Akheem Mesidor’s Journey: From Transfer to CFB Title Game

Akheem Mesidor, a Canadian-born defensive end for the Miami Hurricanes, is playing in one of the biggest game of his career next week. After arriving as a transfer in 2022, Mesidor has become one of the most disruptive defenders in college football. Now, he'll take the field on one of the sport’s biggest stages as Miami faces Indiana in next Monday's national title game.

Mesidor, who grew up in Canada, was once on the brink of quitting football altogether. According to a 2025 Yahoo Sports article, Mesidor's recruiting journey was anything but easy:

“Trying to get noticed by colleges was an exhausting process for Mesidor, who grew up in Ottawa and bounced around about a half-dozen high schools, the last of which was in Clearwater, Florida. He'd cross the border into the U.S. to go to camps and seek scholarship offers, only to often be told some form of “come back next year." Mesidor eventually got attention from recruiters, signed with West Virginia as a three-star player and stayed with the Mountaineers for two years before coming to Miami in 2022.”

Mesidor began his college career at West Virginia before transferring to Miami, where he is now one of the final five remaining players of Mario Cristobal’s inaugural 2022 recruiting class.

Over the last few seasons, Mesidor has proved to be a backbone for the Hurricanes' defense, racking up more than 56 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks and four forced fumbles.

Despite his success, Mesidor hasn't lost perspective. He told Yahoo Sports:

“I have a lot of friends back home who I grew up playing football with who would do anything to be in this position, and they weren’t able to have this chance, I know that I’m super blessed and I’m fortunate to be this position.” 

Miami's postseason run has been defined by grit, growth and timely execution and Mesidor’s importance became especially clear in the Hurricanes’ Cotton Bowl quarterfinal upset of defending national champion Ohio State. In that game, Mesidor and his fellow edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. put relentless pressure on the Ohio State offense.

Read more about their performance here.

They had a 43 perfect pressure rate according to Pro Football Focus, which was the second-highest pressure rate Ohio State allowed this season. Mesidor and Bain combined for 33 pressures, 18 tackles, 9.0 TFLs and 7,0 sacks.

Mesidor's journey is a reminder that development isn't always linear and success doesn't always come quickly. His story shows how resilience and hard work can take you to your greatest dreams.