DANVERS — Lynn native Jordan Edgett has always wanted to work with student-athletes. For the past four years, Edgett has learned from St. John’s Athletic Director Jim O’Leary as his assistant athletic director. Edgett has studied the ins and outs of athletic administration and what it’s like to provide student-athletes the needed opportunities to succeed.
Now it’s time for Edgett to take the next step in his career. Edgett, a St. John’s graduate, has been named the athletic director at Manchester-Essex Regional High School.
“I was very excited,” Edgett, a Peabody resident, said. “Knowing that Coach (Jameson) Pelke’s taking the job at St. John’s for Coach O’Leary, going to another school’s something that I knew I had to expect at some point. I couldn’t ask for a better fit going to Manchester-Essex.”
Edgett will begin his new position at Manchester-Essex July 1.
“I couldn’t just take a job anywhere,” Edgett said. “The athletic program at Manchester-Essex is a great program. They have a great administration. If they didn’t have a good athletic program, I’m not sure it’d be a great fit. I’m just hoping to bring the things I’ve learned at St. John’s and make the program even stronger.”
Edgett said working alongside O’Leary has helped groom him for his next endeavor. O’Leary, the athletic director at St. John’s since 1999, will retire at the end of the school year.
“He knows the ins and outs of everything,” Edgett said. “How the school works, how the (MIAA) works, how to handle any situation, how to be a leader, how to control your emotions. It’s loyalty too. He’s very loyal to his coaches and his departments, not just from an athletic administration standpoint but also from a leader’s. That’s what I got from my four years working for him.
“With O’Leary you learn from the best,” Edgett said. “He’s well known in the MIAA. He recommended me for the golf committee. I told him ‘Jim, I don’t know anything about golf.’ It’s more about learning about the MIAA and other schools. I feel I have learned from the best. I want to take what I’ve learned from them and bring it over to Manchester-Essex.”
Edgett attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he played baseball, after graduating from St. John’s in 2008. He spent two years working in professional baseball for the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles organizations before returning to Spring Street.
“My life has always been around sports,” Edgett said. “I spent my first two years out of college in pro baseball. I was in player development with minor league players. I wanted to work with these kids to make sure they take advantage of everything to make sure they’re prepared for a life in college and beyond. I knew my life would turn to athletics but I didn’t know the age group and how it would entail.”
He said leaving his alma mater won’t be easy.
“It’ll be bittersweet,” Edgett said. “I’ve had a great four years. I’ve had a great time with the students. I’m grateful for everything the administration and everyone at St. John’s has done for me. It’s exciting but it’s bittersweet.
“I’ve always been grateful for what the Prep has done for me,” Edgett said. “It was just that time for me to move forward with my career.”
