Ty Watches "Last Chance U" Season 2
/I just recently finished the second season of "Last Chance U" last Friday. Before I go any further, if you watch the show and haven't finished it, or even started the second season yet, stop right here. This is going to be filled with spoilers. This is your warning.
Last chance.
So, as I said, I just got done watching all 14 episodes. I love this show. I wrote about the first season awhile back. I liked the second season more. I now know a lot more about the players on the East Mississippi Community College Lions. I was super excited to see how things turned out for season one's unlikely star, Isiah Wright. There was a lot to look forward too, and a lot to love about the new episodes of "Last Chance U".
In the first episode of season one, Wright inserts himself as a kick returner in the first game and houses the opening kickoff. From there on out I was excited to see how his career turned out. Well, he went through a whole lot this past season. He started off this season on fire. He was the man. He made one of the greatest leaps to score a touchdown that I have ever seen. It was all over TV and social media. Go look it up.
In the third game of the year, things took a turn for Wright. He got a concussion, and from there on out, he suffered multiple injuries and became less and less focused on football. He also was engaged, and his future wife lost a baby that she was pregnant with. This made him even more distant from football. It got so bad that he cussed out his coach, and Buddy Stephens, more on him later, kicked him off the field for the rest of that game. Wright struggled mightily after getting hurt early. He also became more distant and lost the smile and love for the game that made him one of my favorite players on the team. He lost all his big time offers and he is now playing division 2 football in Georgia. He is so much more talented than D-2, but he doesn't seem to have that passion for the game anymore.
Wright was the only person that had a big role on season 1 that returned in season 2. There was a whole new crop of D-1 transfers this year though. I think the show, and the reputation of EMCC, helped the, get some big time players. Their defense seemed to be stacked. They got 2 D-Lineman, Chauncey Rivers from Georgia and Kam Carter from Penn State, that looked like they'd be unstoppable. Well, Rivers was. He was great. He not only dominated on the field, but he got his grades right too. Rivers was kicked off Georgia for failing 3 drug tests in 7 months. But, in his less than one year in Scooba, he seemed to get his head on straight, and he was a force on the field. He was wrecking back fields left and right. His play, and improved grades and attitude earned him a scholarship to Mississippi State. I read an article yesterday stating that he was going to be a starter their this upcoming season.
Kam Carter was given the gift of being strong, big, fast and talented, but his head was never into the game it seemed. He would constantly clash with coaches and teachers. He tried to fight the D-Line coach, and if that fight happened, he would've gotten his ass beat. He was a malcontent. He didn't care about school or practice. He constantly claimed that he should, "be at Bama". It got so bad that his teammates openly called him out for his laziness. Carter was the epitome of a kid that thinks everything should be handed to him because he is so talented. And don't get me wrong, he is incredibly gifted as a D-lineman. But, his attitude was so shitty, I found myself actively rooting against him. He eventually turned in some dominant performances and got an offer from Pitt, which he accepted, but we will see how he takes to big time college football coaching. I'd guess not that well.
The D also got Dakota Allen, a transfer from Texas Tech that was kicked off the team due to armed robbery. That is a serious offense, but this kid did not seem like a bad kid at all. He definitely made a mistake, but I felt like going to EMCC was his "doing time". He is a great student and a great linebacker. I feel like he got mixed up with the wrong people at the wrong time. He played great, made the grades, and shockingly, Tech was able to get him back and he will be a starter there this fall.
On the offensive side of the ball, I already mentioned Wright, but they also got a big time transfer QB from FSU, De'Andre Johnson. Now, this kid was a big time recruit and committed to FSU almost immediately. While on campus, he was at a bar one night and punched a woman. I immediately lost any respect I had for him. That is unacceptable. I don't care how much you apologize and say that you made a mistake, that is wrong on so many levels. And Johnson definitely paid for this horrific thing he did. He was very good on the field and in the classroom, but no one wanted him to come to their school, and rightfully so. He got kicked out of FSU for hitting a woman, so what other "power 5" conference school would want that baggage? None. They all stayed far, far away. I feel like that is exactly what should have happened. But, of course he went and signed on with Florida Atlantic, the spot that Lane Kiffin is now the head coach. He is back playing D-1 football, but he is in a purgatory of sorts, and it is all deserved. Don't hit woman ever. It is never right.
Back to the defensive side, Johnson will be joined by my favorite player from this season, Tim Bonner. Bonner was a rambunctious kid that got in a little trouble and was removed from Louisville's football team. His year at EMCC started of slow, but by the end of the season he was getting sacks and pressures on almost every down. He is the epitome of a high motor player, and I think he will thrive at FAU. He also got his grades right, which is the most important thing. I will say, most of these kids say that school is so hard, but if you just put in minimum effort, you can pass. That is what I did, and I have a high school and college degree. School is not that hard.
As far as the coaches go, Buddy Stephens is still an asshole. He tried to be more calm and likable this season, but it all came off as fake, and every outburst at the camera crew made me think he was still the same old curmudgeon. He let Netflix come into his house and film, so there is no need for the attitude and the moping about them wanting to film him when he melts down. It comes with the territory. Also, his whining at all the assistants was totally uncalled for. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was ever his fault. It was always someone else's fault. That is ridiculous. More to that point, he lost a ton of his staff. Clint Trickett, the QB coach and offensive assistant, left for a job at FAU. The defensive coordinator, Ed Holly, who bore the brunt of most of Stephens meltdowns, left for Florida to go coach high school football. That is how much he wanted to get away from Stephens. Then we have Marcus Woods, the coach in waiting and offensive coordinator. Everything seemed fine until Stephens treated him like a child on the sideline of their bowl game and tried to kick him off the filed. Woods handled it with extreme class, all the while Stephens was complaining about his play calling. This led Woods to leave the team and stay at the school in an administrative roll. They clearly had a major falling out, and it was all Stephens fault.
Finally, we have Brittany Wagner, the football players academic adviser. She was just as great this year as she was in season 1. She seemed to be getting fed up working for EMCC, but mainly Stephens. He would not work nicely with her, even going so far as to blame her for some of his players having poor grades. She did her job wonderfully, and she truly loved and wanted to help these kids. Stephens may not have realized it, but the players parents recognized it for sure. Wagner is a wonderful person. She left EMCC, thankfully, and she has now taken a similar type job in Michigan. She seems to be getting as far away from Mississippi and Buddy Stephens as possible, and that is great.
I love "Last Chance U". They are done filming at EMCC, which seems like the right thing to do. They will be doing a third season, but they will be going to a junior college in Kansas. They got what they needed out of EMCC, and it feels like the right time to move on to a different school, if they want to keep this show fresh. I highly recommend this show to anyone that likes football, but I think people that don't like football, but like drama, will really enjoy it as well. "Last Chance U" is wonderful.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Get ready to book Ty as your keynote speaker to the class of 2018. His inspirational words on the ease of school, and just doing the minimum, is the motivation tomorrow's leaders need.
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