Ralph Jordan | ||
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Sport(s) | Football, basketball, baseball | |
Biographical details | ||
Born | September 25, 1910 | |
Place of birth | Selma, Alabama | |
Died | July 17, 1980 | (aged 69)|
Place of death | Auburn, Alabama | |
Playing career | ||
Football 1928–1932 Basketball 1929–1932 Baseball c. 1930 |
Auburn Auburn Auburn |
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Position(s) | Center (football) Guard (basketball) Pitcher (baseball) |
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Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
Football 1934–1942 1945 1946 1947–1950 1951–1975 Basketball 1933–1942 1945–1946 1946–1950 |
Auburn (assistant) Auburn (assistant) Miami Seahawks (assisant) Georgia (assistant) Auburn Auburn Auburn Georgia |
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Head coaching record | ||
Overall | 176–83–6 (football) 136–103 (basketball) |
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Bowls | 5–7 | |
Statistics | ||
College Football Data Warehouse | ||
Accomplishments and honors | ||
Championships | ||
Football 1 National (1957) 1 SEC (1957) |
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Awards | ||
Football 4x SEC Coach of the Year (1953, 1957, 1963, 1972) |
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Inducted in 1982 (profile) |
James Ralph "Shug" Jordan (pronounced jerd-an; September 25, 1910 – July 17, 1980) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Auburn from 1951 to 1975, where he compiled a record of 176–83–6. He is the winningest coach in Auburn Tigers football history. Jordan's 1957 Auburn squad went undefeated with a record of 10–0 and was named the national champion by the Associated Press. Jordan was also the head men's basketball coach at Auburn (1933–1942, 1945–1946) and at the University of Georgia (1946–1950), tallying a career college basketball record of 136–103. During his time coaching basketball, he also served as an assistant football coach at the two schools. Auburn's Jordan–Hare Stadium was renamed in Jordan's honor in 1973. Jordan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1982.
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Born in Selma, Alabama, Jordan was nicknamed "Shug" as a child because of his love for sugar cane. A 1932 graduate of Auburn, he lettered in football, basketball, baseball while there and was voted the Most Outstanding Athlete in 1932. He started the Delta Beta chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity at the University of Georgia.
After graduation, Jordan became the head basketball coach and an assistant football coach at Auburn. In ten seasons (1933–1942, 1945–1946) as the head coach of the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team, he compiled a record of 95–77. Jordan also compiled 45 wins as head basketball coach at Georgia. In addition to being the winningest football coach in Auburn history, Jordan ranks fifth in wins among Tigers basketball coaches.
During World War II, Jordan fought in four major invasions as a United States Army officer. He saw action in North Africa and Sicily before being wounded in the invasion of Normandy and receiving a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. After recovering from his wounds, he continued action in the Pacific theater, serving at Okinawa.
Prior to being hired as Auburn's head football coach in 1951, Jordan spent one season as an assistant coach of the Miami Seahawks of the All-America Football Conference in 1946, and then four years as an assistant at the University of Georgia. When he became head football coach at Auburn, he retained assistants Shot Senn (linemen), Joel Eaves (defensive ends), and Dick McGowen as head freshmen team coach, all former Auburn players who had assisted Jordan's predecessor, Earl Brown. Jordan also hired George L. "Buck" Bradberry (defensive backfield), Homer Hobbs (assistant line), Gene Lorendo (offensive ends), all former Georgia players, and Charlie Waller (offensive backfield). McGowen also served as Auburn's head baseball coach from 1951 to 1957. In his first season as head football coach, Jordan guided the Tigers to a 5–5 record, breaking Auburn's string of five straight losing seasons. In 1957, Jordan led Auburn football to its first Southeastern Conference title and the team's first national championship.
In 1971, Jordan coached quarterback Pat Sullivan to the Heisman Trophy. However, Sullivan's Heisman-winning season ended in disappointment with a convincing loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl. The next year, Jordan's Tigers upset heavily-favored, arch-rival Alabama in the Iron Bowl, a victory which became known by the nickname Punt Bama Punt. In 1973, the university renamed Cliff Hare Stadium as Jordan–Hare Stadium in Jordan's honor, the first stadium in the United States to be named for an active coach. When Jordan retired after the 1975 season, he had amassed a record of 176–83–6 for a .675 winning percentage. His Auburn football teams had .500 or winning records in 22 of 25 seasons he coached.
Jordan died on July 17, 1980 at his home in Auburn, Alabama after a four-month fight with leukemia.[1]
Jordan met Evelyn Walker (1913-2011), a native of Augusta, Georgia and a student at the University of South Carolina, when Jordan accompanied the Auburn University basketball team to a tournament there in 1934. Jordan and Walker married in 1937 and were the parents of three children. Evelyn Walker Jordan served as a Panhellenic advisor on the Auburn campus and became a licensed couples counsellor.
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
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Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1951–1975) | |||||||||
1951 | Auburn | 5–5 | 3–4 | 6th | |||||
1952 | Auburn | 2–8 | 0–7 | 12th | |||||
1953 | Auburn | 7–3–1 | 4–2–1 | 5th | L Gator | 17 | |||
1954 | Auburn | 8–3 | 3–3 | T–7th | W Gator | 13 | |||
1955 | Auburn | 8–2–1 | 5–2–1 | 3rd | L Gator | 8 | 8 | ||
1956 | Auburn | 7–3 | 4–3 | 5th | |||||
1957 | Auburn | 10–0 | 7–0 | 1st | 2 | 1 | |||
1958 | Auburn | 9–0–1 | 6–0–1 | 2nd | 4 | 4 | |||
1959 | Auburn | 7–3 | 4–3 | 5th | 15 | ||||
1960 | Auburn | 8–2 | 5–2 | 4th | 14 | 13 | |||
1961 | Auburn | 6–4 | 3–4 | 7th | |||||
1962 | Auburn | 6–3–1 | 4–3 | 6th | |||||
1963 | Auburn | 9–2 | 6–1 | 2nd | L Orange | 6 | 5 | ||
1964 | Auburn | 6–4 | 3–3 | 6th | |||||
1965 | Auburn | 5–5–1 | 4–1–1 | 4th | L Liberty | ||||
1966 | Auburn | 4–6 | 1–5 | 8th | |||||
1967 | Auburn | 6–4 | 3–3 | 7th | |||||
1968 | Auburn | 7–4 | 4–2 | T–3rd | W Sun | 16 | |||
1969 | Auburn | 8–3 | 5–2 | T–3rd | L Bluebonnet | 15 | 20 | ||
1970 | Auburn | 9–2 | 6–2 | 3rd | W Gator | 9 | 10 | ||
1971 | Auburn | 9–2 | 5–1 | T–2nd | L Sugar | 5 | 12 | ||
1972 | Auburn | 10–1 | 6–1 | 2nd | W Gator | 7 | 5 | ||
1973 | Auburn | 6–6 | 2–5 | T–8th | L Sun | ||||
1974 | Auburn | 10–2 | 4–2 | T–2nd | W Gator | 6 | 8 | ||
1975 | Auburn | 3–6–2 | 2–4 | T–7th | |||||
Auburn: | 176–83–7 | ||||||||
Total: | 176–83–7 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
#Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. |
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
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Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1933–1942) | |||||||||
1933–34 | Auburn | 2–11 | 2–9 | 12th | |||||
1934–35 | Auburn | 4–13 | 3–9 | 11th | |||||
1935–36 | Auburn | 10–7 | 7–4 | 5th | |||||
1936–37 | Auburn | 11–4 | 7–4 | 4th | |||||
1937–38 | Auburn | 14–5 | 6–3 | 4th | |||||
1936–39 | Auburn | 16–6 | 6–4 | 4th | |||||
1939–40 | Auburn | 7–10 | 6–7 | 8th | |||||
1940–41 | Auburn | 13–6 | 6–5 | 6th | |||||
1941–42 | Auburn | 11–6 | 9–5 | 5th | |||||
Auburn Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (1945–1946) | |||||||||
1945–46 | Auburn | 7–9 | 7–6 | ||||||
Auburn: | 95–77 | 59–56 | |||||||
Georgia Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (1946–1950) | |||||||||
1946–47 | Georgia | 2–3 | |||||||
1947–48 | Georgia | 18–10 | 6–8 | ||||||
1948–49 | Georgia | 17–13 | 6–9 | ||||||
1949–50 | Georgia | 4–2 | |||||||
Georgia: | 41–28 | 12–17 | |||||||
Total: | 136–103 | ||||||||
National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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