North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Two Coaches, Twin Battles
10/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 13, 2010
About Dana Bible
About Rock Roggeman
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. -When NC State assistant football coach Dana Bible began his treatments for leukemia last December, he frequently ran into a friend and fellow football coach, East Carolina assistant Thomas "Rock" Roggeman, who had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the summer of 2009.
Bible had coached with Roggeman's dad, Tom Roggeman, at Cincinnati in 1994 and against him in the Pac-10 a little over a decade ago. The vagabond community of college football coaches, despite what you might think, is quite tight.
Bible knew of the younger Roggeman's career as a linebacker and nose guard at Notre Dame, where he picked up his nickname in honor of the late Knute Rockne. And he knew that Roggeman was coaching at East Carolina under former Pirate coach Skip Holtz.
Bible, diagnosed just two days before the Wolfpack played Virginia Tech in its next-to-last game of the 2009 season, was just beginning his fight against leukemia at UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center last December; Roggeman was already six months into his treatment for lymphoma.
As they fought their twin battles against the deadly diseases, the two coaches from rival schools looked to each other for support, comfort and, above all else, a little hope.
It was rough going. Bible's participation in a 30-day treatment program wiped out his immune system and filled his body with poison as it quickly dispersed the frequently fatal form of leukemia. There were times when he wasn't sure he would survive the treatment, or that he would ever be strong enough to return to his chosen profession.
Roggeman had it rougher. He fought lymphoma for more than a year, going back and forth from Greenville to Chapel Hill. He tried, as best he could, to maintain contact with his fellow coaches and his players while on medical leave from his job. But Pirate players remember one of the highlights of last season was Roggeman's surprise appearance at the Liberty Bowl, where he watched the Pirates face Kentucky.
They took it as a sign that Roggeman might be recovering from his dread disease. Bible, too, hoped that he would be able to talk about their difficult times this week, as NC State travels to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Saturday to face the Pirates.
That, however, won't be the case. Roggeman's battle against lymphoma ended on June 14, 2010, as he quietly passed away in his hospital room in Chapel Hill. He was 47.
"He was a great person from a great family," Bible said of his younger friend. "We would cross paths at the hospital as we were going back and forth [to treatment]. His whole timeline was similar to mine."
Bible's treatments have progressed differently. His leukemia went into remission shortly after he completed his treatment in Chapel Hill. He managed to return to his office at NC State and help with another round of recruiting and spring practice. In late June, not long after Roggeman passed away, Bible was declared cancer-free by his doctors, an exceedingly happy day for Bible's family and the NC State football community.
The story of his recovery has been an inspiration to other members of the Wolfpack athletics family. Last Saturday, the NC State baseball team, led by head coach Elliott Avent, participated in Raleigh's "Light the Night Walk," a two-mile walk organized by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Easter North Carolina that honors victims and survivors of various blood cancers. They were among the 3,000 participants who helped raise more than $300,000 for the LLS.
This week, Bible is also remembering Roggeman, who earned the respect of his players, his fellow staff members and opposing coaches.
"Rock made an impact on everybody he touched," said former ECU coach Skip Holtz. "He was such a good person with such a great spirit."
And while NC State and East Carolina will square off Saturday in a rivalry that has been somewhat heated over the years, Bible will also take a few minutes to count his blessings and remember his late friend.
No matter what the outcome or circumstances of the game, Bible knows all he and Roggeman went through transcends the competition on the field.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
