One of the first things Dan Jordan did when he took the reins as the head coach of the very successful Alaska-Fairbanks rifle team was address why the Nanooks lost the 2005 NCAA Championships, breaking the school's string of six straight titles.

The Nanooks placed fourth in last year's championship, allowing Army to capture its first ever rifle team title. The streak was one that Jordan helped to start as a sophomore on the 1999 squad.

"I wanted them to face the fact of what happened, not avoid it," said Jordan. "You have to take it and learn from it. They grabbed a hold of that and learned why and how, and now they know how to fix it."

Seven years ago, Jordan was forced to follow some of that same wisdom he now shares with his team. During his two years as a member of UAF's rifle team, the native of Franktown, Colo., was a force to be reckoned with on the range – a two-time All-American and a member of the newly crowned NCAA Champions in March of 1999.

"My freshman year we had a really good team, but my sophomore year we had an exceptional team," said Jordan, a 2001 UAF graduate. "I think we broke all of the national records that year several times over. We were a very, very close team. Everybody lived together and spent 24 hours a day together. I think that's why we won. We were so competitive with each other because we were such good friends."

That May, life suddenly changed for Jordan. He was rock climbing near Fairbanks and fell 60 feet – a life-threatening accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. After his stay in the hospital and a quick six weeks in rehabilitation center in Denver, Jordan did not dwell on his new situation, but wanted to get back to his life, friends and school in Fairbanks.

Jordan was back in Alaska that August. Though he was not able to compete on the collegiate rifle team anymore, Jordan did keep shooting for awhile, even calling on the advice of Sweden's Jonas Jacobsson, one of the best international Paralympic shooters. Eventually though, Jordan put shooting on the backburner while he enjoyed his last couple years as a college student.

After graduation in 2001, Jordan moved back to Colorado with the intention of attending gunsmithing school, when he was asked to work a summer shooting camp. Jordan was soon bit by the shooting bug once again.

"Being around it for two months after being away from it for a couple of years gave me the itch and a desire to get back into it," said Jordan "So, instead of going to gunsmithing school, I changed my mind and moved to Colorado Springs (site of the Olympic Training Center) and started shooting full-time."

Jordan was the youngest of 36 shooters to qualify for the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, and became the first American to win a shooting medal at the Paralympics in two decades. Jacobsson, who Jordan had consulted after his accident, won the gold medal in the three-position smallbore event, while Jordan took the silver.

Shooting is a sport of longevity, and at 27 years old, Jordan could still have many years of competition ahead, but he is still unsure about his future.

"I still want to compete, but I haven't decided if I'm going to," said Jordan. "It's not that I want to win a gold medal, but that I didn't get as good as I wanted to. If I keep shooting, that's why I would."

Right now, Jordan's top priority is coaching the Nanooks to a national title. He hopes his fresh perspective, as well as his experiences as a former student-athlete for a top-level collegiate team, a world-level shooter and a coach will help get UAF closer to its quest.

"I think it's kind of getting back to that close team atmosphere," said Jordan. "I think that was lost for a couple of years here, even though they were able to maintain winning streak."

The Nanooks are 12-0 and qualified in both the air rifle and smallbore events for the 2006 NCAA Championships. The competition will be held on March 10-11 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.