Is ‘Last Chance U’ moving away from EMCC for Season 3?

Netflix documentary ‘Last Chance U’ focuses on East Mississippi C.C. However, it could be on the move to another JUCO for Season 3.

Word spread throughout the Twitter-sphere Thursday of a shake up in the latest Netflix hit ‘Last Chance U.’ After following East Mississippi Community College for the first two seasons, the third installment will feature the Independence Community College Pirates from Independence, Kansas.

Indy C.C. finished only 5-4 in 2016, but won four consecutive games to close out the season. For everything the Pirates collectively lack, they make up for with skilled individual players that have used Indy C.C. as a spring board for their football careers.

Just last season, linebacker Drequan Brown was causing offenses fits. Standing 6-foot-3, Brown is tall enough to cover tight ends yet fast enough to get from sideline to sideline. He tallied double-digit tackle numbers in six of their nine games, racking up 98 on the season. He added three interceptions, two sacks and two forced fumbles. After his 2016 campaign, Brown committed to play at Northern Illinois for head coach Rod Carey.

One particular player that garnered serious attention was defensive back Antonio Howard. The 5-foot-9 Miami native held offers from Iowa State, Kansas, Louisville, Ole Miss, TCU and Texas A&M before ultimately choosing the Aggies.

Stats for players in the secondary can be misleading, especially at the JUCO level, but Howard finished the 2016 season with 19 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. I’m not sure if he’ll be ready for SEC-competition this fall, but there’s no telling what he can accomplish if he polishes up his game.

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A handful of other Pirates signed elsewhere to continue playing football in 2017: Joshua Avery (Southeast Missouri State), Nathan Fairbanks (Pittsburgh State), Bryce Gemmel (Stephen F. Austin), K’Deem Hamilton (Northeastern State), Christian Howard and Ben Knox (Colorado State) and Jaylon Lane (who’ll join EMCC’s Dakota Allen at Texas Tech).

Even with all the individual success, the Pirates have been unable to field a team that’s a consistent winner. However, Indy C.C. apparently wasn’t the filmmakers’ first choice.

Reigning NJCAA champion Garden City C.C. rejected the offer to be featured in the third season of ‘Last Chance U,’ in May. The school’s President, Herb Swender, claimed in a phone interview with the Garden City Telegram, “It just didn’t fit what we’re trying to accomplish here with student success and things like that … It’s something that’s more controversial.”

He’s definitely right about the controversy part. EMCC head coach Buddy Stephens is well-known among fans of the show as a loud-mouth. He hoped to work on his cursing in Season 2, but failed miserably, if you ask me. And what about De’Andre Johnson? Isaiah Wright? Those guys were surrounded by all types of controversy, but guess what? Audiences ate it up.

Next: Top 5 EMCC players from Season 2

Season 3 of ‘Last Chance U’ will have a rough time eclipsing the prior installments of the series, but it definitely has the potential. And with Brittany Wagner moving to greener pastures anyway — along with a number of players — it might be good for some time away from EMCC.