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James Ralph “Shug” Jordan died on July 17th, 1980, two months short of his 70th birthday. I only met “The Man” once when I was a freshman in the fall of 1977, but by that time I felt I already knew him from seeing him on the sidelines, and from every Sunday evening in the fall on the Auburn Football Review. I had read about him in the Birmingham News and in a book by Clyde Bolton. He was “The Man”. The coach who led the teams I loved as a child and teenager. “The Man” was Auburn to me. And even as a child I knew there was a difference between him and the other guy who came on TV either just before or just after him on Sundays. Shug was a gentleman. He was humble. He was genuine. He was ours. He might not have won as many games as some coaches, but as far as I was concerned he was, and still is, as good as any man who ever walked the sidelines.
“The Man” spent his entire adult life, from 1928 to 1980 serving Auburn. (except his service in WWII and four years that Auburn didn't seem to want him and he coached the line and basketball at UGA. He served in the Corps of Engineers in WWII and was involved in four amphibious assaults: North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, and Okinawa). A three sport star at API, he once led the Southern Conference in scoring in basketball, pitched a complete game and hit a three run homer for a win that started a drive to a conference baseball championship, and started at center in football. Funny thing about it is football was his weakest sport. After graduating he immediately began coaching at API. He coached the line in football and was the winningest basketball coach in AU history until Joel Eaves, a coach he hired, broke his record. He also had a winning record as Georgia’s basketball coach. He won 175 games as Auburn’s head football coach and served on the Board of Trustees until his death. “The Man” was everything an Auburn Man could hope to be.
I was at Fort Riley, Kansas in ROTC advanced camp when he died. I felt sad that I wouldn’t meet him again. I also felt bad that he would miss what was supposed to be Doug Barfield’s breakout season as a coach and wouldn't see the upper deck of the stadium that was named after him filled the first time. Looking back I’m glad he didn’t have to witness that Tennessee game or that season.
I have gathered a few quotes from the era about Coach Jordan and an article written by David Housel the day after Coach Jordan died. You don’t have to like David Housel as an Athletic Director to appreciate the emotions in his writing about “The Man” that was Auburn football for a generation.
Phillip Marshall in 1975 on Shug’s retirement- “No matter what level of greatness it may attain, Auburn football will never be the same.”
Harry Philpott- “Coach Jordan is an example of a man who has left his mark on the lives of thousands of individuals forever. We will never know where his influence will end.”
Pat Sullivan- “Winning the Heisman trophy was the second highest honor of my life. The first was playing for Coach Jordan.”
George Wallace- “ Coach Jordan has proven himself a winner not only in the field of athletics but also in the hearts and minds of millions of people who have come to recognize him as Mr. Auburn Football.”
Bobby Dodd- “Shug Jordan has always been one of my favorite people in the coaching profession. He has contributed so much with dignity, his handling of his players, his policy of never alibiing in defeat, and his graciousness in victory. All of us at Georgia Tech have the greatest affection for Coach Jordan.”
Gerald R. Ford-“Nearly all successful football coaches enjoy great popular support, but I can think of no one who is more admired than you.”
And two from Coach Jordan himself:
“Always remember… Goliath was a 40 point favorite over little David”
“Don’t wait to be a great man, be a great boy” Shug credited the director at the Selma YMCA in his childhood with this thought but he used it often.
From the Desk of David Housel
Losing a Friend ---------AUBURN-It was my great pleasure to know and love Coach Jordan. And to know that he knew and loved me. "Pleasure" is not the right word, but I'm not sure what the right word is. Maybe "privilege." Certainly "honor." Most people knew him as a football coach. I knew him as a man, a totally wonderful, beautiful man. It was written when he retired in 1975 that Auburn had lost a patriot. The same could be said today. Auburn has indeed lost a patriot. And many of us have lost a friend.
I went to see him often through the final weeks. He was always the same. That was one of the beautiful things about Coach Jordan. He was always so sincere, so genuine, so open, so honest, so thoughtful, so kind: Never a day went by that he did not ask about my mother who is recovering from a stroke, and he always asked about the little boy from Gordo, the boy he had called once, just to encourage him to fight the good fight in his personal battle against cancer. The boy won his battle. Coach Jordan lost his.
Coach Jordan a loser? How can it ever be said that he lost in the things that really mattered, things like love, loyalty, integrity and courage. Courage. We must not leave that one out. Above all Coach Jordan was a courageous man. He was a people-person. He cared deeply about his fellow man and he believed in Auburn because the Auburn he knew and loved-the Auburn he sought to preserve- cared about people, too.
Ralph Jordan was not without his faults and shortcomings. He was, after all, human. He was said to be stubborn, and he was not afraid to use his power within the bounds of honor. People might disagree with his position, but they could not question his dedication and commitment. I know of no man who had more trust and more faith, more love for a school and its people, than he had for Auburn and Auburn people. The betterment of Auburn-that was the hallmark of Coach Jordan's life. It was the thing he worked for and lived for. Everything he did was, in some way, directed toward that ultimate goal-the betterment of Auburn.
His deeds can't be numbered. Many were never mentioned, but I think he would like to be remembered in that way, in that short, simple way: "Shug Jordan-he worked for the betterment of Auburn." It would be a fitting remembrance.
Coach Jordan .... So many memories, so many images come vividly to mind:
-the 1977 pep rally when he quietly and effectively admonished Auburn students for leaving a game early by saying simply, "Auburn people don't do that..."
-the jaw set and tilted upward toward the moonlight as the final seconds ticked off the clock in h is last game against Alabama.
-the way he said, "Good God a-mighty" when something went wrong on the field.
- the sheer utter joy he showed in the dressing room after Auburn beat Georgia 35-20 in 1971 and earned a Sugar Bowl bid. He stuck his tongue out, rolled his eyes back and shook his head back and forth like a little kid. A piece of hedge was tucked behind his ear.
-his glistening eyes as he embraced Wade Whatley at midfield after the Gator Bowl in 1972. Whatley-the substitute quarterback who had come out of nowhere to lead Auburn to one of its sweetest victories ever. Colorado was the opponent.
-planting the pecan trees in 1953, a sign that he and Mrs. Jordan planned to be in Auburn a long time. Those trees are still there, like his influence, growing largestrong.
-the faded old beige athletic department jacket he wore for good luck throughout the 1971 season. It worked every game but one. -the bright orange sweater that became a Jordan trademark.
-the quiet voice, the Selma accent, that always marked his gentlemanness.
-his dedication to Auburn, his commitment and great love that expressed itself every day in every way.
-that faraway look that would come to his eyes and the smile that would creepgently across his lips when he talked about the old days in Selma and Auburn.
-the deep chuckle that came so freely and so often.
-the way he said, "You're so right, Carl," "Down through the years," and "Selma, Queen City of the Blackbelt." There was always a slight pause between Selma and therest of the phrase, "Queen City of the Blackbelt."
-the way he said, "We're going to Atlanta with only one thought in mind ...Beat hell out of Georgia Tech."
-his Seven D's of Success: Discipline, Desire to excel, Determination, Dedication, Dependability, Desperation and the final one, when all else failed, "Damn it anyway.do something ..."
The record will show that he won 175 football games-176 if a forfeit with Mississippi State is counted- but that is an incomplete record. A record, no matter how great that record may be, is incapable of measuring and remembering a man. It is a poor substitute.
At this moment I see his life as I have known it flash before my eyes-a man at the height of his power, a man entering retirement and a man facing old age. A strong and faithful man facing death. I will remember his love, his loyalty, his compassion. In a word, his kindness. That and his sternness. An Atlanta writer once said talking to Coach Jordan was like talking to your father. How true. A father-that is what I and countless others have lost today.We loved him. And it will mean so much-Down Through the Years-to know that he returned that love.
David Housel The Birmingham News July 18, 1980
