The new head coach of the MLK Cougars, Jordan Alexander. (Photo provided by Alexander)
For the newly appointed head coach of the Martin Luther King (MLK) High School football team, Jordan Alexander, becoming the new coach of a team that he played for 12 years ago, is still settling in mentally.
“A lot of the stuff I’m doing now, I would’ve never thought I’d be doing when I was in high school,” Alexander said.
“It took me to graduate high school, come back to practice, and be like ‘the guys need this’ [for me to] be able to come out and help. I feel really special about it because I have a saying that if nobody will do it, then I’ll step up and do it, and I’ll step up and be a man for my community,” he added.
On August 4, he officially took on the role and now leads the team into its upcoming season, kicking off another year for a group that has established high aspirations.
His winning contributions and dedication to the football program go back to his playing days as a Middle Linebacker for the MLK Cougars, where he contributed to the unprecedented team success that has carried over into his coaching era.
Starting as a player at Germantown High School from 2010-2013, Alexander joined the MLK Jr. football program for the fall 2013 season after the two schools merged in the aftermath of Germantown High’s closure.
That year’s MLK Jr. football team went on a historic run for the school as they won 10 games and captured the school’s first-ever Public League Class AAA Championship, after the team didn’t win a single game in the previous two years.
Alexander went on to play at Shippensburg University and then made his return to MLK Jr. as an Assistant Coach in 2015. He has now spent the last 10 years on the staff and helped to coach a team that has sustained success since its 2013 run, ultimately establishing a winning standard and a competitive program that has redefined MLK High football.
Aside from his success as a player, he’s also been a part of a title run during his time as an assistant coach for the team, as they captured another Public League Championship in 2019.
Despite falling short, the Cougars have made it to the Public League Championship the last two seasons in an effort to get back to the highest pinnacle of the conference.
With this standard of success that has been ingrained into the program over the past decade, Alexander has seen firsthand how the program’s reputation has reached new heights.
“It really has grown from where it was. King was a laughing stock and was just like anybody on the schedule; looked at King and thought nothing of King,” Alexander said. “So right now, you got to think something of King; you never know what we got year by year, and we’re a tough squad.”
Before the last 12 years of consistent success, the MLK Jr. Cougars had only played in the championship game one time, which was in 1989, when they squared off against George Washington High School.
With the consistent trips to the public league playoffs, growing accustomed to semi-final and championship games, Coach Alexander strives to maintain this environment in his new role.
“I really want to build a winning culture here to the point where everyone understands that it is a winning culture,” Alexander said.
Aside from wins and losses, getting his players prepared for a life as a student and athlete in college and helping them find a pathway into higher education is another priority for Alexander, mentioning how “Over the last 12 years, we sent a lot of kids to college.”
“We got about 12 guys playing college football right now,” Alexander added. “For them to go to college and not having to pay a lot of money, and for them to get there and change their lives and lifestyle, would be huge for me.”
Instilling that drive of preparation for the next level is vital in his approach and will continue to be a central pillar of his coaching philosophy.
“The biggest thing is holding players accountable to what that standard is,” Alexander stated. “That college standard is you can’t miss practice, you got to do the little things right, you got to be detailed, you got to be together with your teammates, you got to be tough, and you got to be understanding.”
He hopes to set a blueprint for his players to make an impact throughout the community and stay close with MLK’s football program even after their playing days.
“If guys come back after college, they can come and help coach,” Alexander said. “My biggest goal is to build a winning culture and to build guys to be outstanding men in the community who are able to give back when they can.”
Former MLK Cougar who played Defensive Back on the team from 2016 to 2019, Tyrell Mims, was one of those players who came back and helped occasionally, often leading strength and conditioning workouts for the team.
Mims played a vital role on the squad before attending Villanova University on an athletic scholarship. Firsthand, he witnessed the standard that was developed within the program, mentioning how Alexander was a key piece to that.
“Coach Jordan used to pick me up from my house every day at 4:00 a.m. to go to the gym; school started at like 7:00 a.m.…” Mims said. “The work ethic and mindset that he instilled in me since a kid, I’ll forever be grateful for, I stay close to people like that [who] challenge me.”
He deeply noticed that in his playing days, what was instilled was meant to be bigger than just football, saying that “Overall, they taught us how to be young men that were prepared to go into the world.”
The Cougars’ next game is at home (6100 Stenton Ave) on Friday, August 29, at 7:00 p.m. vs. Allentown’s William Allen High School. To keep up with the action during their season, visit their MaxPreps profile.