Temple University Athletics
Staff Spotlight: Jordan Manning
1.10.23 | General
PHILADELPHIA - Jordan Manning joined the Temple Athletics Strategic Communications in September 2019. Prior to arriving on North Broad, Manning accumulated four years of experience in athletic communications at the NCAA Division I level.
The 2016 Georgia State University graduate served as the men's tennis and women's soccer contact while interning with her alma mater's sports communications office during her senior year. Upon graduation, she spent the next two years as a graduate assistant in the GSU sports communications office, where she added additional duties, including men's soccer, while earning her master's degree in sport administration.
In 2018, the Powder Springs, Ga. native was a communications assistant at Arkansas, where she was the primary contact for volleyball, swimming and diving and women's tennis.
You have been in your role of Temple Athletics for over three years, talk about how your role has evolved in your time at the University?
"When I first started, I was really just the main contact for my respective sports and the secondary contact for men's basketball but as time went on, I began to take on more responsibility. As the personnel in our department shifted around, I took on the role of working with our creative team to coordinate all our Olympic sport channels to create consistency in coverage across the board."
You work closely with field hockey and fencing as the primary communications contact? How challenging was it to learn the intricacies of these sports when you first arrived?
"For me, learning the ins and outs of field hockey was not as challenging as fencing because I had worked with soccer in the past, so I was familiar with the style of play. However, since I'm from the South, field hockey and fencing aren't as prominent, so it was definitely a learning curve, but the coaches were incredibly understanding that I wasn't an expert on the sport yet. They helped me understanding the ins and outs of the sports until I was comfortable with the process."
You grew up and went to school in Georgia? How has it been to adapt to living and working in the Northeast?
"It hasn't been that much of an adjustment for me since I lived and worked in Atlanta during my college years. Since I was familiar with a big city, it made the transition to Philadelphia not as challenging. One of the biggest things that I've noticed is the difference in the weather. In the South, we don't have prominent seasons like we do in the Northeast. In Georgia, it was hot for most of the year, before getting cold for a week or two, and going right back to hot. But here, you notice the change in the seasons and the long winters."
Besides your strategic communications duties, you also coordinate the social media for Temple's Olympic sports teams? Talk about what goes into that role?
"I want to make sure that our Olympic sports, especially our smaller Olympic sports get comparable coverage and recognition that the larger sports get. A large part of that is making sure that the quality and quantity of content that we get is comparable to the other sports. This can be challenging because some of these sports don't have as many home events, so it can be easy for them to naturally fall to the backburner, but to avoid that, we try to plan ahead and create a plan to get them the content they deserve."
Finally, what is your favorite aspect of working in college athletics at Temple?
"I love that all of our teams have really bought in to what it means to be a Temple Owl. In the past, I have been at places where the coaches want to do well and are committed to their team, but they haven't fully bought into the culture and community of their school. Every school is very different, and I really enjoy that all of our teams are Temple TUFF, and the student-athletes and staff embody the Temple brand."
The 2016 Georgia State University graduate served as the men's tennis and women's soccer contact while interning with her alma mater's sports communications office during her senior year. Upon graduation, she spent the next two years as a graduate assistant in the GSU sports communications office, where she added additional duties, including men's soccer, while earning her master's degree in sport administration.
In 2018, the Powder Springs, Ga. native was a communications assistant at Arkansas, where she was the primary contact for volleyball, swimming and diving and women's tennis.
You have been in your role of Temple Athletics for over three years, talk about how your role has evolved in your time at the University?
"When I first started, I was really just the main contact for my respective sports and the secondary contact for men's basketball but as time went on, I began to take on more responsibility. As the personnel in our department shifted around, I took on the role of working with our creative team to coordinate all our Olympic sport channels to create consistency in coverage across the board."
You work closely with field hockey and fencing as the primary communications contact? How challenging was it to learn the intricacies of these sports when you first arrived?
"For me, learning the ins and outs of field hockey was not as challenging as fencing because I had worked with soccer in the past, so I was familiar with the style of play. However, since I'm from the South, field hockey and fencing aren't as prominent, so it was definitely a learning curve, but the coaches were incredibly understanding that I wasn't an expert on the sport yet. They helped me understanding the ins and outs of the sports until I was comfortable with the process."
You grew up and went to school in Georgia? How has it been to adapt to living and working in the Northeast?
"It hasn't been that much of an adjustment for me since I lived and worked in Atlanta during my college years. Since I was familiar with a big city, it made the transition to Philadelphia not as challenging. One of the biggest things that I've noticed is the difference in the weather. In the South, we don't have prominent seasons like we do in the Northeast. In Georgia, it was hot for most of the year, before getting cold for a week or two, and going right back to hot. But here, you notice the change in the seasons and the long winters."
Besides your strategic communications duties, you also coordinate the social media for Temple's Olympic sports teams? Talk about what goes into that role?
"I want to make sure that our Olympic sports, especially our smaller Olympic sports get comparable coverage and recognition that the larger sports get. A large part of that is making sure that the quality and quantity of content that we get is comparable to the other sports. This can be challenging because some of these sports don't have as many home events, so it can be easy for them to naturally fall to the backburner, but to avoid that, we try to plan ahead and create a plan to get them the content they deserve."
Finally, what is your favorite aspect of working in college athletics at Temple?
"I love that all of our teams have really bought in to what it means to be a Temple Owl. In the past, I have been at places where the coaches want to do well and are committed to their team, but they haven't fully bought into the culture and community of their school. Every school is very different, and I really enjoy that all of our teams are Temple TUFF, and the student-athletes and staff embody the Temple brand."
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