July 25, 2011, is a date Jordan Zides '15 will always remember. He doesn't recall anything that actually happened that day, but that doesn't stop him from telling the story.

Zides is the first undergraduate assistant in Michael Coven's illustrious 42-year tenure coaching the Judges' men's soccer team. He arrived at Brandeis in 2010 from Lynnbrook High School on Long Island on the recommendation of Murray Greenberg '77, a Brandeis Athletic Hall of Famer whose daughters went to school with Zides. Brandeis wasn't originally on his list of colleges, but "the pieces fit," Zides said. "When I analyzed everything in front of me, it became a no-brainer academically, and I was able to keep my soccer career going."

 There was some athletic culture shock that first year – Zides loved Brandeis, but barely saw the field, getting into just one game late in the season. The Judges were strong, winning the ECAC New England tournament in 2010.  He may not have contributed on the field, but Coven considered Zides' positive attitude on the sidelines to be an important part of his team.

"At the end of the year, we told [Jordan] he would need to work on his fitness, working through summer to get better," Coven said.

That summer, as he had for the previous decade as camper and councilor, Zides headed to Camp Echo Lake in Warrensburg, N.Y. The camp — "My favorite place in the world," Zides said wistfully —provides another Brandeis connection. It was founded in 1946 by the family of another Brandeis Hall of Famer, Morry Stein '58 – whose family still runs the camp. Coincidentally, Stein's name graces the Award of Valor that Zides was presented from Brandeis Athletics last spring.

By all accounts, Zides took Coven's advice to heart. Whenever he had a break, he trained to get into shape to crack the rotation for his sophomore year. The hard work he put in would become more important than he could imagine.

On the fateful date – July 25, 2011 – Zides was a passenger a car that malfunctioned. The car crossed over the double yellow line, colliding head-on with another car. Zides was rushed to Glens Falls Hospital, where he was assessed and sent to Albany Medical Center's Children's Hospital.

The diagnosis was dire. On a traumatic brain injury scale of one to five, with five being the worst, Zides was a four. He was in a coma and had two collapsed lungs and a lacerated spleen. He was given a tracheotomy and a feeding tube.

"It's a miracle he's still here," Coven says.

Coven and associate head coach Gabe Margolis headed to Albany as soon as they found out. "There must have been a hundred people there in line waiting to see him," Coven recalled. "When we got there, he was in unconscious, but there wasn't a scratch on him."

He spent approximately four weeks in Albany before he began to show signs of coming out of the coma. At that point, he was moved to New York University's Rusk Institute for Rehabilitation and Langone Medical Center, working with cognitive, speech and occupational therapists. As Coven related, the people in the rehab center were amazed at how quickly his recovery progressed. "He was fit," Coven said. "He was getting himself ready for the soccer season when it happened."

By the end of September, Zides was, remarkably, back home. He still required occupational therapy, and he started working with a personal trainer, Jermaine Ewell, who had gone through a similar injury. But he also started working at a job – in retail, nothing complicated.

Through it all, Zides always knew he was going to come back to Brandeis. Maybe in a month, or a year or three years, but it was always what he was striving for. His first trip back was for a practice late in the season as the Judges were angling for the postseason. As the nighttime practice came to a halt, one teammate, and then the rest, engulfed the friend they thought they might never see on campus again. A day later, against NYU, Sam Ocel '13 scored an early goal and removed his jersey to reveal a "JZ 26" t-shirt underneath.

After that cameo appearance, Zides stayed in touch with his coaches and teammates on a regular basis, and re-enrolled in the fall of 2012. He and his teammates never doubted it would happen – they made sure his name was on their lists to be a roommate when they applied for housing. He ended up in a single, as the University made accommodations to get him reacclimated to college life. With a memory that at times could be as fickle as that of a four-year-old's, Zides relied on the understanding of professors and administrators as he worked toward returning to a full course-load.

"After everything he went through, I look up to him," said his freshman-year roommate, Tudor Livadaru '14.

It became clear that Zides would never be able to get back on the Brandeis pitch as a player, but Coven and Jordan's teammates were adamant that he be part of the team. So Zides started out on the sidelines as a quasi team manager, though Coven knew he wanted Zides to be more than that.

"About halfway through the season, I started to realize that he has a great mind for the game," Coven said. "I started asking him questions, and his answers were great. So I said, let's make him an undergraduate coach."

He's served in that role ever since, and he has really blossomed this season as a senior, especially now that everyone he played with has graduated. "My voice on the sideline or at practice is listened to differently this year, so I try to be more vocal," Zides said.

"He's not just here because he's Jordan," Coven insisted. "He is a valuable member of the staff. His spirit is great for the team."