Football success, it seems, hasn\u2019t changed Ottawa\u2019s Akheem Mesidor.<\/p>\n
Since heading to the U.S. in 2019, the defensive lineman has developed into a projected first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. But Jesse Chinchar, Mesidor\u2019s former high school coach, says he remains the same thoughtful player he coached more than six years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the same Akheem, kind of soft-spoken, but when he speaks, you can tell he\u2019s thought about what he\u2019s going to say,\u201d Chinchar said. \u201cJust a really good energy about him, and he\u2019s got a smile that can light up a room.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always been a professional mindset-type kid, so I\u2019m not surprised with how things have worked out for him. We knew how special he was and that he had a chance to be this type of guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mesidor attended Clearwater Academy International, a Florida prep school, in 2019. That season, he had 92 tackles (18 for loss) and 10 sacks in leading the Knights to an 8-2 record before heading to West Virginia.<\/p>\n
Chinchar played on Clearwater\u2019s first football team in 2008 and later served as head coach. He led the program to multiple state titles before the school\u2019s board of trustees cancelled the football program in February 2024.<\/p>\n
Clearwater actively recruited Canadians such as Mesidor and even had former CFL coach Rich Stubler on his staff before his death in 2023. The program sent more than 80 players to American universities.<\/p>\n
Mesidor made an immediate impact at West Virginia, earning True Freshman All-America First-Team honours before transferring to Miami in 2022. The six-foot-three, 280-pound Mesidor capped a stellar run with the Hurricanes last season, registering 60 tackles (36 solo, 15.5 for loss) with 10.5 sacks and four forced fumbles under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, Miami\u2019s defensive ends coach.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old Mesidor had three tackles (two solo) and two sacks in Miami\u2019s 27-21 NCAA championship loss to Indiana. Afterwards, he participated in the Senior Bowl, and the NFL combine and is expected to be a first-round draft pick next month.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s become so polished,\u201d said Chinchar, now the head coach at St. Petersburg Catholic High School. \u201cWhen we had him, he was just beginning the journey of being a high-level defensive lineman.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he has banked so many reps through games and practices and had so much high-level coaching \u2026 all of these things have formed him into who he is today.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Mesidor pondered his university options, Chinchar was someone he leaned on. Not surprisingly, NFL officials have reached out to Chinchar about Mesidor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they ask me to talk about Akheem\u2019s character, that\u2019s like the easiest thing to do because he\u2019s such a good kid,\u201d Chinchar said. \u201cEverybody at Clearwater Academy loved him — teachers, faculty, coaches and his host parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s someone you just enjoy spending time with and being around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chinchar said NFL coaches can trust Mesidor to continue being a consummate professional — on and off the field — long after signing a lucrative pro contract.<\/p>\n
\u201c(NFL money) won\u2019t change him,\u201d Chinchar said. \u201cHe\u2019s going from being one of the most experienced guys in the room to the newbie, and I think the biggest thing in the beginning is going to be the schemes because they\u2019re going to be different no matter where he goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NFL game is just different in the offences that you see, and he\u2019s going to have to learn the schemes on both sides of the ball, and wherever he goes, I\u2019m sure there\u2019s going to be some technical aspect of slightly different stances or how they defeat these types of blocks? Those are things he\u2019ll work his butt off to master, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mesidor saw time at tackle at both West Virginia and Miami, but Chinchar said being on the edge works best for Mesidor, preferably in a four-man front.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played great (at tackle), but you\u2019re just not making as many splash plays,\u201d Chinchar said. \u201cTo be honest, I think if he was playing on the edge earlier, his name would\u2019ve been out there in a bigger way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019d want (an NFL team) that majors in a four-down system where Akheem can truly come off the edge and rush the passer. He could (play in a 3-4 alignment), I just think his skillset and experience better suit a four-down defence.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is also the top-ranked player for the \u201926 CFL draft on April 28, but Chinchar doesn\u2019t expect Mesidor to ever play in his native land.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe isn\u2019t coming up there anytime soon,\u201d Chinchar said. \u201cThere are so many factors, but if I were a betting man, I\u2019d say that he\u2019s going to be successful in the NFL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t bet against him.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2026.<\/p>\n
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Football success, it seems, hasn\u2019t changed Ottawa\u2019s Akheem Mesidor. Since heading to the U.S. in 2019, the defensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-559767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}