
Rutherford attended Perry Traditional Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was a letterman in football. Rutherford was named Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Athlete of the Year" in both 1998 and 1999. He was heavily recruited by a number of NCAA Division I schools, including Pittsburgh, Penn State, Miami (FL), Michigan State, Indiana, and Syracuse.{{cite news | title=Rutherford leads Pitt into new era | url=http://www.pittnews.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=eb6f0946-fa20-45c4-b18d-10bdea49b2f9 | work=The Pitt News | last=Goldman | first=Brian | date=August 21, 2003 }} {{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
College career
At Pitt Rutherford led the Panthers to consecutive winning seasons as the starter in 2002 and 2003, winning All-Big East honors for both efforts.{{cite news | title=Coach Rutherford | url=http://pittsburgh.scout.com/2/774339.html | last=Grdnic | first=Dale | date=August 1, 2008 | work=Scout.com | access-date=August 22, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716021408/http://pittsburgh.scout.com/2/774339.html | archive-date=July 16, 2011 | url-status=dead }} However, early in his career he contributed in many other ways. After redshirting during his freshman season Rutherford was still fourth on the depth chart at quarterback, but his athleticism and desire earned him playing time as a kick returner, receiver, and running a few option plays from behind center.{{cite news | last=Anderson | first=Shelley | title=Rutherford scores only TD as Panthers stymie Lions | url=http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pitt/20000917pittpsu1.asp | date=September 17, 2000 | access-date=August 22, 2008 | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041027161309/http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pitt/20000917pittpsu1.asp | archive-date=October 27, 2004 | url-status=live }} After chipping in situationally during his first two seasons Rutherford finally became the starter during his junior year in 2002. The 2002 season culminated with a 38–13 win over Oregon State in the Insight Bowl and a #18 ranking in the final Coaches Poll.{{cite news | last=Baum | first=Bob | title=Panthers silence Beavers for Insight Bowl crown | url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bowls/2002-12-27-insight-bowl-pitt-oregon-state_x.htm | work=USA Today | date=December 27, 2002 | access-date=August 20, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107162351/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bowls/2002-12-27-insight-bowl-pitt-oregon-state_x.htm | archive-date=January 7, 2009 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/rankings?seasonYear=2002 | title=2002 NCAA Football Rankings – Postseason Week 3 (Jan. 5) | work=ESPN | date=January 5, 2003 | access-date=August 20, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819232628/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex?seasonYear=2002 | archive-date=August 19, 2008 | url-status=live }} The following year Rutherford had an even better season. The expectations were high for the Panthers as they reached a #9 ranking early in the season, but inconsistencies, primarily on defense, prevented the Panthers from living up to the season's lofty expectations. Despite the Panthers' struggles Rutherford still led the team to a winning record and a Continental Tire Bowl appearance. That season Rutherford set the single-season record for most passing yards in a season at the Pitt with 3,679. Even with all of that success at quarterback the one play for which he will most likely be remembered by Pitt fans is a 66-yard touchdown reception he had during his freshman season in a victory against Penn St. He finished his collegiate career with 458 completions in 840 attempts, passing for 6,725 yards and 60 touchdowns.
=Statistics=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan=2 | Year !! rowspan=2 | Team !! colspan=8 | Passing !! colspan=4 | Rushing | |||||||||||||
| {{tooltip|Cmp|Passes completed}} | {{tooltip|Att|Passes attempted}} | {{tooltip|Pct|Completion percentage}} | {{tooltip|Yds|Passing yards}} | {{tooltip|Y/A|Yards per passing attempt}} | {{tooltip|TD|Passing touchdowns}} | {{tooltip|Int|Interceptions}} | {{tooltip|Rtg|Passer rating}} | {{tooltip|Att|Rushing attempts}} | {{tooltip|Yds|Rushing yards}} | {{tooltip|Avg|Yards per rushing attempt}} | {{tooltip|TD|Rushing touchdowns}} | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Pittsburgh | 0 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 20 | 77 | 3.9 | 0 |
| 2001 | Pittsburgh | 19 | 59 | 32.2 | 262 | 4.4 | 1 | 4 | 61.5 | 81 | 255 | 3.1 | 6 |
| 2002 | Pittsburgh | 192 | 367 | 52.3 | 2,783 | 7.6 | 22 | 12 | 129.3 | 182 | 398 | 2.2 | 6 |
| 2003 | Pittsburgh | 247 | 413 | 59.8 | 3,679 | 8.9 | 37 | 14 | 157.4 | 136 | 150 | 1.1 | 2 |
| class="sortbottom" style="background:#eee;"
| colspan=2 | Career | 458 | 842 | 54.4 | 6,724 | 8.0 | 60 | 30 | 137.9 | 419 | 880 | 2.1 | 14 |
Professional career
Rutherford was rated the 12th quarterback in the 2004 NFL draft by NFLDraftScout.com.
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 6
| height in = 2
| weight = 240
| dash = 4.77
| ten split = 1.72
| twenty split = 2.80
| shuttle = 4.41
| cone drill = 7.66
| vertical = 30+1/2
| broad ft = 9
| broad in = 2
| note = All values from NFL Combine{{cite web | url=http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=1586&draftyear=2004&genpos=QB | title=Rod Rutherford | publisher=nfldraftscout.com | access-date=August 12, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813055921/http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=1586&draftyear=2004&genpos=QB | archive-date=August 13, 2017 | url-status=live }}
}}
Rutherford was undrafted upon entering the NFL, but was signed to the Carolina Panthers, where he spent the 2004 season on the practice squad. The following year saw Rutherford return to his hometown of Pittsburgh where he spent another season on a practice squad, this time with the Pittsburgh Steelers. While with the Steelers he earned a Super Bowl ring as the Steelers won Super Bowl XL.
Without an offer to remain in the NFL, Rutherford spent 2007 in NFL Europa with the Hamburg Sea Devils. In 2008, he signed to play for the Erie RiverRats of the American Indoor Football Association where he selected to the all-AIFA squad after leading Erie to a 7–2 record in his nine regular-season starts, after he began the season playing for the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Pioneers of AF2.{{cite web | title=Former NFL QB Rod Rutherford Joins Pioneers | website=OurSports Central | date=2007-12-05 | url=https://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/former-nfl-qb-rod-rutherford-joins-pioneers/n-3567029 | access-date=2025-06-02}} In 2010, he signed once again with Erie (now known as the Explosion, formerly the Storm and RiverRats) for his second tour of duty. In 2012, he signed with Western Pennsylvania of the UIFL.
Coaching
After his 2007 season with Hamburg ended, Rutherford spent the remainder of the year as a volunteer quarterbacks coach under head coach Dave Wannstedt at his alma mater. Then, upon the conclusion of his 2008 season playing in the AIFA, Rutherford was hired as defensive backs coach at Saint Vincent College.{{cite news | title=Rod Rutherford Hired As St. Vincent Assistant Coach | url=http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/830000/detail.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120214065018/http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/830000/detail.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 14, 2012 | publisher=The Pittsburgh Channel | date=July 25, 2008 | access-date=August 20, 2008 }} Rutherford returned to the University of Pittsburgh as a defensive assistant coach in 2009.{{cite book | url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/09FBMG-Coaches.pdf | title=2009 Pitt Football Media Guide | editor-last=Nestor | editor-first=Mendy | editor2-last=Borghetti | editor2-first=E. J. | editor3-last=Welsh | editor3-first=Celeste | publisher=University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics | location=Pittsburgh, PA | pages=57 | year=2009 | access-date=September 8, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112082913/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pitt/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/09FBMG-Coaches.pdf | archive-date=November 12, 2012 | url-status=live }}
In 2011, Rutherford was hired by Curt Cignetti to coach wide receivers for the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a position he held for five seasons through 2015.{{cite web|url=http://iupathletics.com/news/2011/1/29/FB_0129114359.aspx|title=Rod Rutherford and Luke Getsy Added to IUP Football Coaching Staff - Indiana University of Pennsylvania|website=Indiana University of Pennsylvania|access-date=January 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713073219/http://iupathletics.com/news/2011/1/29/FB_0129114359.aspx|archive-date=July 13, 2011|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.iupathletics.com/staff.aspx?staff=86|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905140217/http://www.iupathletics.com/staff.aspx?staff=86|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 5, 2015|title=IUP Crimson Hawks - Staff Directory|date=September 5, 2015}}
He is now the quarterbacks coach at Lake Nona High School.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.footballdb.com/players/rod-rutherford-ruthero01 Rutherford's NFL Europa stats]
{{Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback navbox}}
{{Super Bowl XL}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Rod}}
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:Carolina Panthers players
Category:Erie RiverRats players
Category:IUP Crimson Hawks football coaches
Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players
Category:Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches
Category:Pittsburgh Panthers football players
Category:Saint Vincent Bearcats football coaches
Category:Wheeling Wildcats players