Jordan moved to Amherst in 1932 amid a change of presidents with the resulting confusion. His 17-year stay there was interrupted by a three-year stretch in the Navy, during which time he cleared up difficulties that had arisen at various V-12 stations.
It was during his tenure at Amherst that Jordan realized the value of hiring enthusiastic assistants. His present staff includes three extremely able men, plus a first-class trainer, and his backfield coach is considered one of the smartest assistants in the country.
Football, according to Jordan, is based on youth, spirit, enthusiasm, and condition. He is a great believer in team unity (one reason for the closed practices of the past two weeks) and team spirit, which he has tried to develop by building self-confidence in the players. This has been a tremendous task, but Jordan believes the team finally "found itself" between halves of the Holy Cross game. "They realized then they could play better football than they'd been playing," he remarks.
Jordan is an organizer, and when his "Okay, let's get organized" cuts through the air during practice you feel it is indicative of his approach to the entire football situation here. After the Yale game, one of his assistants will handle academic and personal problems of squad members, another will take charge of secondary school contacts, a third will start going over this fall's movies. Next spring, Jordan will be better acquainted with his personnel and they will have a better idea of what Jordan considers the attributes of a good football player.
Jordan finds his job "the most thrilling and the toughest" anywhere. Withal, he has retained his sense of humor. The other day, he opened a letter on his desk and said: "The season isn't long enough. We won't have a chance to use all the plays the alumni have sent in." He filed the sheet of diagrams in a drawer.
Jordan could not have hoped to accomplish any miracles this year. It will be rough again in 1951, but he is gradually laying the foundations of winning football. In the meantime, he has aimed for the respect of his opponents; that is about all he could hope for, and he has gained that.
But Lloyd Jordan has an intense desire to win games. He hates to lose, and he takes no stock in moral victories. Whether or not he is still coaching here in three or four or five years, the groundwork will be there