HOMETOWN VICTORY

A former NFL coach recounts his experiences coaching high school students from a marginalized community.

Lowe’s storyline is the stuff of countless memoirs and films: A good-hearted teacher counsels young people whom society has sidelined, taking their football team into championship territory. After college ball and a brief career coaching in the NFL, the author returned to his Portland, Oregon, hometown, “the whitest city in America”—in just about every neighborhood except that of Parkrose High School, a low-income area “where the first programs to be affected when it came to school budgets were the sports programs.” The previous three football seasons had yielded a record of 0-23. Lowe turned that around, against the odds, by insisting that his players were a kind of family and treating them accordingly—including the demand that the players treat him and each other with respect. To accomplish this, he had to sideline some of the best on the roster until they took his requirements seriously. In the end, they went up against one of the best squads in the city and, of course, won—even if they were defeated later in the championship cycle. “The Broncos fought and battled,” writes Lowe, “but ultimately didn’t come out victorious in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. The ride was over, but the legendary season would live on forever.” There’s not much surprising in the narrative, though there are a few wrinkles that teachers in wealthier schools might not encounter—e.g., one of the best players is homeless, and most grapple with broken homes and lack of resources. One memorable moment is when Lowe faces down a student armed with a shotgun, a moment he characterizes as a “young man…crying for help.” There’s some tough love here that’s useful, too, as when Lowe insists, “Anything worth a shit or worth achieving takes dedication.”

Inspiring reading for students and teachers striving for excellence against the odds.