So far, Netflix has decided to spend two years at both East Mississippi Community College (JC) and Independence CC (KS). Should it get renewed, Netflix will have to make a decision to return to Indy or EMCC, or find another story to tell.
Greg Whitley, the director of the show, shares that in both Indy and EMCC's cases, it made sense to come back for another season, but with the nature of Jason Brown's controversial public dismissal that made international headlines at Independence earlier this year, is there a case to go back to Indy? Or will the series head somewhere else?
Here's what Whitley had to share with The Wrap.
“Every year that we’ve done the show — it’s been four now — at the end of the year, when we’re done editing and we submit, and we think there’s a possibility that the show may get renewed, we [say], ‘Well, where do we wanna go?'” Whiteley told us. “In each stop that we’ve made so far, it made sense from a storytelling standpoint to go back for one more year.”
“I don’t know if that means — if we’re lucky enough to keep doing the show — does that mean we are now two years at every [school]?” Whiteley said. “I don’t know, because it’s possible we may go there and it’s a great story but it’s told in one year. I wish I had a better answer for you.”
Assuming the hit series gets picked up for another season, here are are some intriguing options that Netflix should consider.
Iowa Western
Head coach: Scott Strohmeier
2018 Record: 10-1
Final ranking #3
The case for WHY: The Reivers football program is very young by nearly all standards, getting their start in 2009, and the program has already appeared in two NJCAA National Title game and is one of the best teams nationally, finishing last season ranked #3 with a 10-1 mark. Coach Strohmeier's bio points out that the program has sent more than 100 players on to the next level of college football and 12 players have gone on to play in the NFL and the program has never suffered a losing season under his leadership. He's 84-19 since taking over the program, and they might just have the nicest facilities in all of JuCo football.
Sure, this might be a departure from the drama-filled approach of the first four seasons of the show, but Iowa Western could end up being a really refreshing change of pace that can revitalize the series.
Lackawanna (PA)
Head coach: Mark Duda
2018 Record: 11-0
Final ranking: #6
The case for WHY: With the past four seasons of the show set in America's Heartland, a change of scenery might be a nice twist, and one program worthy of consideration in the northeast region is Lackawanna College. The Falcons are led by Mark Duda, who has been on staff with the program since 1993 and has led the program since 1994 piling up a 159-76 record, producing over 370 Division I scholarship athletes, and helping 15 guys sign with NFL teams during his time with the school.
Once you get over the initial giggle of a Junior College's name sounding a whole lot like "Lack-of-want-to" - which may be an interesting storyline in itself, you see that the Falcons play some good football under a veteran head coach.
Ventura College (CA)
Head coach: Steve Mooshagian
2018 Record: 11-2
Final NJCAA ranking: Not Available (see below)
The case for WHY: California JuCo football is a whole lot different than what fans have become accustomed to through Last Chance U, and that could make for some really good TV. Unlike the NJCAA, the CCCAA does not give scholarships to kids and California JC teams only play other California JC teams, which means there is always controversy over the Junior College National Title because the best team in California aren't in the mix for it. The CCCAA has their own poll, rankings, and bowl games as their own governing body.
One of the top programs in The Golden State is Ventura College. Led by head coach Steve Mooshagian, who has former head coaching stops at Feather River (JC - CA), Sacramento State (FCS - CA) and also coached the wide receivers for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1999-2002. In nine years with the school, Mooshagian is undefeated against his rivals.
Along with what I'm confident could be a really interesting staff to follow, Ventura and Mooshagian also have this viral clip featuring Jared Goff going for them in the positives column.
Compton College (CA)
Head coach: Al Dorsey
2018 Record: 0-10
Final ranking: Not Ranked
The case for WHY: There are a few key points that bring me to recommend Compton College for a spot on this list. The first of which is that if drama is what the fans want, the hometown community college where Jason Brown grew up may be able to deliver that. The team went winless last season, averaged -8 yards rushing and less than 100 yards passing per game while the defense gave up 55 points per game. Also, the city of Compton has a violent crime rate 211% higher than the national average, according to statistics.
Staff wise, Al Dorsey is the program's head coach and made a brief cameo to talk about Jason Brown in season 4, and he is a product of the California community college system, starring at Long Beach CC (JC - CA) before going on to start two season at Cal where he was an honorable mention all conference performer. He spent some time at USC working with the offensive and defensive lines as well before landing the head coaching job.
Oh yeah, it's also worth noting that Compton has their own Jason Brown on staff, listed as "Jason W. Brown" on their staff directory who works with the defensive line and serves as recruiting coordinator. Cool coincidence for sure.
Snow College (UT)
Head coach: Andrew Mitchell
2018 Record: 8-3
Final ranking: #9
The case for WHY: Like EMCC and Indy, Snow College could be considered a dark horse candidate of sorts for the next season of the show, and that could be a really good thing.
Located in Utah, the heart of Mormon country, Snow is entering their first season under head coach Andrew Mitchell, who spent the past two seasons as the team's offensive coordinator. Mitchell is an alum of the school, and went on to play offensive line for Mike Gundy early on in his coaching career so having access to some pre-mullet Gundy stories could be fun. Other coaching stops for him include Indiana State (OL), TCU (assistant OL), and UNC, Houston and Oklahoma State as a graduate assistant.
Snow has had a dynamic offense the past few seasons, leading the JC ranks in scoring at 50 points per game, as well as yards per carry and first downs per game and second nationally in a host of other categories.
The Western States Football League broke up, so the program had to schedule an all independent schedule, and Mitchell shared a few days ago that he believes it's probably the toughest schedule the program has ever faced. They'll open the season against Indy rival school Garden City (JC - KS), who finished the season #2 last year. Fans of the show will remember the near scuffle between Indy and Brown and Garden City and their head coach Jeff Sims from season 4.
If it were up to me, I'd have it narrowed down to Snow and Ventura. Think there are some really interesting storylines at each place that could play nicely for Netflix and really take the show to the next level while earning back some respect from the football community on the way.
If Netflix wanted to open the show up beyond Junior College football and go the FCS, D-II, D-III, or NAIA path (where a number of guys that didn't pan out at the FBS level often end up), there could be endless possibilities that would be fun to kick around.
Imagine the show going through a rebrand (couldn't call it Last Chance U if it was going to the FBS level) and ending up at FAU hanging with Lane Kiffin and his staff for a season and the antics that may take place there, or Oklahoma State with Mike Gundy, or Washington State with Mike Leach. Far fetched, but man that could be fun.