From Setback to Second Chance: How JoJo Bermudez Found His Way Home

When Temple wide receiver JoJo Bermudez takes the field, there's an unmistakable ease to the way he moves, a sense of rhythm that feels less like a playbook and more like muscle memory. There's a quiet confidence in his stride. The kind that can only come from someone who's lost the game he loves, fought his way back, and found a deeper purpose waiting for him at home.

Bermudez's journey hasn't been linear. Once a standout high school player from South Jersey, he entered the college football world with sky-high expectations. He was an early enrollee at Cincinnati with dreams of making an immediate impact – only for those dreams to be derailed just days into his freshman training when coaches noticed that something was off.

"They had seen me limping," Bermudez said. "I knew I was hurt, but I was fighting through it because I had just played my whole senior year, and we had gone 13-0."

An MRI revealed a shocking diagnosis: a hole in his kneecap, caused not by an injury but by genetics. "They told me I didn't hurt myself playing football," he said. "The bone just wore down as time went on."

The solution was a bone transplant – one that required a match from a donor of similar size and age. What was supposed to be a two-month wait stretched into six, and the promising freshman who came in ready to prove himself instead spent half a year waiting, weightlifting, and wondering if his football career was over.

"I was 18 and by myself," Bermudez said quietly. "All my teammates there, they had seen it. It was tough. I wanted to play ball. I had never sat out a game before, and then I was sitting out for two years."

When he finally returned home to New Jersey after sitting his whole freshman season, his body was unrecognizable. His leg had atrophied and so had his motivation. He thought he was done with football entirely.

But one person refused to let him fade away from the sport – current Temple Running Backs Coach Andrew Pierce, better known as "Coach AP."

Pierce, who was at the University of Delaware at the time, was the first to reach out when Bermudez entered the transfer portal. "I didn't even respond for a little while," Bermudez says with a grin. "Then a couple months later I hit him back like, 'That opportunity still available?' And he pulled cards and got me in there."

Pierce brought him to Delaware – even when Bermudez wasn't fully healthy, and the two built a bond that went far beyond football. "I was in AP's office more than any other position coach," he says. "Everybody knew that. He was there for me when I was going through a lot. Our relationship is unbreakable."

So when Pierce left Delaware for Temple, Bermudez didn't hesitate to follow. "AP told me all about Coach K.C.," he says, referring to Temple Head Coach K.C. Keeler. "And I trust AP with everything. Once he told me Coach K.C. was a good coach, there was no doubt. I'm coming."

For Bermudez, the move to Temple also meant a return to both home and family. Bermudez has a daughter, Xyla, now two years old, who has become his anchor through every high and low.

"She's my heart," he says, his tone softening. "Anytime something goes wrong, that's who I'm thinking about. Having her close, words can't even explain it." He smiles, pointing out tattoos of her name on his hand and her face on his leg – permanent reminders of what keeps him grounded.

Being a father, he says, changed everything. "It teaches you to grow up faster. You gotta know what you're doing before you even do it, 'cause it's that serious. You got a kid who's gonna look up to you for the rest of your life. It changed me for sure."

The same attention to detail he brings to fatherhood shows up on the field, where his awareness and focus set him apart. Despite a tough team loss against Navy, he had a standout individual performance. The kind of game that reminded him why he kept fighting to come back.

"It feels like backyard football again," he says. "I'm not overthinking anything. I'm not pressing. I'm just out there being me."

For now, Bermudez isn't chasing glory. Just growth, stability, and the chance to make his daughter proud. After everything he's endured, his story is no longer about setbacks, but about second chances.

He credits his teammates and Temple's culture for helping him feel supported. "They'll come look for me if I don't go in the locker room," he laughs. "They want the best for me, and I can feel it. I love our team. Once we play all together, it's gonna be amazing. We gon' shock the world."

And for JoJo Bermudez, who's already come back from the brink, that doesn't sound like a dream. It sounds like a promise.

Temple University Athletics

From Setback to Second Chance: How JoJo Bermudez Found His Way Home

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JoJo Bermudez

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