With all the chatter surrounding the release of “Last Chance U” Season IV, we figured it was time to break things down and compare the two coaches from the first four seasons. Whether you like them or not, both Jason Brown and Buddy Stephens made things interesting for the popular Netflix show.
Stephens was one of the big stars during the first two seasons as East Mississippi was the focus of the show for seasons one and two. During his two seasons, Stephens had moments of rage and fury, mixed with a smattering of humility. Brown took center stage in seasons three and four at Independence, showing mostly arrogance and disrespect with a dash of philosophical brilliance.
Granted, we only received glimpses of both of these guys through the lens of a reality television show. It’s difficult to get a full scope of a person over a 4-month period in a matter of 6-8 hours. Messages can be taken out of context or delivered to make good television. Others can be left out of the show entirely.
Depending on which coach was your favorite, both have had a lot of success at selling their product to four-year schools. EMCC and Independence have flooded the D1 ranks with players over the past four years, sending guys to the biggest and shiniest schools in the nation.
When looking at the two coaches more in-depth, however, the similarities in pregame speeches and selling of the players is where the parallels end. The two coaches have had very different paths and it showed on screen.
Stephens will start his 12th season at East Mississippi in 2019 and has accomplished everything a coach could want at the junior college level. He’s won over 89% of his games, including five NJCAA titles and four JCGridiron Dirty 30 titles. In addition, Stephens has been named the NJCAA Football Coach-of-the-Year on three occasions. He’s had 32 NJCAA All-Americans with numerous players making it to the NFL.
Brown’s past is a lot less clear. Outside of the three years at Independence where he went 16-14 overall and won a Jayhawk title in 2017, the facts surrounding his accomplishments at Compton College are a little murky.
The rumors that his Compton teams led the state in offense appear to be somewhat in contrast with the facts. For those that don’t know the California landscape, Compton is currently a lower-tier program (since 2008) in Southern California that has a 5-95 overall record in the past 10 years. When Brown was there from 2007-2009 and won multiple coach-of-the-year honors (reported on Independence web site), the Tarters were 0-10 in 2009, 4-6 in 2008 and a reported 1-6 (an incomplete report) in 2007, according the CCCAA state website. In looking closer, not one player at Compton from 2007-09 ever appeared in the top-10 in any major offensive category according to the state’s records. Generally speaking, coaches don’t win conference coach-of-the-year from those types of programs nor do they have top-ranked offenses? I’m just sayin.
In terms of X’s and O’s, the “Last Chance U” brand doesn’t spend a lot of time showing coaches breaking down film or discussing the weekly game plan. We saw glimpses of it throughout the four seasons, but more talk of personnel issues and injury-related substitutions. In season two, Stephens had to take a team with close to 30 players suspended for the first game of the season due to an altercation that ended their 2015 campaign. He had to prepare a bunch of incoming freshmen and bouncebacks for their first collegiate game. EMCC would fall to Jones County (now Jones College) 27-25 in the season opener, playing the entire game with under 35 athletes.
In season three we saw players at Independence drawing up plays on a white board on the sidelines during a game. In season four they touched on defensive coordinator Jason Martin breaking down some defensive schemes, but we didn't see much on the offensive side of the ball. At the end of the day, Independence didn’t run into problems on defense in 2018. The offense only scored 22-or-more points on two occasions, which is pretty sad for an offense that put more than 10 guys to the D1 level. This can mean one of two things. Either the players weren’t as good as promoted, or the talent wasn’t being used properly and coached up. After 10 games, you are who you are.
EDGE - Stephens
In terms of communication, both had a similar style when talking to the players. When conversing with the media, however, they had contrasting styles.
Speaking from experience, I have talked to coach Stephens on multiple occasions and don’t have a bad word to say about our conversations. He was open, honest and willing to take the time. We had a conversation for about an hour one time (he called me), and we barely talked football. He also allowed me to interview him after season one, and showed humility and sincerity about his image from the opening season.
Conversely, I solicit information from the coaches every spring in order to gather information for the Rivals database, and don’t recall ever receiving a reply from Independence during the Brown era. In both seasons of Last Chance U we saw glimpses of Brown’s style with the media, which ended with hang-ups, criticisms of the reporters and a handful of verbal darts not worth repeating. I’m sure there were other moments we didn’t get to see on the big screen, but the blatant disrespect was on display during both seasons of the show.
EDGE - Stephens
When it comes to promotion, I give an edge to Brown and his staff. He had the dirty job of building a brand at Independence, which was a brutal task. The Pirate program hadn’t won in years, and now they are a household name in the JUCO world with a brand new practice field. The folks at EMCC have relied heavily on a winning reputation and a solid school web site for their message, somewhat ignoring the Twittersphere or catchy hashtags. At the end of the day, Brown and his staff resurrected a program that had been dead for decades.
EDGE - Brown
Which coach had the most control of his program and players?
That’s an easy answer. Never did we see a player at EMCC approach Stephens about game-planning or personnel issues on the field. At Independence, players were constantly giving their opinions and voicing their displeasures. At one point I asked myself; who is running the program?
Again, it is television and the cameras like to show the juicy stuff. I get that. However, when you open your team meeting by calling the players “Slapdicks”, one shouldn’t be surprised when they act like it.
Football teams will often become a microcosm of the coach and his staff. If the coach himself is constantly bumping his gums, he shouldn’t be surprised when the players do the same on the sidelines or locker room.
EDGE - Stephens
Who was the best teacher?
In seasons 1-2, Stephens spent some time praying with his players and left a lot of the counseling up to Brittany Wagner. They did show a lot of practice time, where he shouted and cursed his way to getting his message across. Like his style or not, he delegated a lot of his work out to his staff and always seemed to get the best out of his players.
Conversely, Brown was on “Speak for Yourself” this week justifying the Hitler comments he made on Twitter, claiming that the kid involved would constantly call himself Hitler and that the comments were taken out of context. If true, as a teacher, wouldn’t you immediately take the kid aside and let him know any references to Hitler are not the kind of locker room banter you want around your program? When is it time for the adult in the room to be an adult? I’m not saying football coaches need to be perfect, but if you let your kids run the show, one can only question the leader himself.
EDGE – Stephens
Who was better at assessing the personnel and making adjustments?
Football is a results driven business. A junior college coach spends a lot of time during the offseason recruiting players and then has to assess their abilities in a short amount of time. In the NJCAA ranks, some of the kids have scholarships and some do not.
It’s tough for a coach to keep track of 65-100 kids, all of which come from varying backgrounds. Occasionally they will get some bad apples. Some of the kids are born to be leaders. Others are lost and need some guidance. Many of them fall in-between.
When assessing their abilities, a coach has a short amount of time to set the temperature in the room. If he has a few bad lymph nodes on the team, he needs to address it quickly so that the cancer doesn’t spread.
Stephens had the case in season one with Ronald Ollie, a kid with immense talent who constantly pressed buttons and pushed the envelope as far as it would go. He was penalized by the program for his antics, lost time on the field and was even forced to roll down the field in front of the rest of the team as a form of punishment. Ronald Ollie went on to play at Nicholls State and is now on the Oakland Raiders.
In season IV we started with the coaches saying that all of their quarterbacks were D1 quarterbacks. Brown then brought back a quarterback from the previous year and told the team he was only there to watch. In my opinion, that was the point in which he lost his team. The bond of trust was broken. The rest of the season was an absolute circus at quarterback, with players criticizing the decision. To this day, none of the quarterbacks have signed D1 scholarships and only one in on a D1 campus as a walk-on.
Another case was Jermaine Johnson, who 247Sports named the No. 1 player in the country before the 2018 season started, and before ever playing a down of football. Johnson was made out to be the savior and reportedly had the skills to back it up. Unfortunately, he went out and had a so-so season, finishing with a modest 38 tackles and 4.5 sacks. JCGridiron ended up ranking him the No. 2 weakside end at the end of the season and the No. 10 overall player in the country. Again, it’s a results driven business.
EDGE – Stephens
Who was the best goal messenger?
Most of the successful coaches I know have lofty goals for their teams, but keep the messaging to the players minimal.
Stephens’ message was pretty consistent. If you win a conference title and have a chance to play for the Mississippi state title, good things will follow (paraphrasing). The players had it hammered into their heads that the next game was the most important game.
Season IV was something I had never seen before. The players took turns claiming to be the most talented team in the nation and anointing themselves potential national champions before ever playing a down of football. Where did they get that message from?
If you start the season with your players talking national championship, it only takes one loss to derail your goal. Before season IV reached the halfway point, players were playing for the name on the back of the jersey rather than the name on the front. At that point, it was all about film.
EDGE – Stephens
At the end of the day, both of these guys have talents that likely weren’t portrayed on the big screen. There is a spot for both of them in the game of football.
Buddy Stephens will go back to work at EMCC for a 12th season and likely be the head coach of the Lions for as long as he wants. If he wants to jump to a bigger level, he runs the risk of a bigger business where wins and losses dictates pay and employment.
Jason Brown is currently selling a book he released, capitalizing on the recent exposure while (reportedly) pondering his future as a coach. Personally, I think there is a spot for Brown at some level. He may have to take a recruiting coordinator job at a D2 program or a lesser-profile job with room for elevation. Or, maybe not. At the end of the day, the guy is a heck of a promoter and great at spotting talent, which could make a lot of people happy wherever he lands on his feet.
