Seasons one and two of Last Chance U followed East Mississippi Community College football players; then Kansas’s Independence Community College got the spotlight in seasons three and four. Now, the fifth season of the docuseries goes to the Eagles football program at Laney College in Oakland, California. Players there, led by coach John Beam, won their first California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) state championship in 2018.
“I told them we’re not ‘Last Chance U.’ We’re your first chance,” Beam said to The Mercury News back in 2019. “We’re your ‘Best Chance U’.” The players on Beam’s team, he noted, choose Laney for a reason. “How many NFL players and NBA players have come out of this city of 400,000? A lot. Why is that? We think Oakland is special, and I hope that’s how [Last Chance U] portrays our city.”
The trailer, seen above, promises action and athlete storylines of hardship, hard work, and hustle as we follow the Eagles’ journey to defending their title. There are no scholarships or dorms at Laney College — some players drive long hours to get to the field and the classroom. Some, as you’ll see, have kids and families to support at home. “Our job is to believe in them so they can believe in themselves,” Beam says in the trailer. The players’ motto? “Laney Built.”
Last Chance U is executive produced and directed by Greg Whiteley, who also worked on the hit mat-talking series Cheer. The fifth and final football season of Last Chance U (before the series transitions to basketball) comes to Netflix on Tuesday, July 28.
