The school announced his death Saturday morning. Jordan, a native of Mesquite, Texas, was named the Pac-12 offensive freshman of the year earlier this week and was also a second-team all-conference selection.
“Words cannot express the devastation and heartache that our team is feeling right now upon learning of the tragic death of our teammate and brother, Ty Jordan,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said in a statement. “Ty’s personality and smile were infectious and he made a huge impact on our program in the short time he was with us. He leaves an indelible mark on each of us and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. From the bottom of our hearts, all of us in the Utah football family want to say we love you Ty and may you rest in peace.”
Utah did not disclose the cause of Jordan’s death in its announcement. The Denton, Texas, police department told ESPN that it believed that Jordan died after he accidentally shot himself. Police said they responded to a call of a gunshot victim at just after 9:30 p.m. local time Friday.
Jordan played in all five of Utah’s games in 2020 and had 83 carries for 597 yards and six touchdowns. Jordan had 723 combined rushing and receiving yards and averaged over seven yards per carry.
