Payton Jordan (2005) - USC Athletics Hall of Fame

Payton Jordan

Induction:
2005
Class:
1939

Payton Jordan, who was perhaps USC’s greatest college coaching export, was a sprinter on Troy’s 1937-38-39 NCAA championship teams. He co-captained the 1939 squad. He ran a leg on USC’s 440-yard relay team that set a world record (40.5) at the West Coast Relays in 1938. He also played football and rugby at USC. After 4 years in the Navy, he went on to be the head track and field coach at Redlands High, Occidental (winning league titles in each of his 10 years there, the NAIA crown in 1956 and twice placing in the Top 5 in the NCAA meet) and Stanford (1957-79). He also coached freshman football at Occidental. He is a member of the Occidental, Stanford, NAIA, Mt. SAC Relays and U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Athletic Halls of Fame, as well as the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. He was the head coach of the U.S. team that won a record 24 medals in the 1968 Olympics. He then became one of the most outstanding senior track athletes of all time (he was an inaugural member of the USA Track & Field Masters Hall of Fame in 1997 and is also in the National Senior Games Association Hall of Fame). He set world records in the 100- and 200-meter dash for every age group from 55 to 80. He died at age 91 on Feb. 5, 2009.