Michael Edward Zordich (born October 12, 1963) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive back and is a defensive backs coach for the

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

. He played college football at Penn State. He was drafted in the ninth round (235th overall) of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the San Diego Chargers. He played 12 seasons as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) and has since become a coach, has also coached for Cardinal Mooney High School, the Philadelphia Eagles, Youngstown State, and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

College career

Zordich attended Chaney High School prior to enrolling at Penn State University. At Penn State, he was a four-year letterman and a starter at "

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

". As a senior, in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, he was selected as an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n by the Football Writers Association of America. He was also a team co-captain. He finished his career with 201

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and earned a B. S. in hotel, restaurant, and institutional management.

Professional career

Zordich was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the ninth round (235 overall) of the

. He was released by the Chargers at the end of 1986 pre-season. In April 1987, he was signed by the New York Jets. During final cuts, he was

waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. Regulatory agencies of state departments or the federal government may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United St ...

by the Jets. He was re-signed on September 15. In

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, he appeared in 10 games, primarily on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He recorded eight tackles, and one sack. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, he appeared in 16 games. He recorded 10 tackles and one

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

. In February 1989, Zordich was declared an unconditional free agent by the Jets. In March, he was signed by the

Phoenix Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

in 1989. In

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, he appeared in 16 games (seven starts). He recorded 60 tackles, one sack, and one interceptions. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, he appeared in 16 games. He recorded 27 tackles, one fumble recovery, and one interceptions. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, he started all 16 games. He recorded, a career-high, 87 tackles, as well as three fumble recoveries, and one interception. In 1992, he started all 16 games. He recorded 61 tackles, and three interceptions. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, his final season in Phoenix, he appeared in 16 games (nine starts). He recorded 54 tackles, two forced fumbles, and one interception. In June 1994, Zordich signed with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, signing a two-year $800,000 contract, where he replaced Andre Waters who left Philadelphia to sign with the, then newly re-named, Arizona Cardinals. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, Zordich started all 16 games. He recorded 51 tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and a career-high four interceptions. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, he started 15 games, missing one. He recorded 60 tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles as well as two fumble recoveries, and one interception. In 1996, he started all 16 games. He recorded 64 tackles, and four interceptions. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, he started all 16 games. He recorded 51 tackles, a career-high two sacks, one fumble recovery, and one interceptions. In his final season,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, he started all 16 games. He recorded 55 tackles, one fumble recovery, and two interceptions. After the season, his contract expired and he wasn't re-signed. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, he was replaced by

Tim Hauck Timothy Christian Hauck (born December 20, 1966) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL). He most recently was the safeties coach for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Playing caree ...

. After appearing in his first career game in 1987 with the Jets, Zordich missed just one game in his career.

Career statistics

Coaching career

In 2003, Zordich became a defensive assistant at Cardinal Mooney High School, he coached there for six seasons. In 2009, he joined the

as the team's defensive quality control coach, for two seasons. In 2011, he was named the Eagles' safeties coach. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, he was named Youngstown State's safeties coach. After the season, in January 2015, he was hired by the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. Zordich was fired from Michigan on January 13, 2021 after six seasons as the defensive backs coach.

Personal life

Zordich lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his wife Cynthia, a

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

,. His son Michael Jr. played running back for the Nittany Lions and later the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

, and another son, Alex, played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

, he also has a daughter, Aiden.

References

External links

*
Youngstown State Penguins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zordich, Michael 1963 births Living people American people of Croatian descent Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio American football cornerbacks American football safeties Penn State Nittany Lions football players San Diego Chargers players New York Jets players Phoenix Cardinals players Philadelphia Eagles players High school football coaches in Ohio Philadelphia Eagles coaches Youngstown State Penguins football coaches Michigan Wolverines football coaches