The summer of 2003 was a turbulent time for Jordan football after head coach Willie Guillory was fired because of a passing league fight with Cabrillo. The Panthers then suffered through a forgettable season under an interim coach, but help was on the way.
Scott Meyer took over the Jordan football program in 2004 and got the Panthers to the CIF playoffs 2008. Jordan also upset Lakewood that year, and Meyer has been thinking back on his time in J-Town all week with the Panthers coming to Lakewood to face his Lancers.
Question: Does preparing for Jordan this week have you reminiscing about your time in J-Town?
Answer: It does. Someone showed me a picture the other day of our game at Jordan when we played Lakewood so yeah it does bring back those memories and there were some good times over there for sure.
Q: How did you end up getting that head coaching job?
A: I had been coaching as an assistant in Long Beach since 1990 and working in the financial services industry and finally realized I wanted to teach and (coach football) full time. I was about half way done with my teaching credential when the Jordan job opened up. I applied for it. I was lucky back then the LBUSD would still hire you on an intern credential while I was in a program. Got hired in February 2004 as a social studies teacher and then finished my credential in the next year or so at Long Beach State while I was teaching and coaching at Jordan.
Q: Why did you want to take over the Jordan football during such a tumultuous time?
A: I’ve always felt like there’s talent in that area. It’s about building a solid program with structure and discipline that gets to the playoffs.
Q: You didn’t want to wait for a job at one of the bigger schools?
A: I was an assistant coach for 13 years so I felt like I was ready. To get into LBUSD and teach at a place where I knew there’d be talent… I knew there’d be work to do. But it just seemed like the right time.
Q: Do you remember some of the players on those first Panthers squads that helped you get the team headed in the right direction?
A: Morgan Rosborough was a big offensive tackle who ended up going to the University Of Washington. Jessie Fagan was a tight end and defensive end and I think he went to Washington State. The brothers Preston and Malu Sala. It was a pretty good crew.
Q: Did you get it going quickly?
A: It took us a few years, and I remember having some really close games in league that could have gone either way. I should have found a way to get those guys into the playoffs but I was young and dumb.
Q: So the first year in the playoffs was 2008?
A: Yup. Went 7-3 and got Mater Dei in the first round of the playoffs. On defense we had Princeton Fuimaono who went to Washington as a linebacker with Tani Maka, who had Pac-12 offers and went to Vegas. Then John Timu in the secondary… we were so talented we kept it pretty simple. We just let those guys run around and play and it was a fun group to coach.
Q: You guys ran so much Cover 2 that season after it got famous with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A: We had that and about four blitzes. There was one game were I stared bringing the pressure a little bit and the players were yelling, “Just run Tampa 2!” They were so comfortable with the defense. Back then 4-3 Cover 2 with some blitzes was a pretty solid defense.
Q: Do you have a favorite game you coached at Jordan?
A: Definitely beating Lakewood in 2008. They were really, really good, and went on to play Poly in the semis. We almost scored three touchdowns on defense. It was a great night. It was packed.
Q: We’re you surprised to pull off an upset like that?
A: We had thrown with them in the summer and we had a pretty good day. I remember telling our guys, “Remember this day when they come to Jordan because we can get them.” Not every year, but there’s been a lot of games against some pretty good teams that I’ve gone into, and I just had a feeling. A really deep down confident feeling that things were going to turn out really well. That was one of those games. I don’t know why. I just remember that Friday feeling so confident in our guys. I was a real calm feeling.
Watch the Jordan win over Lakewood in 2008
LB Jordan vs Lakewood, Moore League Football
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