The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
All signs point to positive change for the Jordan football program in 2025.
The Panthers will take the field under the leadership of first-year head coach Alfred Rowe, debuting Jordan’s brand-new, state-of-the-art stadium. A Long Beach Poly alum, Rowe has made several coaching stops throughout the Moore League and now looks to settle in and build something lasting on the Northside.
“I’m trying to make the Northside relevant and I’m trying to bring that pride back,” Rowe said. “That’s the tone that’s going to be set. We’re trying to make our games events and we have a lot of things set up this year for the stadium. The best way to put it is that I’m just trying to create a sustainable program where everybody from the north side stays on the north and goes to Jordan to win championships.”
Jordan’s new stadium is part of a campus-wide remodel totaling more than $373 million at the school that first opened in 1934. The upgraded facility will seat 3,300 spectators and feature new lighting, a digital scoreboard and video board, and a striking blue artificial turf field—replacing the dirt and grass field of years past. (Click here for more information and renderings of the new stadium.)
The Panthers are set to begin practicing on their new field in early August and will make their stadium debut on Aug. 29 against Crenshaw. Jordan will then travel to La Canada for their second game of the season, before hosting Bell Gardens, Long Beach Poly, and Charter Oak in consecutive weeks.
“The goal is to try to be the first state champion in the city of Long Beach in the modern era,” Rowe said. “I talked to some people and did some research to figure out where we are talent wise and skill wise, so these first three (non-league) games are teams we will see if we do make the playoffs. So I’m setting us up to be a state champion and I think we got a chance to go to the playoffs.”
Jordan will begin the rest of its Moore League slate starting with a matchup against Millikan on Oct. 3. The Panthers will host another key matchup against Lakewood the following week—part of five consecutive home games at the new stadium. The Panthers will be at Compton and Wilson in the following weeks and finish their season at home against Cabrillo on Oct. 30.
“We just have to do what we’re coached to do,” Rowe said of the regular season slate. “We can’t control Lakewood. We can’t control Wilson. We can’t control Poly. The only thing we can do is control is us. We’ve been hitting it hard this off-season since the second week I got hired, and we can only control what we can control. If we go out there and execute what we’re supposed to do then we’ll come out of this thing how it was planned.”
The Panthers are looking to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2023. They’ll need to finish in any of the top four Moore League spots to claim an automatic bid into the playoffs, or else they’ll need an at-large bid.
“We’re going to get tested and we have to figure out who we are,” Rowe said. “Those final three games are going to be win and you get in. We can’t afford to lose any of those games depending on how our record falls. We gotta win those last three games and we’re in, but like I set it up for us to be a successful program for year one and we’re going to be facing a lot of teams that we’re equally matched with.”
2025 Jordan Football Schedule
8/29 – vs. Crenshaw
9/5 – at La Canada
9/12 – vs. Bell Gardens
9/19 – vs. Long Beach Poly*
9/26 – vs. Charter Oak
10/3 – vs. Millikan*
10/10 – vs. Lakewood*
10/18 – at Compton*
10/24 – at Wilson*
10/30 – vs. Cabrillo*
* = Moore League game
