You’ll love ‘Last Chance U’ just as much in Season 3, even though it’s at a new school now

Netflix’s Last Chance U is back for Season 3 on July 20, when the hit show chronicling the lives of JUCO football players will begin a new era. Instead of East Mississippi Community College, where the first two seasons were set, this year’s school is Independence Community College in Kansas.

SB Nation was the first to give you the new trailer, released in June:

Independence is a small town made up of roughly 8,700 people, and Independence football is a big part of the community.

Unlike championship-winning EMCC, the Pirates have historically been the doormat of the Jayhawk Conference — heading into Season 3, Indy hadn’t won its league in 30 years. There is no winning culture or an expectation to come out on top.

That being said, it’s really cool to see the town be excitedly surprised when the Pirates start winning. In a way, Indy shows us what EMCC used to be like.

“The obvious question when we landed in Scooba was ‘well how did you guys get so good?’” Last Chance U director Greg Whiteley told SB Nation. “And hearing the stories of the early days of Buddy Stephens and the crappy field and the crappy locker room and — prior to the building of their new stadium — just what it was like, what they had to do to get recruits. And a lot of us would just sit around and talk: ‘well gosh, wouldn’t it have been great to be here five, six, seven years ago when this was all happening?’

“And we felt like with Independence, Kansas we were getting that opportunity.”

When the school hired Jason Brown as the head football coach, things changed. He told the cameras that when he got to Indy in 2015, there were no coaches’ offices and no weight room — both had to be built from scratch. There is no brand-new stadium, pristine practice fields, or multiple uniform combinations like at EMCC.

Hell, in episode one, we see a cow interrupt practice.

The youth at this program is evident. Unlike the dedicated staffers EMCC had, the coaches are the ones who check grades and do class checks. The players are undisciplined, the coaches sometimes show a lack of preparation, and some assistants are working for free. Independence is much less of a well-oiled machine than EMCC is.

But it’s a program on the rise, and it’s all because of Coach Brown.

“He’s a fuckstick!” is just one of the Compton native’s signature catchphrases you’ll hear in the show. Like Stephens, he’s not afraid to unload on players or coaches.

But he’s a self-proclaimed players’ coach, and you can tell that he cares deeply for his kids. He preaches the value of education and getting out of Independence to reach the next level. He personally checks their grades and gets on them if they miss class, even calling himself Brittany Wagner, continuing the show’s tradition of its subjects referencing previous episodes in their own series.

“The biggest prize that your eyes should be on is fucking graduating from here,” he says to a room full of his players during episode four. “The second should be: win the natty.”

A JUCO graduate himself, Brown says he came to Kansas because the state has been good to him — he played at Fort Hays State after he left Compton College. The cool thing is seeing Brown seemingly not holding back who he is in front of the cameras. After one particularly big win, Brown celebrates with a cigar and some Charlie Wilson.

He talks openly about his alcoholic father, how he hasn’t seen his daughter in eight years, and how his coaches and players are all the family he has. He’s raw and unfiltered, but it allows you to connect with him on a deeper level.

Henry, the former five-star Florida State quarterback, is a central figure (meaning all three seasons have revolved around former FSU QBs). At times, he comes across as disrespectful, entitled, and clutch on the field, but he never seems to reach his potential.

“Yeah I suck, but he’s coaching at JUCO,” Henry says directed of Brown after the coach benched him in episode four.

He’s got some issues with authority, and his father coming back into his life just as he was becoming a touted recruit just adds to the puzzle.

“He’s come night and day since January,” Brown said via The Athletic last fall. “I’ve nearly cut him 20 times. I’ve suspended him. I’ve done it all. He’s a lot better since then, but he has a long way to go.”

Brown says coaches ask him all the time about his character. Their relationship isn’t perfect, but perhaps Brown is the type of coach Henry needs.

“‘He’s most talented quarterback I’ve ever had but i just think he’s damaged goods,” Brown says in episode seven.

She’s an English teacher who also tutors players, facilitates a book club for black students to discuss societal issues, and even buys linebacker Bobby Bruce a new sweatshirt to replace his old one.

“My ancestors died trying to better themselves through education,” Pinkard says, fighting back tears. “So now I take it very personal because I don’t want my ancestors’ death to be in vain. So through me, I want to help whoever I can help, and I want them to understand that no one can take your education from you.”

The show goes to the hometowns of Bruce, Henry, defensive lineman Emmit Gooden, offensive lineman Kerry Buckmaster, wide receiver Carlos Thompson, and running back Rakeem Boyd.

“Someday hopefully we can have that man-to-man talk,” Boyd says of his father in prison and hasn’t seen him play.

”My mom raised me but I got everything from him — size, football,” he adds when the producer asks him what he’d say to him.

Seeing some of their family lives shows just how important Coach Brown and Independence football really is for them.

It’s an inside look at a JUCO on the rise from historical mediocrity. If you like football, this show is still for you. While going from the familiarity of EMCC is an adjustment, Whiteley and company makes the transition flawlessly. It feels like Independence had been the show’s next step all along.

All the elements that made seasons one and two great are still here: a JUCO program, star players that sometimes break your heart, a fiery head coach, and people trying to build their lives.

This time, it’s also about building a program.