NFL-rich coaching staff lay groundwork for a Texas title run in new documentary series.
Video: The Truth About Trinity, Episode 1
Trinity Christian coach Deion Sanders guides offense and his son in quest for title.
Deion Sanders has always had a way with words. The 50-year-old Hall of Fame cornerback often playfully accentuates them to offer different, more emphatic meanings or flavors.
Last summer, when asked how he thought the 2017
Trinity Christian (Cedar Hill, Texas) football season would go, Sanders, the team's offensive coordinator among other duties, said, "It BETTAH go good."
He immediately recognized the mispronunciation and decided to have fun with it.
"You can spell 'better' any way you want. You can spell it b-e-t-t-e-r or b-e-t-t-a or b-e-t-t-a-h, but it 'bettah' go well," Sanders said.
In a style and enthusiasm that sets the tone for the entire season, Sanders made his expectations crystal clear in the first episode of the MaxPreps five-part feature, "The Truth About Trinity."
A chapter from the MaxPreps Learning from Legends series, "The Truth About Trinity" covers the Dallas-area private school's season-long quest for a Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) state title following a disappointing 4-6 season.
To help with the 2017 transformation, Sanders brought in a handful of former NFL players, including head coach Aveion Cason (Rams, Chiefs, Lions and Cowboys) and defensive coordinator Kevin Mathis (Cowboys, Saints and Falcons). All vowed the commitment to improve goes well beyond the playing field.
"I tell them, 'I'm not trying to prepare you for this game. I'm trying to prepare you for this game of life,' " Sanders said.
In Episode 1, there's plenty of real-life drama on display.
There's nationally-ranked running back
Maurice Washington, a game-breaking California transfer nicknamed "Cali," who's just trying to fit in. "I feel like I'm a natural born leader," he says. "I miss California. My whole family is back there. But I can tolerate Texas."
On the opposite end is four-year starting wide receiver and established leader
CaMiron Smith, another top Division I prospect, who makes an impassioned speech before the season opener.
"This is the last time for a lot of us to have a first game," Smith said. "It's hard and emotional, but I want us to take advantage of the moment."
Trinity Christian takes a knee following its season opener.
It's a big moment for the team's starting freshman quarterback,
Shedeur Sanders. Not just because he's making his first varsity start, but also because he's Deion's son. Bring a ninth-grader added to the father-son, coach-player dynamic adds loads of intrigue.
"It's kind of difficult," Shedeur said. "At the same time, it gives me an excuse to do what I have to do. I just have to grow up and we go on with the season."
Deion doesn't mince words on the topic.
"He's not starting because he's my son," he says. "He's starting because he can handle the heat."
There's plenty of heat, passion and human drama throughout the initial episode and only grows and throughout the season. As Deion says himself, it only gets "bettah."
