EMCC football program to be spotlighted again with July 21 release of “Last Chance U” Season 2

SCOOBA – Season 2 of the award-winning Netflix documentary series "Last Chance U" about East Mississippi Community College's championship football program will be released Friday, July 21 on the world's leading internet television network.

Directed and executively produced by Greg Whiteley, Season 1 of "Last Chance U" was named Best Episodic Series by the International Documentary Association a year ago along with being a finalist for a Peabody Award.  Increased from six to eight episodes this year, the series inspired by Drew Jubera's October 2014 GQ magazine article of the same name is produced by One Potato Productions, Condé Nast Entertainment and Endgame Entertainment.

"All of us who worked on the show feel a debt to the good people in Mississippi who shared their lives and trusted us to tell their stories," said Whiteley.  "Thank you to the talented team who dedicated months of their lives in Scooba, and months more shaping the footage to properly document these incredible stories."

Season 1 of "Last Chance U" thrust EMCC into the international limelight, garnering critical acclaim from a multitude of news organizations since its release a year ago.  The series has been widely publicized on television sports networks ESPN and Fox Sports as well as in publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, to name just a few.  After the release, EMCC began fielding inquiries from all over the world from those wanting more information about the school or upcoming football games.

"We really didn't know what to expect from the national exposure our football program would receive from the Netflix documentary prior to the release of Season 1," EMCC President Dr. Thomas Huebner said.  "The response was overwhelmingly positive.  We have heard from people, literally, across the globe who have reached out to express their support for our football team, the faculty and staff highlighted in the documentary, and EMCC.  Their interest in our mission and our efforts to provide opportunities is very encouraging."

Season 2 of the highly acclaimed docuseries gives the viewer an all-access look into the lives of EMCC's football players and coaches as they collectively balance academics, football and life en route to putting together another championship season on the gridiron.  Under the guidance of head coach Buddy Stephens, the 2016 EMCC Lions bounced back from a narrow season-opening road loss with 11 consecutive wins that forged the way to a fifth Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges state championship during an eight-year span, along with a fifth NJCAA postseason bowl game victory, a sixth straight MACJC North Division regular-season title and a No. 2 national ranking in the season-ending NJCAA Top 20 poll.

Entering his 10th season as head football coach at East Mississippi, Stephens owns an 87-12 career record and will surpass Hall of Fame football coach Bob "Bull" Sullivan as the school's all-time wins leader with the Lions' first victory of the 2017 campaign. With a current career winning percentage of .879 and three NJCAA championships to his credit, Stephens is also challenging to take over the top spot on the NJCAA's all-time list for highest career winning percentage for football coaches with at least 100 career games coached.

"We are naturally proud of our football team's legacy as a gridiron powerhouse," Huebner said.  "But I would be remiss in not pointing out that EMCC boasts a long list of successes in both athletics as well as in other activities and efforts.  We are proud of many of our students and believe we embrace our mission with excellence."

A preview screening of the first episode of "Last Chance U" Season 2 will be shown Thursday, July 20 on the Scooba campus.  Free and open to the public, the 7 p.m. screening will be shown at EMCC's Stennis Hall.

All eight episodes of "Last Chance U" Season 2 will be released simultaneously at 12:01 a.m. PT (2:01 a.m. CT) on July 21 on Netflix.  To become a member of Netflix, visit www.Netflix.com or call 1-866-579-7172 for more information.  Some dialogue may not be appropriate for younger viewers and parents are encouraged to keep that in mind when watching with their children.