Due to his stature as a highly-rated and heavily-recruited high school football star, most people who watch Ellison Jordan play do not get the chance to see the gentler side of the Baltimore product. The Gilman School’s defensive tackle, who announced his commitment to Penn State last month on Twitter, is the nation’s sixteenth best tackle in the 2016 class according to ESPN. When the time came for Jordan to make his decision, he first needed to inform his two other finalists, Maryland and Virginia Tech, that he would be committing to Penn State. He cried.

“I’m just a really a sentimental guy and just saying no to Maryland and Virginia Tech was so hard. I mean all the coaches were great. All the guys who offered me – I really loved and appreciated them.”

Once he made those difficult phone calls, Jordan became nothing but excited to be a part of the Nittany Lions’ class of 2016 .

“They’re a good team, they’re building something there. You can’t build a house overnight, it takes time. Coach Franklin is doing a great job. Just with the classes of 2015 and 2016 they have a future.”

Jordan weighed several factors before making his decision. Most important to him and his family was whether Jordan was comfortable being away from Maryland.

“The main question was how would I feel about going away from home. Would I be OK? I told my parents I believe I would be and I can be, and they believed me too.”

The recent commitments of other top recruits also played a significant factor in the timing of Jordan’s decision.

“I’ll admit spots were kind of filling up and really, for all the schools it was just that time,” Jordan said. “It’s a numbers game. I saw the two guys, Michael Dwumfour and Christian Colon commit [to Penn State] and then I knew that Maryland they had a guy, Jeffery Pooler, commit earlier. And a guy, Clay Dean, that committed earlier to [Virginia Tech]. And I know either way I was going to have to compete with all those guys.”

On the field, Jordan is disruptive. Jordan possesses an explosive first step, which frequently allows him to burst through the sea of bodies and into the opposition’s backfield. Once in the backfield, one of four things will happen: on passing plays, Jordan will wrap-up the quarterback for a quick sack or will pressure the passer into making an errant throw; when the ball is handed off, the compact Jordan will drop a stunned ball-carrier for a negative play; and in rare instances where the ball advances past the line of scrimmage, Jordan will relentlessly chase down whoever is carrying the football. Despite his obvious skill and world-class work ethic, Jordan remains laser-focused.

“The amount of effort you put in is the amount of effort you’ll get out so I’ll work my hardest to be the best that I can be.”

The only real knock on Jordan is his size. Standing at six feet and weighing 270 pounds, Jordan has been labeled undersized for his position. Jordan dismisses his height as limiting and even claims his below-average height is advantageous.

“I know a lot of people say I’m undersized, but a few say it’s a good advantage for me because I can have a little leverage and it means I have a good getup on the ball.”

Jordan’s supposed height deficiency means that he must become even stronger and faster to be successful at the collegiate level.

“I know in college, especially in the Big Ten since I committed to Penn State, I know there are going to be big, big, big, big sons-of-guns who can get quick and get low and everything, and I need to get my strength up. And I’ve been working on that.”

Along with gaining strength, Jordan says he has been working on using his hands more effectively and tackling.

When Jordan made his decision on where to play college football, he said it was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. Now that he has made that choice, Jordan will not be looking back.

“I’m happy with my decision. It’s a long way until signing day but I’m 100 percent committed to Penn State.”