Joe Jordano
Joe Jordano is an American college baseball coach and former collegiate baseball player. He most recently served as head coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers baseball team. He held that position from 1998 season to 2018. Prior to his tenure at Pitt, Jordano was the head coach at Mercyhurst College. Jordano led the Lakers to unprecedented success and left as the winningest coach in Laker history. Upon his departure from Pitt, Jordano earned more wins (588) than any coach, in any sport in Pitt history. His teams re-wrote the Panther Baseball Record Books and had over 70 plus players go on to play professional baseball. Currently, Jordano is the Head Coach of the National Team/Black at the world-renowned IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.[1]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | IMG Academy |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | Erie, Pennsylvania |
| Alma mater | Westminster '85 |
| Playing career | |
| 1982–1985 | Westminster |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1988–1997 | Mercyhurst |
| 1998–2018 | Pittsburgh |
| 2019–present | IMG Academy |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 871–638–2 |
| Tournaments | ACC: 2–1 NCAA:0–0 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1996, 1997 GLIAC Champions | |
| Awards | |
| Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference
GLIAC Coach of the Year - 1996 & 1997 Big East Conference Coach of the Year - 2004 & 2013 ABCA East Region Coach of the Year - 2013 Mercyhurst College Hall of Fame 2009 Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Erie Metro Chapter 2010 National Italian American Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Chapter 2018 | |
Playing career
Jordano was a standout four year letterman and all-district at Westminster College, graduating with a degree in Speech/Communications in 1985.[1]
Coaching career
NCAA Division II member Mercyhurst hired Jordano as head coach beginning in the 1988 season, with the new coach inheriting a team that mustered just nine wins the previous year. Jordano led the Lakers to a 19–17 record in his first season, and his teams were .500 or better each of his ten seasons. The Lakers made five trips to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship and claimed a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships in amassing 283 wins against 118 losses under Jordano. At the time, Jordano was the Mercyhurst all-time leader in wins. While coaching the Lakers, Jordano earned a master's in Athletic Administration from Slippery Rock University.[1]
Following four straight NCAA regional appearances at Mercyhurst, Jordano became head coach at Pitt. Inheriting a rebuilding project in the Big East Conference that was growing stronger as it expanded, Jordano's tenure with the Panthers delivered results including national rankings, seven thirty win seasons, two Big East Coach of the Year awards. Jordano led the Panthers in the transition into the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference beginning in 2014.[2][3] On March 2, 2011, Jordano won his 403rd game at Pitt to become the school's all-time leader in wins with a 3–1 victory over Coastal Carolina.[4] The next season, Jordano claimed his 700th overall win with a 3–2 defeat of Akron.[1][5] On February 28, 2016, Jordano earned his 800th NCAA Collegiate win with a 18–5 victory over Grambling State. Coach Jordano hit another milestone with a 9–1 victory over UMass on March 3, 2018 notching his 850th win. Despite scholarship and roster limits while at Pitt, Jordano, his staff and teams built a very respectable program over his twenty one years as skipper.
Jordano resigned as the head coach of Pittsburgh on June 22, 2018.[6]
Head Coach Record
The following list Jordano's record as a head coach.[1][7]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercyhurst Lakers (Great Lakes (Division II)) (1988–1997) | |||||||||
| 1988 | Mercyhurst | 19–17 | Independent | ||||||
| 1989 | Mercyhurst | 23–10 | Independent | ECAC Tournament | |||||
| 1990 | Mercyhurst | 28–13 | Independent | ||||||
| 1991 | Mercyhurst | 28–15 | Independent | NCAA Regional | |||||
| 1992 | Mercyhurst | 18–18 | Independent | ||||||
| 1993 | Mercyhurst | 29–15 | Independent | ||||||
| 1994 | Mercyhurst | 30–8 | Independent | NCAA Regional | |||||
| 1995 | Mercyhurst | 31–7 | Independent | NCAA Regional | |||||
| 1996 | Mercyhurst | 37–8 | GLIAC | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 1997 | Mercyhurst | 40–8 | GLIAC | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| Mercyhurst: | 283–118 | ||||||||
| Pittsburgh Panthers (Big East Conference) (1998–2013) | |||||||||
| 1998 | Pittsburgh | 12–27–1 | 5–16 | 9th | |||||
| 1999 | Pittsburgh | 27–27 | 11–15 | 8th | |||||
| 2000 | Pittsburgh | 31–24 | 11–13 | 6th | Big East Tournament[lower-alpha 1] | ||||
| 2001 | Pittsburgh | 18–27 | 6–18 | 11th | |||||
| 2002 | Pittsburgh | 36–16–1 | 14–11 | 5th | |||||
| 2003 | Pittsburgh | 36–20 | 13–13 | 6th | |||||
| 2004 | Pittsburgh | 38–18 | 17–9 | 3rd | Big East Tournament[lower-alpha 2] | ||||
| 2005 | Pittsburgh | 33–22 | 15–10 | 4th | Big East Tournament[lower-alpha 3] | ||||
| 2006 | Pittsburgh | 23–29 | 10–17 | 9th | |||||
| 2007 | Pittsburgh | 27–27 | 15–11 | 4th | Big East Tournament[lower-alpha 4] | ||||
| 2008 | Pittsburgh | 19–34 | 7–19 | 11th | |||||
| 2009 | Pittsburgh | 28–21 | 13–13 | 7th | Big East Tournament[lower-alpha 5] | ||||
| 2010 | Pittsburgh | 38–18 | 18–8 | 3rd | Big East Tournament[lower-alpha 6] | ||||
| 2011 | Pittsburgh | 33–23 | 16–11 | 3rd | Big East Tournament[lower-alpha 7] | ||||
| 2012 | Pittsburgh | 28–28 | 10–17 | 8th | Big East Tournament[lower-alpha 8] | ||||
| 2013 | Pittsburgh | 42-17 | 18-6 | t-2nd | Big East Tournament | ||||
| Pittsburgh Panthers (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2014–2018) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Pittsburgh | 22-30 | 11-19 | 6th (Coastal) | |||||
| 2015 | Pittsburgh | 20-32 | 9-21 | 7th (Coastal) | |||||
| 2016 | Pittsburgh | 25-26 | 10-18 | 6th (Coastal) | |||||
| 2017 | Pittsburgh | 23-30 | 9-21 | 6th (Coastal) | |||||
| 2018 | Pittsburgh | 29-26 | 11-19 | 6th (Coastal) | ACC Tournament | ||||
| Pittsburgh: | 588–520–2 | 247–305 | |||||||
| Total: | 871–638–2 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
- 6 of the Big East's 10 teams qualified for the tournament
- 4 of the Big East's 11 teams qualified for the tournament
- 4 of the Big East's 11 teams qualified for the tournament
- 8 of the Big East's 12 teams qualified for the tournament
- 8 of the Big East's 12 teams qualified for the tournament
- 8 of the Big East's 12 teams qualified for the tournament
- 8 of the Big East's 12 teams qualified for the tournament
- 8 of the Big East's 12 teams qualified for the tournament
References
- "#30 Joe Jordano". PittsburghPanthers.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
- Brian Foley (September 21, 2011). "Pitt's Joe Jordano talks about the move to the ACC". College Baseball Daily. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
- Ray Fittipaldo (October 2, 2011). "Pitt expects non-revenue sports to benefit from ACC move". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
- "Joe Jordano Becomes Pitt Baseball's All-Time Wins Leader". Pittsburgh Panthers. March 2, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
- "Joe Jordano Notches 700th Career Win". Pittsburgh Panthers. April 18, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
- Jerry DiPaola (June 22, 2018). "Pitt announces resignation of longtime baseball coach Joe Jordano". www.triblive.com. Trib Total Media, LLC. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
- "2013 Big East Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on May 28, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.