Staff report

OMAHA, Neb. — Catawba College graduate Josh Jordan wears several important hats for LSU’s high-powered baseball program.

Third base coach. Recruiting coordinator. Assistant coach focusing on catchers and first basemen.

Jordan will be most visible in the College World Series as the third base coach. One of the favorites in the eight-team field, LSU belts a ton of homers, so sometimes all Jordan has to do is high-five All-America sluggers such as Dylan Crews as they round third and head for home.

LSU hired Jordan in the summer of 2022, so this is his first season on the Tigers’ staff. He was hired after he was part of  successful runs at Appalachian State and Duke.

Jordan was a high school standout for Hunter Huss in Gastonia, graduating in 1998. He was a second baseman for Catawba and played from 1999-2002 for coach Jim Gantt. Jordan always has credited Gantt with making him a tougher player. He graduated from Catawba with a degree in social studies eduction in 2003.

Shortly after his playing days ended, Jordan was a volunteer coach at Catawba, doing whatever needed doing as he tried to work his way into the coaching ranks.

Working a baseball camp at nearby Pfeiffer, Jordan’s enthusiasm caught the eye of Pfeiffer head coach Chris Pollard, a fellow who was going places.

Pollard didn’t forget him.

Jordan was hired as a graduate assistant at Fort Hays State in Kansas. Then he coached at Young Harris in Georgia.

When Pollard was hired as head coach by Appalachian State, he brought in Jordan as an assistant coach, and they enjoyed quite a run together from 2006-12. Appalachian State, with the help of  Rowan County products such as Trey Holmes, Noah Holmes and Preston Troutman, went 41-18 in 2012.

That huge season led to Pollard being hired by Duke in June 2012, and Jordan went with him to Durham. Jordan was promoted to associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Blue Devils  in 2015.

Duke’s staff got gratifying results. Duke ended a 55-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2016. In 2018 and 2019, the Blue Devils played in Super Regionals.

Jordan was named Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association in 2018.

Now Jordan is recognized as one of the top assistant coaches in the country and plays a key role for one of the nation’s best programs.

LSU plays Tennessee at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Omaha. The game is on ESPN.