Every student athlete dreams of the day that they will be signed to a Division I program. However, there may be obstacles along the way.

For example, the student may have already been signed to an illustrious program, but they have fallen from grace in some way. In some cases, student athletes may not have had the appropriate grade point average in high school.

This is where junior college programs, popularly known as JuCo ball, come into play. The Netflix series “Last Chance U” profiles several junior college football programs, namely East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, Mississippi.

EMCC’s program is demanding in that it prepares its students for both academic and athletic success at the Division I level.

Under the leadership of Coach Buddy Stephens, the team has achieved several national titles in junior college football. It is clear, however, that Stephens has his own unique brand of leadership.

He uses words that would make a construction worker blush, but he also makes a point of sharing his Christian beliefs with the team, and he helped to institute the tradition of saying the Lord’s prayer at the end of every huddle.

Coach Buddy has served as a father figure of sorts to his student athletes over the years. Throughout the show, he has expressed pride in his program and his athletes’ growth as players and people. Even though his players have had problems with substance abuse or their grade point averages, among other things, he believes that none of his athletes are beyond redemption.

However, there have been situations in the context of the show where he has had to be firm with his athletes.

One such situation was during the last game of their 2015 season versus Mississippi Delta Community College. Allegedly, a player from Mississippi Delta assaulted an EMCC manager. By halftime, members of both teams exchanged blows.

Eventually, this led to Stephens excoriating his players for their behavior on the field. He laid into the players while the officials were deciding how they planned to proceed with the game.

The game was forfeited and the brawl cost EMCC a championship ring. This is important in that Stephens manages to teach his players a valuable lesson in controlling their temper.

Another star of this show is Brittany Wagner, Academic Advisor for the EMCC football program. Like Stephens, Wagner is a strong parental figure for her students. She helps the students to remain on track academically and potentially receive scholarship offers from Division I universities.

She is at once the mother, the big sister and the psychiatrist to her students. If students were frustrated with the events of that week, she was always ready to be a listening ear. She also helped to bring levity to the series.

“Last Chance U” is at its heart, a story of redemption. Several of Stephens’ athletes have gone on to earn scholarships to Division I programs and even play in the National Football League. Although the majority of the students fell from grace in some manner, in the end, they earned their “last chance.”