JoJo Bermudez looks poised to spark Temple's offense
JoJo Bermudez’s collegiate career has been anything but a straight and narrow path.
The former three-star recruit out of South Jersey’s Cedar Creek High School landed offers from programs like Cincinnati, Rutgers and Vanderbilt before committing to the Bearcats in 2021.
But Bermudez said a bone graft injury derailed his chances of playing at Cincinnati as a freshman. He redshirted and left in search of a new home.
Bermudez found that in Delaware, transferring to the Blue Hens in 2023 thanks to his relationship with then-running backs coach Andrew Pierce, who had tried recruiting Bermudez to Rutgers when he was with the Scarlet Knights as an offensive quality control coach. Like Bermudez, Pierce became a staple in South Jersey high school football before becoming one of Delaware’s best running backs and later a respected assistant coach.
“He got me into Delaware,” Bermudez said of Pierce. “He believed in me.”
Bermudez caught 50 passes during his two seasons at Delaware, but a hamstring injury limited him to just six games last fall. When K.C. Keeler took the Temple job and hired Pierce as his running backs coach, Bermudez entered the transfer portal and followed him to the Owls without a second thought.
He’s now become one of Temple’s best players during preseason camp and seems to be a shoe-in to start, most likely in the slot.
If Keeler and offensive coordinator Tyler Walker find themselves watching Bermudez rack up catches and extending drives this fall, they can thank Pierce.
“When he left, it was like, damn, because he got me to Delaware,” Bermudez said. “I stayed up there for a month. After that month, I was kind of like, I want to go with my guy. We hadn’t talked about anything. We just have that relationship where we understand each other.”
Bermudez, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound redshirt junior, didn’t drop a single pass thrown his way during Wednesday’s practice, no matter if it was Evan Simon or Gevani McCoy under center.
“We catch the ball. We think about yards after catch. We try to score touchdowns,” wide receivers coach Roy Roundtree said. “I think JoJo emphasizes that on film. He’s trying to get through the hard times.”
Bermudez’s biggest impact has been his speed. It’s been clear during seven preseason camp practices that have been open to the media.
Bermudez has made the middle of the field his own personal playground and made the defense pay attention to him while fellow transfer Colin Chase has made plays on the outside.
Both players have been consistent targets for Simon and McCoy, who are still competing to start Temple’s season opener at UMass on Aug. 30. While Keeler has maintained the competition is still a neck-and-neck battle, Bermudez has cultivated a chemistry with both of them.
“It’s been great,” Bermudez said. “Both guys can throw the ball. It’s been real good.”
Temple made it a purpose to retool the wide receiver position after losing its top receivers last year in Dante Wright and Ashton Allen. The Owls landed on Bermudez and Chase and the early returns have looked promising. Both players have been getting firm reps with the presumptive starters, and Bermudez is now earning snaps he wasn’t able to get at his last two stops.
But that won’t be the only thing on his mind.
Bermudez has a two-year-old daughter, another big factor in his decision to get even closer to home. Her birth changed his mindset on life, and the thought of her gets Bermudez past any setback life throws his way.
“She’s on my mind all the time,” Bermudez said. “I got her face tattooed on my leg, her name on my hand. She means a lot to me. Anytime something tough is going on, I just think about her.”
