Hometown Hero: Arizona football's Jordan Morgan 'wants to finish the right way'

Once Jordan Morgan wraps up his Arizona career this season, the left tackle can say he’s literally lived through history — both in college football and the UA.

Since the Marana native inked his national letter of intent in 2019, he’s played for two different coaching staffs, indulged in the name, image and likeness (NIL) era while endorsing Tucson food chain Eegee’s on his Instagram account, and has seen an influx of players leave and join the program via the transfer portal.

Morgan played a truncated season during the pandemic and was part of a 63-point blowout loss to Arizona State — or “the team up north,” as he called it. Sprinkle in a 20-game losing streak, too. He was also on the sidelines to watch the Wildcats reclaim the Territorial Cup with a win over their rival last season after recently suffering a season-ending knee injury, which also hurt his ascending NFL Draft stock. Then he opted to return for his fifth and final season, but participate in a knee rehab that Arizona offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll compared to a “NASA launch,” with around-the-clock service on Morgan’s knee throughout the offseason and spring practices.

Whew.

If there’s anything Morgan learned from his experience at Arizona, “it taught me how to be a patient person.”

“I was always patient but with the injury and everything that’s been going, being patient is one of my biggest abilities and it really helps me,” he said.

Patience has paid off for Morgan and his fellow 2019 recruiting classmates in running back Michael Wiley, who is Arizona’s all-time receiving yards leader by a running back, and punter Kyle Ostendorp. The three scholarship players from the ’19 class will play in their final home game at Arizona Stadium on Saturday when the 17th-ranked Wildcats host No. 22 Utah for Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day.

“(Morgan and Wiley) were here before I arrived, stayed committed, and then they stay committed to our program after a year of 1-11, they didn’t go try to transfer,” Arizona coach Jedd Fisch said. “After a year of 5-7, they didn’t declare for the NFL Draft. They both decided to return for their fifth years and wanted to make an impact on the program and change the culture — and they did that.

“They are who our team looks up to,” Fisch said. “They’ve managed to lead the team as a captain. They do things right in the training room, on the field, off the field. Those guys have meant the world to this program.”

Morgan and Wiley, after strong campaigns in 2022, had plenty of reasons to declare for the NFL Draft.

“But like we’ve told them, ‘This is the best experience of your life.’ College football is better than the NFL. I’m sorry, I’m putting that out there,” Carroll said. “You get the brotherhood of playing with your friends. You go to class with these guys; you train with them.

“When you go home, you hang out with your buddies. When you’re in the league, a lot of guys are married and are going to other things, you have businesses and other endeavors and adventures. When you get to play college football and hang out with your boys, it’s priceless.”

Morgan also “being from here is really important for him to stay home and finish what he started,” Carroll said.

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“We always talked about when we came in here that we want to make this something special for the city of Tucson, and I think that was part of the reason he came back,” he said. “He wanted to do great things.”

When Morgan initially returned to game action this season, “he was protecting himself a little bit,” Carroll said. Now Morgan has “really gotten back into his grove” and has the fourth-highest pass-blocking grade (89.4) among college football tackles with a minimum of 600 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.

“He looks really strong out there and can still move like he always has,” Carroll said. “I think he’s all the way back and he’s only going to get better. He’s going to keep continuing to develop. His ceiling at the next level is ridiculously high.”

Morgan said he doesn’t “regret it one bit” coming back to Arizona for one more season rather than turning pro.

“I love the guys I’m around,” he said. “Coming back to play with them for one more year really seals the deal and makes me feel good about my decision.”

Added Morgan: “Feels good. I’ve been here since 2019, so building it up from there was a long process.”

Arizona’s last two home wins over ranked teams Oregon State and UCLA made Morgan “feel like he was a winner in is hometown and he felt like he changed the program,” after years of distress.

“I think that was part of it. There were some other NFL things involved, too, like making more money and stuff like that,” Carroll said. “Raising his draft stock and ensure he was going to be a high draft pick, that was involved, too. When he wants to play in the NFL, he wants to be healthy. It’s tough to go into the NFL off an injury and that’s your first experience. Those are the three main factors that led to it. It’s been great to have him back, he’s been awesome for us.”

Come next fall, players like Morgan and Wiley will most likely have roster spots somewhere in the NFL. Morgan could potentially be the first UA offensive lineman drafted in the first round since John Fina in 1992.

“You’re also going to see guys like that be able to be spokespeople for Arizona football for many years to come,” Fisch said.

Morgan, the hometown hero, will get to cap his home career properly.

“I did the walk last year but I didn’t do it on the right foot. I came out injured, did the walk and didn’t get to play and finish the year, so this year is an important walk for me because this time I get to do it right,” Morgan said.

“It means a lot and I just want to finish this the right way.”