Jordan Luallen is a 3 year starter for the 5A Center Grove Trojans. He has his senior year in front of him and his team finished the regular season atop the 5A rankings. The Trojans were beaten by Columbus North in the Indiana high school playoffs in 2007. The Indiana Gridiron Digest sought an invitation to learn more about Jordan on his home turf. He and his family graciously allowed me to come and visit with him. I talked to Jordan about his high school career, his upcoming senior season and his future college aspirations.
Jordan, along with several other players, has found his playing performances scrutinized on the Indiana Gridiron Digest forum. I always find it remarkable how others will judge a young athlete’s ability based upon their preconceived ideas of the stereotypical high school athlete’s performance and ability. Jordan is the youngest in his family with two older sisters. They were present during the interview and have strong opinions about the online evaluations of Jordan’s talent and abilities offered up by gridiron digest posters during the 2007 season. Jordan’s oldest sister tried to bargain with me. She would like to have the identity of some posters and where they live. It was clear she was unappreciative of some of the posts.
Luallen is Defined By His Faith
On a cold, rainy winter night I walked into Jordan Luallen’s home, not too far from Center Grove high school. I sat down and talked for 3 hours to five people who were watching the Chicago Bears game, while making sure I wasn’t writing down any forbidden knowledge. Jordan has a heart for people. He is a Christian who goes to church and has gone on mission trips with his youth group. The last trip involved working on an Indian reservation with Native American children and helping with odd jobs in the homes. That doesn’t make him a saint nor did I ever detect a holier than thou attitude, but his faith is a large part of who he is.
Jordan is very competitive and this comes across immediately. His roots go back to AAU basketball. He loved the game, but the intense pressure and commitment of playing AAU wasn’t as satisfying as youth football and the success he had with it. He will tell you that he and his fellow juniors (soon to be seniors) have grown up together desiring to be state football champions at Center Grove. They were poised for a championship run in 2007, but were denied by Columbus North in the regional championship. This was the first area I explored in my conversation with Jordan. It was obvious that they felt they had come up short in 2007, and I wanted to know what they would do differently in 2008. His answer was, “hopefully, stay healthy.”
The rash of injuries to the 2007 Center Grove team is well documented and discussed on the Gridiron Digest forum. Those searching for answers gave a myriad of reasons ranging from too much weight room to not enough weight room. Several had complained that the Trojan turf was unusually hard compared to other field turf fields in the MIC. But many times the simplest answer is the truth - just a rash of more injuries than were expected. Like the 2007 Colts who are beaten up and battered, the Center Grove football team suffered injuries in 2007 at the worst time. But you still play the game and (as Luallen is quick to point out) hopefully the injury bug won’t bite as hard in 2008. In the meantime, the team has already started winter workouts and, according to Luallen, they are attacking them with a vengeance. “Ever since we were small kids playing together, it has been our dream to win the state championships in football…we are working toward that goal right now,” he stated emphatically.
Confidence is Sometimes Hard to Grasp
I asked him if it bothered him that his abilities and performance gets questioned on a public forum like The Indiana Gridiron Digest. “Sure it is hard to read that somebody doesn’t think you’re really good and it bothers you. But then you get that ‘I’ll show them attitude,’” he responded. We talked about confidence and how hard it is to find, but so important to success. Athletes can sense it from coaches, teammates and family members. “Starting as a freshman, you hear the coaches talking to one another questioning their decision to play you or having a bad game,” He stated. “Then you hear people in the stands call you names, or question your ability. Then you read on the forum that you’re not as good as reported. But all that started to go away when I attended my first national combine, and the people in charge suddenly saw me along side the best in America and I was holding my own.” Luallen emphasized that confidence comes in hard work.
The real breakthrough for Jordan came when he was invited to the University of Georgia for camp and was evaluated by Quarterback Coach and Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo. They were impressed with Jordan’s foot speed. Coach Bobo is looking for a different type of quarterback that he describes this way, “a Dual-Threat Quarterback.” This is a new breed that can run and throw. The U of G staff commented that Luallen is that kind of “Dual –Threat” quarterback. “His greatest asset is not his arm, but his legs. Luallen was a state qualifier in the hurdles and track makes him a proven quantity. The U of G staff said, “we are not worried about his speed or strength, he tested out as one of the strongest quarterbacks in the country and that is on record.” The Georgia staff has never been to Indiana, but plans on making a trip to Indiana in 2008. I asked him about staying in Indiana. He said he hasn’t made up his mind and that playing for Bill Lynch would also be in the realm of possibility.
Limits of the Moorish Wing-T
You get the immediate understanding that Luallen would pass if he was asked to pass. Other coaches have said that arm strength and accuracy isn’t a weakness of Jordan Luallen. But he lives in the world of traditional wing-t football. He doesn’t mind at all because he understands the offense and its inherent strengths and perceived weaknesses. The whole passing system of wing-t football is based upon play-action and deception. It is no secret that Center Grove is going to run the ball. Not once in the 3 hours did he, his parents or sisters complain that the offense doesn’t suit Jordan’s talents (not that I didn’t give them plenty of opportunity to gripe and complain). Luallen’s focus was simplistic. “Whatever it takes to win the state championship in 2008, that is what I will focus on,” he spoke softly. “Yeah, yeah,” I said, “name me a quarterback that wouldn’t rather put the ball up?” He just sat at the table eating his bananas foster shaking his head. He is not the gunslinger type. He is the prototype of the new breed of quarterback D1 schools are looking for these days.
Track is Spring Football in Indiana…at least at Center Grove
We had talked about how AAU basketball had not been fun for him. So how could track be fun? His idea is that track is what you do in order to get ready for football. Jordan runs the 110m hurdles, 300m hurdles and the 4 by 4 100m relay. He was a state finalist hurdler. Here is where I don’t understand the forum’s viewpoint on Jordan Luallen. Very few football players are recruited at the D1 level who are not multisport athletes. Luallen has the most important quality that every college coach looks for, he is an athlete, not just a football player. As we write about more players across the state of Indiana, I highly suspect that this will be the case. Not too many players will be specialists in just football.
Future in Football? Be the next Kirk Herbstreit!
Whatever college he chooses, he plans on making his major in radio and telecommunications. He has set his site on Kirk Herbstreit’s job. I told him if success comes his way, could we expect the “Luallen Classic” in Indiana? He promised he would think about it. What I gauge in the multitude of high school athletes I have talked to is if they have their feet grounded in reality. Jordan Luallen seems to have his feet planted in the reality that college is a means to get an education. Whether he stays in Indiana or goes out of state, he is focused on getting a college degree. “I may never start a down for at the college level in the SEC or The Big Ten, but I am there first to get an education.” He spoke confidently. There will be days I am sure he will be tested, but his desire to play big time college ball resides in his heart. The door of opportunity will be opened to him, but first his goal as well as the senior football players at Center Grove is fairly simple, be the first 5A state football champions crowned in a new venue in the fall of 2008.
By Tim Adams
The Indiana Gridiron Digest
The Indiana Football Digest
