LOS ANGELES — USC running back Waymond Jordan was about to be looking up at the biggest crowd he’d ever seen from field level.
His position coach, Anthony Jones Jr., employed his tried-and-true technique and talked with his players about anything but football before the Trojans’ season opener against Missouri State on Aug. 30.
“There’s no sense in making them nervous,” Jones said. “You want to keep them as calm as possible and if you can get a smile out of him or anybody else, if they feel comfortable and relaxed, they’re going to perform at the highest level.”
Still, Jordan’s first sight of a full Coliseum made him emotional. He recognized his father in the crowd. His first game as USC’s starting running back had been a long time coming.
Jordan rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown in that game and has only seen his yardage increase since. He’s currently USC’s leading rusher with elite blocking abilities to match.
“Waymond plays with unbelievable pace and, a lot of times, that’s a hidden trait for a good running back to have,” Jones said. “It’s the pace of him allowing his blocks to develop. Not just overrunning the offensive linemen’s blocks.”
Obstacles have formed in front of Jordan throughout his football career. He had no Division I offers out of high school. And yet, he’s patiently moved at his own pace from Florida to Kansas and finally to the bright lights that shine on this storied college football program.
Home is where the Hutch is
The city of Hutchinson proudly hosts the Kansas State Fair – the biggest event in the state – every year in the waning days of summer. During the other 355 days of the year, it’s home to a Smithsonian-affiliated science center, two theater organizations and a zoo.
When it comes to sports, one entity dominates in the city of 40,000 people.
“‘Hutch’ is everything to this community,” Hutchinson Community College running backs coach Greg Cross said.
Hutchinson Community College hosts the NJCAA Division I men’s basketball championship every year and has been the site of multiple NJCAA track and field championships, too. But most importantly to Jordan and his story, the Blue Dragons are the reigning national champions in football.
Jordan drove from his home in Pensacola, Florida, and made a new home in Hutchinson. Before he was the 2024 NJCAA DI Football Offensive Player of the Year, he was having serious conversations with Cross about his future in football.
“Questions that I asked him were how important is football to him and what is it like for him when he faces adversity,” Cross said. “And is being away from home going to a be a problem? Because some guys want to stay close to home or get out here and visit and are like ‘Oh, I don’t know, I’m unsure.’ For him, it was always a business trip.”
Neither grades nor character were ever an issue for Jordan, who earned his associate’s degree early. He was determined to get re-recruited, no matter how gritty the path.
For as much local support and athletic prestige that Hutchinson has, its resources don’t match its heart.
Players can’t always adjust to living in a small town. The budgets of junior colleges are a tiny fraction of four-year schools, meaning the gear is minimal and travel always includes a bus – except for that one time when the football team flew to the national semifinals.
The competition is intense. Roughly 30% of junior college student-athletes move on to a four-year program, according to NCSA College Recruiting. On top of that, they’re fighting for attention against players in the transfer portal and high school recruits.
“Being there helped me understand the meaning of patience,” Jordan told reporters in early August. “Patience really is the key to anything.”
Transitioning to the FBS
Sports agent Darren Wilson, a former junior college football player himself, discovered Jordan just over a year ago while he was at Hutchinson. At the time, Group of Five offers were beginning to trickle in.
“But Waymond, he’s a smart dude,” Wilson said. “Although he’s young, that doesn’t mean he’s dumb or quick to do anything. A lot of times in this generation, the kids want microwave results and want to do things really fast. Waymond is the exact opposite.”
More offers came. A commitment to UCF fell through after former head coach Gus Malzahn took an offensive coordinator job at Florida State. Offers came again – including the opportunity to play for six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick at North Carolina.
Jordan and Wilson managed a robust recruiting schedule all while the former was moving back to his home in Florida from Hutchinson in Kansas. USC was on the other side of the map. That didn’t stop the Trojans.
“I remember Coach Riley FaceTimed Waymond and he was geeked up about it because after the holiday, he had to go to USC,” Wilson said. “And USC wanted to make sure that they looked at Waymond as a top priority.”
Jones, the Trojans’ running backs coach, spent 30 minutes on the phone with Jordan the first time they chatted. Jordan’s film demonstrated the blocking, vision and bursts that made him a perfect fit for the Trojans’ high-power offense. It was his intellect, however, that showed he was meant to be on this team.
Jones teaches the running back position from the quarterback’s perspective. He wants his players to run the ball just as effectively as they can block for the quarterback and detect protections in the passing game.
“My running back coach at Hutch did the same thing,” Jordan said. “He made us learn all the routes, the depth and understand the spacing from the quarterback perspective so we can learn the whole aspect of the play so we can be locked in the whole time.”
Jordan has carried the ball 77 times, more than any other USC running back, and run for 537 yards at a 6.97 yards-per-carry clip. He’s also taken snaps out of the wildcat formation and has been featured in split-back formations with Eli Sanders.
Jordan maintains the point-guard mentality of his previous basketball days and is happy to share the ball, which has led to a deep bond in the running back room.
“The other person who’s on the bench at the time is the first person to go up and celebrate with them,” Jones said. “It’s kind of like a weird, strange high school relationship. When you see one, you’ll see the other. And I think that’s what you want in a running back room.”
The vision continues
Hutchinson running backs hit the sled every day, a habit that produced a knack for blocking that has followed Jordan into the FBS ranks. Dropping weight has helped him increase his explosiveness. He’s had two first-quarter fumbles this season and is working to correct that, too.
“That was just all on me,” Jordan said of the fumbles. “(I’m) working it during our competitive periods. Making sure it’s there and Coach Jones is yelling at me the whole time about ball security, ball security while I’ve got the ball so I can think about it the whole time.”
It’s more than just himself that Jordan is playing for and it’s more than just the ball that Jordan is keeping secure – he now has a newborn daughter.
“It just helps me focus even more,” Jordan said, “knowing that I got people at home counting on me. I’ve gotta lock in and just come to work every day and just keep a positive attitude and just keep working.”
The change enhances the role of the coaches who helped get him to this point. Cross has given advice on fatherhood, and Jones is glad to give life guidance in addition to football.
The two coaches and others close to him expect Jordan to keep rising. He’s used his own pace to run through the Coliseum and across the nation in big-time, Big Ten Conference games.
His hidden trait is no longer in the shadows, and Jordan has officially arrived.