After season full of big moves, JayJay Jordan plans to stay put at The Rock
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For both JayJay Jordan and his future head coach, it was literally love at first sight.
Jordan made a recruiting visit to Slippery Rock early last year and knew immediately it was the place for him. Football coach Shawn Lutz watched a couple of minutes of video of the elusive tailback and couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I was just amazed,” said Lutz, head coach at The Rock for 10 seasons. “We saw a guy who could just be a difference-maker.”
Jordan was, in time.
One season after tearing up the Landmark Conference as a freshman at Wilkes University Jordan’s time at Slippery Rock in 2024 was spent as a backup. He had a few touches running out of the Wildcat formation, lined up occasionally at slot receiver, returned a few kickoffs and ran down on coverage teams.
The Rock was loaded, especially in the backfield; it went 12-2, stunned unbeaten Kutztown in the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament, and made it all the way to the Final Four.
Jordan mostly watched and waited.
When all-conference running back Idris Lawrence and the other seniors who formed the core of that national semifinalist moved on, Jordan moved front and center. It didn’t take him long to flash the skills Lutz had seen a year earlier on video.
“Spring football, it was like: ‘Wow, we’ve got someone special there,’ ” Lutz said.
Jordan busted off a 74-yard touchdown run late in the first half of the season-opener against Franklin Pierce University and finished his first start with 154 yards. Like Forrest Gump, he never stopped running from that point on.
That was the first of Jordan’s seven 100-yard games in what became a dream season, one that saw the Berks Catholic grad rank among the most productive backs in the nation and earn Pennsylvania Conference Western Division Offensive Athlete of the Year honors. He became just the second running back in program history to earn that honor.
“I was pretty blown away when I saw that,” he said.
Blown away would be a good description of the defenses the 5-11, 180-pound junior left in his wake. He rushed for 1,375 rushing yards – eighth-best in program history — and had 1,858 all-purpose yards – third-most ever at The Rock.
His 10-game all-purpose total was the highest of any Division II player in the nation. His 8.09 yards per carry average and 137.5 rushing yards per game ranked fourth-best in the nation during regular season play. (Slippery Rock finished 6-4 and did not advance to the postseason.)
“If you’re the defensive coordinator,” Lutz surmised, “you’ve gotta hold your breath every time he gets the ball because he can take it to the house every single play.”
Looked that way late in the season when in back-to-back games, against Indiana University and Clarion, he went the distance on The Rock’s first offensive play: 75 yards against the Crimson Hawks, 67 yards against the Golden Eagles.
“That was surreal,” Jordan said. “First time was IUP: home game, rivalry game, 10,000 people in the stands – that was electric. I kind of set the tone there.”
Slippery Rock won 42-23.
“The second one . . . ‘OK, what am I doing here?’ ” Jordan thought to himself. “ ‘This didn’t just happen again.’ I was kind of in shock.”
Just like Lutz some 18 months earlier when he realized he had a chance to land someone he now believes has pro potential.
“He is one of the most talented players, athletically, I’ve seen in a long time,” Lutz said. “He’s probably one of the most complete running backs I’ve ever had – he is that good. I just don’t know what he doesn’t have.”
JayJay Jordan’s game-by-game stats
Even 20 pounds heavier and stronger than he was as a freshman, Jordan’s as fast as ever; he’s maintained his 4.45 speed.
“He’s good enough to be a running back at West Virgina, Pitt,” Lutz said. “I don’t know what he doesn’t bring to the table. He has that speed, that quickness, that vision.
“But the thing that separates JayJay is that toughness, what he does between the tackles. He’ll lower his shoulder and run someone over.”
That style of running wasn’t seen much at Berks Catholic, where Jordan’s speed and ankle-breaking cuts were usually enough to move the sticks or change the scoreboard.
He earned All-State honors as a senior defensive back at Berks Catholic in 2022 after intercepting six passes, rushing for 1,225 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns. His 45 career touchdowns and 2,224 career rushing yards are each fourth-most in Saints history.
Jordan’s skills were not limited to football. Hardly. He was an All-Berks pick in basketball, scoring 1,000 points and helping the Saints to consecutive District 3 championships. Later, he went out for track and dazzled there, as well.
“I loved both (basketball and football), and I had a blast playing both in high school,” Jordan said. “There was never a dull moment.”
Jordan could’ve played basketball at the college level but football was always his first love. He got his first chance at Wilkes University, where he bowled over the Division III competition with his all-around athletic skills.
He averaged 8.8 yards per carry, piled up nearly 750 return yards and was named Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year.
It wasn’t as easy as it looked, Jordan says.
“Coming out of Berks Catholic, playing small-ball, that was a huge jump for me,” he said. “I had no clue what college was about. I learned a lot at Wilkes. My confidence skyrocketed.”
He had visits to several PSAC schools lined up after entering the transfer portal but none got a chance after Jordan’s visit to Slippery Rock.
“I loved everything,” he said. “Coach Lutz made me feel like his son. I committed in the car going home.”
His first season at Slippery Rock was the first time Jordan didn’t find himself in a lead role. Still, he relished his opportunities.
“I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said. “I was a glue guy, willing to do whatever it took and help the team. I’m grateful for what I learned and being around the team that we had. I mean, Final Four is great.”
After the jaw-dropping season he’s had Jordan might be able to find opportunities at a higher level. He’s not looking.
“A lot of guys would probably lean on the transfer portal after the year I had, but I’ve got one year of eligibility left and I’m not willing to gamble that,” he said. “I know I want to be here. I’ve got a lot of love at Slippery Rock. Coach Lutz has treated me with the utmost respect, and I can’t thank him enough. The people I’ve met here and the friends I’ve made . . . I’m overly grateful.
“My plan is to stay here and finish what I started,” he said. “There’s a couple records out there that need broken.”
