Jordan Barchus has brought new perspective and passion to BGSU baseball over the past two seasons after making the move from the West Coast to join the coaching staff.

Barchus played collegiate baseball at Lower Columbia College and the University of San Francisco. After his playing days ended, he stayed in California as the director of operations and camps for USF.

“I actually had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated. I graduated from the University of San Francisco in 2019 with a degree in psychology where I sort of wanted to go to graduate school for it. Didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” Barchus said. “Then, during our exit meeting, I just floated the idea of getting into coaching and an opportunity arose to be the director of baseball operations later, probably two weeks after the exit meeting.”

From there, Barchus landed a job at Clark College in Washington, rising to associate head coach.

Barchus had a pre-existing connection to Bowling Green, having played summer ball with former assistant coach Joey Cooper seven years ago.

However, it was another coach on staff, Joey Gamache, that reached out.

“Joey Gamache, about three or four years ago, originally called me to come work at Bowling Green, but I turned him down. This is where I was at as the associate head coach at Clark College, a junior college in Washington,” Barchus said. “He had recruited a couple of my players. So, we had been talking back and forth. When this opportunity arose, he called me and that connection and the connection with the rest of the staff is sort of how this opportunity happened for me last year, joining on as director of player development.”

Ultimately, former Falcon outfielder Caden Parker played a role in aligning the stars for Barchus.

“He (Barchus) was referred to us by a West Coast junior college coach that we had success with, with Caden Parker. When Caden Parker came in, he had showed us some names over the past couple years, and Jordan was one of them,” Bowling Green head coach Kyle Hallock said.

Barchus initially joined the staff as director of player development for the 2024 season. But both Cooper and Gamache left the program after the 2025 campaign for other career opportunities, opening the door for Barchus to move up to recruiting coordinator.

“He’s stepped up in a very big way because he’s pretty much filling two roles now from what we’ve lost,” senior right-handed pitcher Jacob Turner said. “Coach Barchus has done a great job of filling their shoes and not only just filling them, but overfilling them in a way. He’s done a phenomenal job. He’s always in two places at once it seems, and he helps pretty much in all regards of the game.”

Arguably the biggest challenge for Barchus in the new role is learning the recruiting landscape in a different time zone on the other side of the country.

“He’s tasked with learning the local high schools that are really good and learning our blueprint and learning what works here. He’s completely bought into that philosophy and knows where the good players come from and where our recruiting footprint is,” Hallock said.

In his first year with the program, Barchus mainly helped coach pitchers before focusing on helping position players this season.

“He brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the game. He did a lot for the pitchers last year—he worked with me as a starter in the bullpen—now he’s working with our catchers and outfielders,” Turner said. “But he does a great job of molding them and just training them in a way that sets us up for success. He’s been a key part of our staff, and I don’t think we’d be where we’re at without him.” 

Barchus, who grew up in Oregon, has brought a West Coast baseball philosophy to the Great Black Swamp.

“We have some nice jokes because West Coast baseball is different,” Hallock said. “They play a little bit different out there, and we’ll run into some teams that do some different things or we’ll do some things, and we’ll just have an inside joke here where it’ll be like, ‘West Coast, you know.’ Whether it’s something good or something we need to fix, there it is, West Coast, you know. So we get some humor out of it when we share stories like that.” 

Barchus and Hallock have formed a mentoring relationship over the past two years.

“It’s been awesome. One, just giving me the opportunity to get back into Division I baseball, forever grateful for that,” Barchus said. “He’s training us to be head coaches, so we’re able to move on in our careers. I’m forever grateful and extremely happy, and the relationship’s great; it’s always teaching and a great learning experience for me.” 

Barchus has also added another point of view for Hallock.

“He does a pretty good job of calming me down sometimes,” Hallock said. “It’s a calming influence. It’s one of those things where he provides another way of saying the same things, maybe in a different tone, maybe in different vocabulary. So, I’m constantly asking him, ‘Was that too much? Was that not enough?’ Then, he’s providing his perspective because, you know, none of us are immune to constructive criticism.”

At the same time, Barchus has brought a new level of energy to the Falcons.

“I think he’s passionate, and I think he loves this game and he wants the very best for us. There’s a passion that he brings every day to be the same guys every day, to work hard every day, and at the end of the day, get the job done,” Turner said. “I think he brings that passionate edge, and he cares a lot. He cares a lot about us and this team and this program and the community as a whole. So, he’s all in on BG from what I can see, and he does a great job.” 

The opportunity to coach at Bowling Green has helped Barchus grow as both a coach and a person.

“When you get to this level, everyone’s working hard to get to the top, and that’s the overall goal and dream of this thing is to be able to be at the top one day. So, it’s just continuously learning and applying the things you learn and dealing with the trials and coming up with answers and solutions to the things that get thrown at you,” Barchus said. “So it’s been a great experience for me personally, and the overall development of my coaching career and personal life. It’s really made me just appreciative every day—you don’t know what’s going to come—and just being appreciative of this opportunity and forever thankful to be back in the game.”