By Sam Weiss
In baseball, there are traditions that date back to its very beginning. For the Maccabi USA U19 Boys’ Baseball Team, their new tradition is a passing of the torch from player to coach. This year, Jordan Brown will be the one making the transition from making plays to calling them following the 2026 Maccabiah.
Brown’s U19 Maccabi baseball coach, Tyler Bermundo, says Brown has leadership and drive. “Jordan is a leader out there. He is someone that you want on your team, whether he is putting up numbers or not,” Bermundo expressed.
Bermundo also represented Maccabi USA before becoming a coach himself. Like Brown, he was also close with his former coach.
“I played the Maccabi Games four times and I was very close with the head coach who is now stepping into a more managerial role,” Bermundo added.
The similarities between the two run even deeper as they grew up roughly 40 minutes away from each other in the Los Angeles, California area and never knew it. Bermundo left LA and went to play at Long Beach City College for two years before transferring to the University of Kansas where he played a year of club baseball before becoming the voice of the Jayhawks.
“I think it’s really cool knowing that he used to play college baseball,” Brown admired. “Just kind of learning from him and seeing how he interacts with us and how he coaches us.”
The two met at the 2021 San Diego Maccabi Games and played together over the years. Bermundo’s playing history was mostly in pitching, but he had some experience in the outfield as well. This experience allowed him to be more versatile and help utility players like Brown in practice. Despite Brown being an up-and-coming player, Bermundo says that Brown is the one who gave him the security to know that he could step into the role of head coach.
“I was honestly trying to take the step from assistant to head coach,” Bermundo explained. “Because Jordan is coming up now, I can step into the role of head coach.”
While Brown may be young, he’s not worried about the fact that he’ll barely be older than some of the guys on the field.
“These guys know what I can do and I know what they can do,” Brown stated.
With a transition like this on the horizon, it can be easy to look ahead of the events in front of you. But Bermundo and Brown both say that they still have their eyes set on the Maccabiah this year, despite how challenging the tournament may be.
“It is a very difficult tournament to coach,” Bermundo explained. “You really got to see who responds to pressure, and additionally, who’s the best those 10 days.”
The passing of the torch from player to coach will happen following the 2026 Maccabiah this summer. Bermundo will officially become the head coach and Brown will be his assistant coach as they get ready for the next Games.
Sam Weiss is a Sophomore student at Elon University. For more articles and stories by him, visit elonnewsnetwork.com/staff/sam-weiss.