Citadel baseball coach retires after 26 seasons

Fred Jordan, baseball coach at The Citadel for the past 26 years, announced his retirement Thursday, after compiling a 831-708 (.540) record.

"I have been blessed to serve nearly three decades at my alma mater," Coach Jordan said in a statement. "This was a difficult decision, but I will cherish the time spent and relationships developed at The Citadel forever. My greatest satisfaction has not been championships or wins but the impact on young people's lives that they acknowledge when they come back or reach out during difficult, exciting or significant times."

Jordan, whose 831 career wins include 399 victories in conference play, is the Southern Conference's all-time wins leader by a large margin and also holds the record for most SoCon wins in a career. Jordan leaves the Southern Conference with 190 more wins than fellow Bulldog skipper Chal Port, who is second on the all-time wins list with 641, and 96 more SoCon wins than Rodney Hennon, who won 303 conference games at Western Carolina and Georgia Southern to rank second in conference wins.

The Citadel won 40 or more games in a season two times under Jordan's leadership, including a 43-win season in 2010 that is second only to the 1990 College World Series team on the program's all-time list, and topped 30 wins in 18 seasons. The Bulldogs made seven NCAA Tournament appearances with Jordan at the helm.

Jordan led the Bulldogs to five Southern Conference championships and seven Southern Conference Tournament titles. He was a four-time Southern Conference Coach of the Year.

A 1979 graduate of The Citadel and standout pitcher, Jordan helped the Bulldogs win a SoCon title his senior season. He then embarked on a 12-year career as a high school coach where he compiled a record of 226-87 (.722) before returning to his alma mater.

"I am appreciative of Coach Jordan's leadership of our baseball program," The Citadel Athletic Director Jim Senter said. "He helped build one of the premier programs in the Southern Conference and sustained that success for more than a quarter of a century. Coach Jordan is one of the best leaders of young men in the country, and we are proud that he led our program with dignity and respect. We will start our search for The Citadel's next head baseball coach immediately."

This story was originally published May 25, 2017 at 9:50 AM with the headline "Citadel baseball coach retires after 26 seasons."