Last Chance U: Was Coach Frank Diaz portrayed correctly in Season 3?

After watching Last Chance U Season 3 for himself, offensive coordinator Frank Diaz thought he looked like a pushover. Was it a fair portrayal?

Could you imagine waking up six years into your career after working with some of the biggest names in your profession to four concrete walls, no view to the outside world and no paycheck to show for your hard work and long hours?

Offensive coordinator Frank Diaz found himself in this situation in 2017 when he was brought on as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Independence C.C., the subject of Last Chance U’s latest season.

“It was a jail cell,” Diaz joked of his living situation. “I was living with four guys. It was brick, it was cold. It wasn’t something you wanted to come home to.”

While the living situation may have been tough, the job, which turned out to be volunteer work, was even harder.

The former Oregon undergraduate assistant worked with the likes of Scott Frost and Chip Kelly, but Indy C.C. head coach Jason Brown was quite the opposite.

“It’s a unique situation to be in,” Diaz said. “I knew that I wasn’t going to work for Brown for 10-plus years. I didn’t need to satisfy Brown. It wasn’t my priority to satisfy Coach Jason Brown. It was my priority to make sure that the players are engaged and that the players are learning and ultimately that the players are winning ball games.”

“(The coaches) were over it. We were all over his yelling. Everything that he said we just let it go over our heads. We had to keep on coaching and get through the season.”

Independence C.C. got through the season, going 9-2 with a bowl win as one of the most successful seasons in school history.

Success on the field can cure a ton of off-field issues, but Brown’s coaching style rubbed plenty of people the wrong way though he was a good football mind.

Diaz admitted that he knew he wouldn’t be coming back for another season following the Dodge City game when Indy C.C.’s receivers coach nearly got into a physical altercation with Brown and the two had to be separated.

“My mind was blown,” Diaz said. “Every coach, at some point, wanted to fight Brown. He tests your manhood.”

Despite being portrayed as a friendly coach who didn’t get after players and had “one” job of getting on Malik Henry, the star quarterback, Diaz did plenty of work behind the scenes that the show didn’t quite capture.

“The show doesn’t highlight me working Monday through Friday,” Diaz said. “I ran the offensive practice. I obviously had to yell at guys and it wasn’t the guy I was portrayed to be.”

“Netflix does a great job at capturing the unique stories that people have. That’s essentially was TV is. I guess I wish there was a little more football.”

The main storyline with Diaz was his relationship with his troubled quarterback, a kid who parted ways with Florida State after being the No. 1 gunslinger in the country.

Their relationship was interesting and seemed to be Diaz’s No. 1 priority, especially when Brown laid into him for not making sure Henry made it to class, but the young coach developed strong bonds with all the players — something that didn’t quite make the show’s cut.

“I actually connected with the entire team,” Diaz said. “They understood where I was coming from. And that’s something the show doesn’t show with all the players — they just show me and Malik Henry. We had some pretty good bonds. (The portrayal) was tough. It was a tough deal.”

Henry is still looking for his next destination after finishing the 2017 season with Indy C.C. but is currently training with younger athletes back home in California.

That relationship between Diaz and Henry is still strong, too, and the two may be seeing more of each other now that the former offensive coordinator accepted an assistant head coaching job at Santa Monica High in California.

“I just met with Malik about a week and a half ago,” Diaz said. “We’re still cool. He seems to be in better spirits.”

As for the future of Diaz, he hopes to get back to the college ranks, hopefully avoiding the JUCO level.

Words from his former mentor — Chip Kelly — have gotten him through tough situations at Independence and could lead him back to his lofty goals soon enough: “Be bigger than the situation.”