After retiring from playing in 1998, Rodger was appointed Sports in the Community Officer at Grimsby a year later in 1999. Rodger later moved onto the coaching staff at
Blundell Park and following the dismissal of manager
Lennie Lawrence and his assistant
John Cockerill in 2001, the new Town boss
Paul Groves appointed Rodger as his new Assistant Manager. Rodger was then given the managerial position on a caretaker basis when Groves was sacked in 2004. In his first game in charge of the club, The Mariners defeated local rivals
Barnsley 6–1, with 4 goals coming from the ever-popular
Phil Jevons. However, despite the good form under Rodger he was overlooked for the job and it in turn went to
Nicky Law. With Grimsby suffering relegation to League Two a few months later, Law lost his job, and in stepped
Russell Slade. On 5 June 2006, Rodger would finally get his break, and was appointed as the club's full-time manager, when Slade departed to join
Yeovil Town. However after a poor start to the season he was sacked on 5 November after five months in charge, with Grimsby hoping for promotion, the club found itself in the bottom third of the table. His replacement was to be
Alan Buckley who in turn brought Rodger back to then club again as the Sports in the Community Officer, a previous position he had held from 1999 to 2001. Former Town midfielder
Gary Childs was also given the same job. On 6 July 2017, he was appointed as chief scout for Grimsby. He departed during the 2022–23 season. ==Honours==