W.C. Gorden vs. Eddie Robinson
Indeed, W.C. Gorden had a hard road to glory. When he arrived as an assistant in Jackson in 1967, Grambling was the gold standard. And it stayed that way until JSU broke through under Gorden in the 1980s.
While Robinson was breaking records and finally getting his just due in the 1980s and 90s, Gorden had supplanted him as the league’s most consistently dominant coach. Gorden was 56-11 in the SWAC during the 1980s. He also came up with a big win over Division I-A Southern Mississippi in 1987.
“Times have changed,” he said in 1990. “Used to be, we couldn’t beat Grambling. We did that. Then we couldn’t beat Alcorn. We did that. Now it’s the playoff thing.
The playoff thing was perhaps the only disappointment of Gorden’s illustrious career. JSU went 0-9 in the playoffs during his tenure, including a loss to the 1978 FAMU national championship team.
Playoff losses aside, however, Gorden’s legacy speaks for itself. So did his contemporaries, including fierce rival Marino Caseem.
“True, Jackson State has the best talent in the league in recent years,” Casem said in 1990. “But Gorden has the ability to take talent and mold it into a team, to develop a plan and keeps everybody happy. That’s a knack, man. A real Knack. Some guys are good at comedy. Some guys are good at coaching. Gorden has the gift of coaching.”
The Godfather has spoken.