In honor of Friday’s release of ‘Last Chance U’ Season 2 on Netflix, here are the five best players to ever come out of East Mississippi Community College.
Last Chance U was a breakout hit for Netflix last summer, so much so that a second season didn’t take long to be announced. The second season debuts on Netflix on July 21, perfect timing for football fans who have just about ran out of patience for the offseason and are ready for fall camp of their favorite teams to begin. While the show has now only been around for two seasons, EMCC has cranked out their fair share of football players that went on to division 1 programs.
As the title of the show states, EMCC is the ‘last chance’ or at least second chance, for many of the players on the roster. Some players transfer because they’re behind in the depth chart and want the opportunity to start somewhere else, others make bad decisions and this is their only way to prove themselves worthy of another chance at a D1 school. Some players arrive at EMCC straight from high school hoping to develop enough to obtain a D1 offer.
EMCC isn’t the only junior college out there that gets high profile transfers, but they tend to be the best at it and most notable; mostly because of the success of the program which has won NJCAA National Titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Now, here are our rankings of the top five players from East Mississippi Community College who went on to stardom at the division 1 level.
Randall Mackey, QB, Ole Miss (2011-2012)
We start off our list with a couple of players who just missed the cut from the top five. Although Randall Mackey didn’t have the most storied career ever, but he experienced two drastically different seasons at Ole Miss.
In 2011, Mackey rotated in and out at quarterback in Houston Nutt’s final season in which the Rebels went 2-11. Then in 2012, under Hugh Freeze, he was a do-everything weapon at quarterback, running back and wide receiver.
Mackey was vital in helping turn Ole Miss around, in a season in which the Rebels went 7-6. Mackey was dangerous with the ball in his hands and exciting to watch. He finished his career with 1,171 passing yards, 505 rushing yards and 351 receiving yards with 13 total touchdowns.
John Franklin III, QB, Auburn (2016-Present)
One of the stars of the first season of Last Chance U, John Franklin III left Florida State for EMCC and then was signed by Auburn in February of 2016. Franklin battled for the starting job for the Tigers in 2016 but lost out to Sean White.
While Franklin had some moments in 2016, he wasn’t the breakout star many had hoped he would be. He has since moved to wide receiver, hoping that his athleticism will be enough to get him on the field more and make an impact for the Tigers in 2017.
Franklin was one of the most controversial stars of the first season but he finished with 430 rushing yards and two touchdowns as more of a running back/slot type.
Denico Autry began his career at EMCC and then landed with the Mississippi State Bulldogs in 2012. He was lightly recruited at the high school level despite having a solid career, which is why he had to go the JUCO route.
As a member of East Mississippi, he helped the program to a perfect 12-0 season and a national title in 2011. He was also named a first-team NJCAA All-American before leaving to join Mississippi State in the SEC.
While with the Bulldogs, Autry had 73 total tackles, 16 of which were for a loss. Autry also amassed six sacks and three forced fumbles. In 2013, Autry was voted a third team All-SEC defensive end.
In his two seasons with Mississippi State, Autry helped lead the Bulldogs to the Gator Bowl in 2012, and the Liberty Bowl in 2013. After his career ended with the Bulldogs, Autry set his sights for the NFL. Autry went undrafted in the 2014 draft, but signed as a free agent with the Oakland Raiders and has been a member of the team since then.
Reed was a disruptive force while apart of the defensive line for Alabama in his time with the Crimson Tide. In his two years in Tuscaloosa, Reed registered a total of 112 tackles and two sacks. Reed was critical in helping lead Alabama to the playoff in both of his seasons there. Concluding with the Crimson Tide’s 2015 National title.
However, before he was recording 111 total tackles in two years with Alabama, he was fighting for a chance to make an FBS team. He was forced to attend military school for a year after high school because of poor grades he accrued at the prep level.
After that, he attended East Mississippi C.C. and recorded 100 tackles in his two years with the junior college, even helping it win the national title in 2013 before transferring to Alabama. The rest is history.
While defensive tackles don’t tend to get a lot of praise, Reed deserves the praise he’s received in his career. Reed was a force to be reckoned with and proved his worth by being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Therefore cementing his spot on the list of top players from EMCC.
Arguably no player was more instrumental in the turnaround at Ole Miss in recent seasons than Bo Wallace. He got his start, though, at none other than East Mississippi Community College with head coach Buddy Stephens.
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Wallace began his career at Arkansas State under Hugh Freeze. When playing time was sparse, Wallace transferred to EMCC. After winning an NJCAA National Championship and setting records for passing touchdowns and total offense, Wallace transferred to Ole Miss.
Back under Freeze’s watch, Wallace helped lead the Rebels to the BBVA Compass Bowl in 2012. After that, Wallace helped lead Ole Miss to the Music City Bowl, the following season.
In 2014, Wallace had his best season, helping Ole Miss beat Alabama for the first time since 2003 and helped lead the Rebels to the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl against TCU. Wallace finished just shy of 10,000 passing yards and 81 total TDs in his career as a Rebel.
Wallace’s connection to EMCC has now come full circle as he is the current quarterbacks coach at the school, taking over for former West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett who was the previous QB coach and now the tight ends coach at Florida Atlantic with Lane Kiffin.
As a collegiate athlete, Blount might best be remembered for punching Boise State defender Byron Hout following a game.
Before that ever happened, though, he was a lowly-rated two-star recruit and planned to attend Auburn, although not offered a scholarship, but failed to quality academically. He chose East Mississippi C.C. as his next step and rushed for 2,292 yards and 18 scores in two years. He was then ranked the top JUCO prospect in 2008. He chose Oregon.
Blount was a force in the Oregon backfield in 2008. Blount split time with Jeremiah Johnson and still rushed for over 1,000 yards and 17 TDs. Blount was looked at as a Doak Walker Award candidate and a Heisman candidate before the Boise State game in 2009. That game derailed his 2009 season, and essentially his college career. Blount only played in five more games, including the Rose Bowl, but was never really a factor on offense.
After his career at Oregon ended, Blount went undrafted but was signed to the Tennessee Titans in 2010. Blount then hopped around to Tampa Bay, New England, Pittsburg, New England again and is now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Chad Kelly is the definition of a player that one would expect to come from a school with the show title of Last Chance U. Kelly had been kicked off of Clemson’s football team and transferred to EMCC for another shot with a top program. He won an NJCAA national title with EMCC and then signed with Ole Miss.
Before he even arrived at Ole Miss he was in trouble for a bar fight in Buffalo, N.Y., and it seemed as though his second chance might not even happen.
Hugh Freeze gave Kelly a chance and he redeemed himself and helped lead Ole Miss to a second straight win over Alabama and led Ole Miss to a Sugar Bowl title in 2015 with a 10-3 record. Kelly had been headed for an outstanding senior season in 2016, but it was cut short by an ACL injury. In 2017, Kelly was drafted by the Denver Broncos with the last pick of the draft.
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Chad Kelly tops our list because Kelly was instrumental in keeping Ole Miss as an SEC and National title contender. Kelly was an absolute playmaker and elevated his team to a level of play that hadn’t been seen frankly since Eli Manning was in Oxford.