'Last Chance U' - Season 2 Preview

Written by Zeke Perez Jr.

The roar of the crowd. Entire towns drawn to fill a football stadium. Students and alum rise to their feet. Football players seek redemption. A championship culture exists in the middle of nowhere.
 
Documentary series Last Chance U returns for its second season to pull you into the world of junior college (JUCO) football. The show focuses on East Mississippi Community College’s championship-winning football team. The EMCC Lions consistently sell out their 5,000 seat football stadium despite the fact that the school sits in the tiny town of Scooba, Mississippi which boasts a population of just around 700.
 
Last Chance U refers to the fact that EMCC is often the last place the players on the football team can prove themselves. Many players on the team were once elite prospects who succumbed to injuries, academic struggles, suspensions or even major off-the-field issues coming out of high school or at top Division-I universities like Florida State or Clemson. For them, EMCC and JUCO is just a pit stop as they look to turn their lives around and get recruited by a big-name college. 
 
Unlike a standard sports documentary, this show feels much more personal and emotional, providing intense drama and deep characters you feel for by the end of the series. Without question, the football action is top-notch and how it is filmed makes you feel like you are a part of the action. But you continue watching the show less for the football and more because you’re hooked on the story and personalities of the players and staff. It’s often easy to look at athletes as just jersey numbers, but Last Chance U uncovers the humanity behind the facemasks. When it’s all said and done, these college athletes are just kids still learning and figuring life out. The show gives a glimpse of the work ethic, the moral struggles, and the internal growth of these young athletes.

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One of season one’s standouts was athletic academic advisor Brittany Wagner. Tasked with getting students who eat, sleep, and breathe football to care about the ‘student’ part of their career, Ms. Wagner tackles her job with persistence and compassion. Through her, you get a deeper look at the heart and soul of each player. Coach Buddy Stephens is more tumultuous. The football season starts with the coach coming off as a tough-love figure, but as the season progresses, and as the team finds itself in a brawl with a rival squad, Coach Stephens unleashes a verbal attack on his players and loses the locker room. Season two will look at the yin and yang Ms. Wagner and Coach Stephens bring to the team and will test whether or not they can cohabitate on the staff.
 
The creators and filmmakers behind the well-crafted series deserve tons of credit. The show rivals the best ESPN 30 for 30 films in how it is shot and presented, with real-life stories about small-town football that not even a Friday Night Lights type drama could replicate.
 
By the end of season one, I was ready to buy some Lions’ gear and become a full-fledged EMCC fan. Season two promises to bring just as much intrigue with new players, the fallout of the brawl, tension among staff, and Lions hungry for redemption. If you haven’t watched season one yet, now is your chance to binge as season two hits Netflix on July 21st. ​

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