BATON ROUGE, La. – Josh Jordan, a National Assistant Coach of the Year who helped lead the Duke baseball program to unprecedented success, has been hired as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at LSU, coach Jay Johnson announced Friday.
Jordan’s hiring is effective upon the completion of LSU’s background check process and approval by the university’s Board of Supervisors.
“I am excited to add Josh Jordan as our new Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Coach,” Johnson said. “When we started this search, it was my goal to find one of the best recruiters in all of college baseball. We have accomplished that and much more in bringing Josh to LSU. His work ethic, character, player relationship building, evaluation skills, and ability to connect make him second to none.
“Josh is also an elite developer of catchers and a great on-the-field coach. Our current and future players are immediately better by having Josh as a part of our program.”
Jordan has worked at Duke since June 2012, when he joined the coaching staff as recruiting coordinator. Duke head coach Chris Pollard promoted Jordan to associate head coach/recruiting coordinator in July 2015.
In addition to managing Duke’s recruiting activities, Jordan worked with the Blue Devils catchers and outfielders, and taught both hitting and base running.
The Duke program soared to new heights during Jordan’s tenure, as the Blue Devils for the first time in school history made NCAA Super Regional appearances (2018 and 2019) and won the ACC Tournament Championship (2021).
Duke ended a 55-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2016 when the Blue Devils received their first NCAA Regional bid since 1961.
Jordan’s significant impact upon the program was recognized in 2018, when he was named ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year. The 2018 Blue Devils won a school-record 45 games – including a program-best 18 ACC games – and advanced to a Super Regional for the first time in Duke history.
During Jordan’s time at Duke, 33 Blue Devils were selected in the MLB Draft, including a school-record-tying seven in 2018. Of those 33 players, 12 were selected in the first 10 rounds of the draft, accounting for over a third of Duke’s total top-10-round picks in program history.
Jordan worked from 2007-12 as an assistant coach under Pollard at Appalachian State, and the Mountaineers won 30 or more games in each of Jordan’s six seasons with the program.
Jordan was instrumental in Appalachian State’s stellar 2012 campaign, which saw the Mountaineers set a school record for victories with a 41-18 overall record. ASU captured the Southern Conference championship and earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the championship round of the Charlotte Regional.
While at Appalachian State, Jordan supervised the development of 17 players ultimately selected in the MLB Draft. Prior to Jordan and Pollard’s arrival, ASU had not produced a Major League draft choice since the 1996 campaign.
Before joining the ASU staff, Jordan spent the 2006 season at Young Harris (Ga.) College, helping the Mountain Lions to a runners-up finish in the 2006 National Junior College Athletic Association Region XVII Tournament. Jordan coached Charlie Blackmon, currently a Colorado Rockies outfielder, during his stint at Young Harris.
Jordan spent two seasons at Fort Hays (Kan.) State, where he began as a graduate assistant in 2004 before becoming the Tigers’ top assistant and recruiting coordinator the following year.
Jordan played second base at Catawba (N.C.) College from 1999-2002, leading the Indians to the 2002 South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship. He began his coaching career as a volunteer coach at his alma mater in 2003.
Jordan earned a B.A. in social studies education from Catawba in 2003, and he received an M.S. in exercise science from Fort Hays State in 2005. A native of Gastonia, N.C., he was a four-year letter-winner and an all-conference performer at Hunter Huss High School from 1995-98.
Jordan and his wife, Erika, have a son, Jaxon, and a daughter, Lillian.
{Courtesy: release from LSU Athletics}
