ASHLAND
Jose Bermudez looks like a rock star.
Hes got the height 6-foot-1, probably 6-2 or 6-3 with the afro he doesnt want cut.
Hes got the big smile, the easy-going demeanor and the animated gestures when he speaks to help explain what hes saying in his broken English.
By all accounts, hes got the chops of a rock star, too. Bermudez plays second guitar and sings in his band back home in Caracas, Venezuela. A band thats already cut its own full-length album.
Hes good, said J.R. Hess, a guitar picker himself and member of Clay Countys football team. Ive learned a couple of songs from him.
But music isnt why Bermudez is here. At least not yet, anyway.
The exchange student and two-sport star is going to school at Clay County High to learn about America and play a form of football he never imagined himself playing.
Gone was the futbol (soccer) of his native country. In was football. American style.
I love it, Bermudez says. Its good.
No, says Panthers coach Danny Horn in his best Spanish accent, correcting his new kicker. Its very good.
Yes, Bermudez says as his eyes widen and a big grin stretches across his 18-year old face. Its very good.
Its actually been more than very good the two-word phrase that Horn and assistant coach Jerry Weems recite with Bermudez just because they love to see his reaction.
Bermudezs arrival in Ashland has added a dimension to Clay Countys football team it has never before enjoyed. Not last year. Not when the Panthers were winning four state football championships. Not 30 years ago. Not ever.
Now when Clay County drives inside the opponents 25, it doesnt have to go for it on fourth down every time. Now the Panthers can turn to their new placekicker their rock star and get three points.
We didnt know if he could do it. We really didnt know what to expect, Weems said.
But he can kick it, Horn said.
American dream
Bermudez always had a dream of coming to America.
Being a basketball player he played on the Venezuelan national team he was indoctrinated in our sports culture by the NBA game.
Here sports is amazing, he says. The U.S. is good. The players are good. The sports are good.
All my life Ive said I want to go to U.S. and play.
His chance came in August when Weems wife, Carolyn, had an idea.
With their five children grown and out of the house, Carolyn decided there wasnt enough noise at home. She told Jerry she wanted to host an exchange student for the upcoming school year.
She gave him some papers with the names and information of several prospective students. Jerry, the Clay County basketball coach, saw that Bermudez played basketball and decided that was who they should get. Even then, he was apprehensive.
We didnt know if we had made a mistake or not, Weems said. All we knew about him was what was on that sheet of paper.
Little did Jerry know that if they made one mistake, they were likely making two. Three days before Bermudez was to arrive, Carolyn told Jerry another student was coming, too.
I was moving furniture around, getting ready for Jose when I asked her where she wanted it, Jerry recalled. She said Dont put it in there because thats his room and dont put it in there because thats her room. I said, Her room?
Her name is Tina Peaschur, an exchange student from Germany. Peaschur and Bermudez have become great friends, helping one another adjust to life in the United States.
Its good for me because she speaks very good English and I no speak very good English, Bermudez said. She helps me.
No help needed
One thing Peaschur cant help Bermudez with, however, is kicking a football. Fortunately for him, he doesnt need much help anyway.
Weems knew Bermudez played soccer and didnt waste much time finding out if he could make the transition to football.
The night Bermudez arrived, Weems picked him up from the airport, brought him back to the school to show him the Panthers trophy case and took him out to the football stadium to give him a tryout.
It was the first football he had ever seen, Weems said.
Apparently, it didnt matter .
Jerry called me that night at 10:15, Horn said. He said, Coach, I think weve got us something.
The next morning, a Saturday, Horn met Weems and Bermudez at the field.
They lined up Bermudez for a 40-yard field goal attempt. Bermudez made the kick.
He turned and asked Horn if that was good.
No, Horn replied. Its very good.
And so the two-word phrase between coach and player was born.
Horn and Weems both felt that Bermudez could be even better with proper instruction something neither could provide.
I couldnt begin to show him how to do it, Horn said. I dont know anything about a soccer-style kicker.
But Damon Duval, Auburns placekicker, does. And since Weems son, Lance, played basketball at Auburn, he had a connection. He loaded Bermudez up and took him to the Plains to see Duval.
The Tigers senior gave Bermudez a routine to go through before every kick.
He seemed to understand everything and how we did it, Duval said. Id walk through it and hed walk through it. Then at the end he just went through everything on his own and we just watched to make sure he was doing everything well. It seemed like he understood what we were doing and what he was doing.
After the tutoring session inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, Bermudez felt confident. And after returning and watching the Tigers play Western Carolina and Vanderbilt before 85,000 fans, he was hooked on American football.
Oh, oh it was great, he said. Thats what I love about sports in America and football here. The sports are very important for the people here.
