Cornell University Athletics

Jordan Stevens '15 was promoted to the Mario St. George Boiardi '04 Associate Head Coach in the spring of 2020 after four seasons on the Big Red sidelines following a successful playing career. Since joining the Cornell men's lacrosse staff as assistant coach and defensive coordinator in July 2016, Stevens has continually taken on more roles within the staff. Following the 2017 season, he was promoted to the first assistant coach position and took over as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

Stevens' 2023 defense ranked in the top-15 nationally in caused turnovers per game and sat at sixth nationally in groundballs per game. The Big Red's defense held 10 of the 15 opponents to below their season average in goals scored, including holding three opponents to their fewest goals all year. The season marked Gavin Adler's final year in college lacrosse, a five-year student under Stevens. Adler's senior season was his most decorated. He was a Tewaaraton nominee, named the USILA William C. Schmeisser Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous selection to the USILA, Inside Lacrosse, and USA Lacrosse Magazine's All American first-teams, the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, and a unanimous selection to the All-Ivy first-team. Stevens not only developed Adler at the collegiate level, but helped prepare him for the pros, as Adler became the second-ever defender to be selected #1 overall in the PLL Draft by the Atlas in 2023.

In his first season of game action as the associate, Stevens helped hone the the skills of one of the best defensive minds in the game in Adler. Adler finished the 2022 season ranked 14th in the nation and number one in the Ivy League in caused turnovers per game (1.79). Adler would be named a consensus All-American by USILA and was part of the All-Ivy First team in part due to his conference-best 34 caused turnovers a number tied for most-ever in the Cornell record books. Stevens defensive expertise goes deeper than a single player though, in the NCAA tournament, he commanded a line that had the second strongest scoring defense in the tournament, allowing just 8.75 goals per game, and the fourth-best clearing percentage at an efficiency of 92%.
 

Stevens helped the Big Red get off to a hot start in 2020, as Cornell opened the season 5-0 before the campaign came to an abrupt halt due to COVID-19. The Big Red finished the season ranked No. 2 in both the USILA Coaches' and Inside Lacrosse/Maverik Media Polls, marking the team's highest USILA ranking since 2014.
 
In 2019, Stevens coached a Big Red defense that ranked in the top-15 in the nation in caused turnovers and was just outside the top-20 in man-down defense. Three members of the defensive unit were named All-Ivy following the season, including unanimous first-team selection Brandon Salvatore, who went on to be named an All-American. Salvatore followed up this accolade with another All-America honor during his senior campaign in 2020, earning third-team All-America distinction from Inside Lacrosse. He was also named a candidate for the 2020 Senior CLASS Award.
 

In 2018, Stevens orchestrated one of the best defensive improvements in Cornell history, as the team finished the season ranked 18th in the nation in scoring defense (9.22 gpg), jumping 50 spots from the previous season (68th; 13.46). Following the campaign, four Big Red defensemen were named All-Ivy, including unanimous first-team selection and USILA All-American, Jake Pulver '18.
 
In his first season on the sidelines, Stevens helped a pair of Big Red defenders – Pulver and Marshall Peters '17 – earn All-Ivy distinction.