Paul Jordan, Hall of Fame football coach from South Burlington, dies

Paul Jordan, one of the most revered high school football coaches in Vermont history who built the South Burlington program from scratch and into a championship powerhouse in the 1970s and 1980s, with dogged preparation and high character standards, died last week. He was 89.

Jordan, who guided South Burlington to more than 100 victories and five state titles between 1969 and 1988, and is a member of the Vermont Principals' Association Hall of Fame, is survived by three sons, Gregg, Glenn and Garry, and their families, including eight grandchildren. According his obituary, Jordan suffered from congestive heart failure and cancer.

Family and friends were able to pay visit to Jordan during hospice care, according to son Glenn Jordan.

"He got to say goodbye to people closest to him," Glenn Jordan said.

Jordan's wife, Barbara, who was also an instrumental coach at South Burlington and later a decorated Masters track and field athlete, died in 2020 after a long bout with breast cancer. The Jordans' arrival in Vermont in 1969 helped South Burlington create a culture of excellence it still lives by today through its school motto: "Building a proud tradition."

"They came to South Burlington at the right time," said Jack Leggett, who played for Paul Jordan before becoming one of the most successful NCAA baseball coaches with stops at the University of Vermont, Western Carolina and Clemson, where he led the Tigers to six College World Series appearances.

Leggett said he still refers to Jordan as his coach.

"One of the greatest people I've ever met," Leggett said. "He changed a lot of lives in South Burlington, at the high school, and he changed a lot of lives of everyone he touched along the way.

"He came into the world and made it better and not everybody can say that."

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Rick Farnham was hired as one of the assistant coaches on Jordan's first staff in 1969. Under Jordan, South Burlington went from a one-win campaign in 1968 to a 4-4 record in his first turn as head coach. The next two seasons, South Burlington went unbeaten and seized back-to-back Division II titles.

"He instilled a different mentality: you play, you prepare and you go about your business to being successful," said Farnham, the former UVM athletic director. "It was an instillment of an attitude. You can work to be the best you can be regardless of the talent that you have.

"My feeling, that was the key to his success."

Jordan, who also coached South Burlington softball for 15 years, was proud of his no-cut policy for his teams. All athletes found a role, either as a player or team manager.

"It was not just about winning. It was about doing things the right way, teaching the right values and seeing the positiveness in every single kid," Farnham said.

Glenn Jordan agreed. All three brothers played for their father at South Burlington.

"It’s the education part that was important to him," said Glenn Jordan, who graduated from South Burlington in 1981.

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Born on May 23, 1934 in Ellsworth, Maine, Paul Jordan was a star in baseball and football and attended Springfield College, where his playing career was cut short due to injury in his junior year. Jordan also served as a United States Naval Reserve officer and earned his master's degree in 1960.

Jordan began his working career at an upstate New York school in 1960, employed as a physical educator, baseball and football coach and athletic director before landing in South Burlington in 1969.

In his 19 seasons, Jordan's South Burlington football program went 117-41-1 and claimed five state titles (1970, 1971, 1974, 1979, 1982) with a pair of runner-up finishes. He also coached Vermont to victory in the 1977 Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl. After retirement from South Burlington, Jordan coached the offensive line at Middlebury College for four years.

"I’ve been around athletics for 40 years as a coach, I run into a lot of really good coaches and he’s always stood out as one of the most genuine, hard-working and smart coaches I’ve ever come across," Leggett said. "He always had your back. He was always a voice of reason and he was a good motivator. He had an ability to make you believe."

When he retired from coaching South Burlington football in November 1988, Jordan told the Burlington Free Press he wanted to be a "positive influence" on his players' lives.

"It's hard to know if you really do have an effect until you see a youngster you coached come up to you in a nice suit with a new family and a good job," Jordan said to the Free Press. "It's warming to see that and think that maybe, in a small way, I helped."

In Jordan's obituary, his family expressed gratitude to the staff and volunteers at the UVM Medical Center and McClure Miller Respite House for their comfort and care in Jordan's final days. A memorial service is tentatively scheduled for early next month, according to the obituary.

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Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: VT H.S. football: Former South Burlington coach Paul Jordan dies