"When he first started spreading the word about Waymond Jordan, Mike Bennett figured the film would speak for itself. The Escambia High coach had been in the South Florida preps scene long enough to know what he was seeing from his new running back. "Just watching him run the football for the first time, he was amazing," Bennett said. He figured scholarship offers would roll in soon enough."
"Jordan had similar expectations. Since he first picked up football, at 4 years old, he'd always told himself that he'd play at a big school, on the biggest stage. He'd come to Escambia as a senior with that in mind. But in 2021, four years before Lincoln Riley and USC would see that same star potential, other college coaches, for whatever reason, weren't paying much mind."
"Hutchinson Community College, a junior college in Hutchinson, Kan., was one of the only places to give him an opportunity. Hutchinson was a thousand miles from his hometown of Pensacola, and a world away from the major college football he thought he'd be playing. But the staff there knew Escambia well, and they believed in what they saw in Jordan's tape."
Waymond Jordan expected Division I scholarship offers after a stellar senior season at Escambia High, where he rushed for 1,225 yards and 12 touchdowns. Coaches and his high-school coach Mike Bennett circulated his film widely but few programs offered scholarships; some suggested walk-on opportunities. Hutchinson Community College in Kansas provided the lone concrete opportunity, despite being far from Jordan's Pensacola home. Jordan enrolled at Hutchinson, betting on himself to use junior college as a path to Power Four offers. Hutchinson coaches believed in his tape, and running backs coach Greg Cross said Jordan's self-belief and decision to bet on himself proved correct.
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