Jordan Diaz Signs with Bethel University

This past Wednesday morning, ACP athletics had another first. Jordan Diaz became the first-ever ACP football player to sign a letter of intent with a college football program, joining an elite group of ACP athletes to sign at the college level. Jordan will be attending Bethel University, a Division III school up in Arden Hills, Minnesota. The town is located about 10 miles northeast of Minneapolis, and the weather, as of writing, is a comfy 15 degrees and sunny.

Jordan was a defensive leader of ACP’s inaugural football season, starting every game at the cornerback position. It was a successful season for Jordan, especially when you consider this was his only year playing high school football. The corner recorded three interceptions over the course of the season, including one against Scottsdale Prep in the Knights’ first win. His biggest game of the year came at home against Antelope where he made nine tackles to go along with one interception in a nail-biting 39-28 loss. On his senior season, Jordan had to say the following:

“It was a successful season. I had five takeaways, a lot of tackles, and it put me in a position to go play in college. What led to that success was coaching, all the time that they’ve put into us during the season, summer, spring.” He also cited time in the film room and weight room as keys to his success.

Off the football field, the senior has accumulated several accolades. Jordan swam for two years before playing football and has lettered in golf for each year of his high school career as well. Academically, Jordan stands out as one of ACP’s five National Hispanic Scholars, leading to a hefty academic scholarship from Bethel.

“Off the field, [I’m proud] of being a National Hispanic Scholar, for sure. It’s a really big deal; my sister got it, then I got it. Being at the elite level of hispanic juniors at the time, that’s big. And then, scoring high on my ACT, that was exciting.”

Jordan’s route to college football was a bit different from most.

“Bethel heard about me through Coach Blue. I think the recruiting coach reached out to Coach Blue and asked if he had anybody. Coach said I was a senior who would be eligible to play next year, and he was really confident in my abilities.”

All of this communication occurred before the football season even began, showing Coach Blueford’s faith in his senior cornerback.

“The Bethel coach reached out to me and said they wanted to have me come out and see their program some time. They’d been following up with me throughout the season asking how I was doing… I don’t know if they ever saw any film on me. In November I checked out the school… and mostly for my grades they said they really wanted me to go there. I ended up deciding that’s where I wanted to be.”

Congratulations to Jordan on this achievement; for now, he takes his focus to the golf course for his final season of Varsity Golf.