Jordan Lesley returns to Northwest after a one-year hiatus and will enter his second season with the defensive line.
Lesley last coached at Northwest in 2010 in the same role and made an immediate impact in his first season. The Rangers led the league in rushing defense (99.6) while ranking second in turnover margin (+7) and third in total defense (310.9). Defensive end Jamontay Pilson earned All-State and All-Region accolades, the first lineman since 2008 to receive honors on both.
Lesley spent the 2007-09 and 2011 seasons at Kilgore College (Texas), coaching linebackers for two seasons, the secondary and taking over as defensive coordinator in 2011. Lesley helped lead Kilgore to the 2007 Southwest Junior College Football Conference Championship, three consecutive playoff appearances and a Top 25 ranking in total defense in both 2008 and 2009. He also coached 11 players that went on to sign at four-year schools, including 2009 First Team All-American cornerback Jimmie Anderson.
Prior to Kilgore, Lesley was a graduate assistant defensive line coach at Troy University, leading the Trojans to the 2006 Sun Belt Conference Championship and the program’s first ever bowl win over Rice in the New Orleans Bowl.
A two-year starter at tight end for Troy from 2000-04, Lesley was selected team captain his senior season. During his four-year career, the Trojans won the 2000 Southland Conference Championship and made the school’s first ever bowl appearance in 2004 against Northern Illinois in the Silicon Valley Classic. Lesley was on the Troy team that defeated Mississippi State in 2001 to notch the Trojans’ first victory over a BCS level program and also saw Troy garner the program’s first win over a ranked opponent when they defeated then 17th-ranked Missouri in 2004.
Lesley earned both his bachelor’s and master’s in sports and fitness management from Troy University in 2005 and 2007.
A native of Fulton and the son of Dale and Loretta Lesley, he currently resides in Senatobia.
