The Galveston County Daily News

LA MARQUE — When Darrell Jordan first arrived in La Marque in April 2008, the high school’s new head football coach said he planned to retire a Cougar. Less than two years later, questions are beginning to surface as to whether Jordan will get that chance.

The Cougars are mired in their second straight losing season. If they fail to win Friday night at Friendswood, La Marque also will miss the playoffs for the second straight year. That hasn’t happened since 1988-89.

With the team failing to live up to the program’s lofty expectations, Jordan admits his job security is tenuous. La Marque Independent School District Superintendent Ecomet Burley confirms Jordan’s performance will be evaluated following the season.

Making matters even tougher, fan frustration is boiling over. Crowds at Etheredge Stadium are becoming smaller and boos are getting louder.

“It comes with the territory,” Jordan said in a candid interview with The Daily News on Tuesday. “There are the fans and the people that want to voice their opinion, which is fine. I don’t take it personally.”

Jordan came to La Marque from Dallas Kimball, where he won six district titles in seven seasons. He took over a Cougar squad that had won a state championship in 2006 but struggled the next season before getting bounced in the second round of the playoffs under the direction of then-head coach Chris Jones.

Jordan’s hire seemed to re-energize a community that had grown tired of Jones after just one season. Now, Jordan is starting to feel the same heat his predecessor felt before he bolted out of town.

“I knew what I was getting into when I accepted the position,” Jordan said. “People called and gave me words of wisdom for coaching here. But you want to coach at a place where football is important. Football is important to this community, and it’s important to me. It’s what I do for a living.

“Rome wasn’t built overnight. No good football programs were built overnight. Will I make excuses? No. Are we young? Yes we are. But people don’t want to hear that. They want results and the wins haven’t come this year. But we are so close. We are so close.”

How long will Jordan be given a chance to turn the program around? Burley could not guarantee Jordan would remain the Cougar coach, citing the need to make an evaluation after the season.

“It’s not fair to evaluate a coach before the season is over,” Burley said. “I’m going to wait and assess the situation after the season. Then, Coach and I will sit down and talk candidly about the season and the direction of the program.

“(Jordan) doesn’t make excuses. He’ll tell you up front that he didn’t get the job done if that is the case. That’s what I like about him. He won’t pass the blame, and he’ll take responsibility.”

Jordan was Burley’s second hire as football coach since he took over the superintendent role in 2006.

Burley said Jordan has accomplished several goals since being hired. For one, Jordan has kept the team competitive this season despite several “gut-wrenching” losses.

He also credited Jordan for making the football players participate in track in the spring. Not only did it help the track team become relevant this past year, but also it has helped the speed of the players during football season, Burley said.

Most importantly though, Burley said the team’s academics and sportsmanship have improved under Jordan’s watch.

“One of the things I wanted him to focus on was the discipline of the kids,” Burley said. “I’ve seen a lot of examples where he has done that. He gets the players to line up and shake hands after a game. He gets them lined up for the school song.

“We want our kids to be good athletically. But we also want them to be good academically and have good sportsmanship, and I am pleased with the work he has done in those areas.”

Jordan said he knows he was hired to win football games. However, he also said the final results aren’t always seen on the scoreboard following a game.

“Football is important, but the bottom line is walking across that stage and getting a degree,” Jordan said. “I want these kids to go out in the community and public being able to represent themselves well. Being able to speak properly. Being able to add and subtract. Not many people in a job interview are going to ask where you played football. They want to know if you have a high school degree.”

That said, Burley did admit that the head coach of the football program should also win football games while molding the future residents of La Marque. He specifically pointed to problems with the Cougars’ defense this year as a big reason for the team’s struggles.

He said the coaching staff must do some serious evaluations in the offseason to make sure the players are in the correct positions to take advantage of their strengths.

“From a coaching standpoint, we have to learn how to defense the spread offense,” Burley said. “It’s not for lack of athletic skills that we are struggling on defense right now.”

Burley doesn’t want to rush to judgment just because La Marque is 7-11 with Jordan on the sidelines. Burley said he has been talking with several “football consultants” in order to make the best decision for the program.

“They’ve all told me, to be fair, you should evaluate a coach after the third year and going into the fourth year,” Burley said. “That’s when it’s fair to make judgments. There have been a lot of things that have played into the type of season we’ve had. I’m going to be objective when I evaluate the situation at the end of the season and keep emotions out of it.”

Jordan said he expects to be given one more year to prove he can make the Cougars into a state power in football once again.

“This season has been like a roller-coaster ride,” Jordan said. “It’s been frustrating because we are so close, yet so far away. My heart feels for the kids, because they work so hard, and we just aren’t getting those Ws.

“Ultimately, it’s the superintendent’s decision. But I think I will be back. There is still a lot of unfinished business, and we are going to fight until we have accomplished that.”

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Playoff Scenario

To avoid missing the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time in two decades, La Marque must win at Friendswood on Friday and home for some help.

The Cougars also need Santa Fe to lose to Dawson and Manvel to lose to Angleton.

Under that scenario, La Marque would then clinch the final playoff spot based on a head-to-head win over Santa Fe, or a three-way tie won on point differential between La Marque, Texas City and Santa Fe.