Former W.S. Neal head football coach, tennis coach and athletic director Kevin Jordan is the new defensive coordinator at Milton High School in Florida.
Jordan resigned as head football coach and athletic director at W.S. Neal High School after an 0-10 season with the Eagles in November.
Jordan, who was an assistant coach since coming to Neal in late spring 2006, was named head coach in 2009, after Blaine Hathcock took a coaching job at another school. The Eagles were 2-8 in Jordan’s first year as head coach.
Jordan said he knew, from being in this area over the last six years, that Milton has a great football program.
“I’ve spoken with numerous coaches, including one of our coaches who used to coach at Milton (Jason Blaney),” Jordan said. “Everything I’ve been told about Milton has been positive. As a staff, we went to Milton a couple of summers ago and met with a few of their coaches. So I had gotten to know a couple of them through the coaching circles. I respect those guys a great deal. Milton has an outstanding coaching staff. I certainly hope to add to that. I also sat down with the head coach (Chafan Marsh) and other members of administration. We had a great talk. It didn’t take me long to figure out Milton was a great place to work.”
Marsh says coach Jordan brings a wealth of experience to the Milton staff.
“He’s a man that understands the importance of pushing each young man to be the best
student-athlete that he can become,” Marsh said. “He works well with young men and
will be a valuable asset to our staff. He will serve as a defensive coordinator and will be responsible for coaching linebackers. I wanted coach Jordan on our staff because, from the first time I met him, I knew he had a passion for working with young men.”
Jordan said he learned “a ton” from being head coach at W.S. Neal, but not necessarily from a football standpoint.
“As head coach and athletic director, you deal with so much outside of football,” Jordan said. “I was involved a great deal my entire time at W.S. Neal. But until you sit in that position, it’s hard to completely understand the day-to-day responsibilities. Would I have done a couple of things differently in hindsight? Of course I would. I think as a coach, we all go back and look at things we can do to improve ourselves and football program overall. If you don’t do those things from year to year, you’re falling behind.”
Jordan said with all that being said, he wouldn’t change a thing regarding the way the Neal staff treated their student-athletes.
“Those kids became better students in the classroom,” Jordan said. “Discipline referrals among our athletes dropped a great deal. They knew that we cared about them, not only as football players, but also as a person. Those relationships will never go away.”
Jordan said he would like to thank the administration and faculty of Escambia County Schools and W.S. Neal High School.
“We were given an opportunity, and unfortunately didn’t get it done in terms of wins and losses,” Jordan said. “I would also like to thank our entire coaching staff. They were great to work with during my time at Neal. Those guys worked extremely hard as well. As for the players, I can’t say enough about the resiliency those kids showed. They continued to play hard throughout a very tough season. I certainly hope their hard work will pay off for them in the next few years.”