Top College Football Documentaries to Watch this Off-Season

The off season is never easy. Constant listening to podcasts that struggle themselves for topics, reading tea leaves trying to get an inkling on what may be happening during the coming season, endlessly scouring recruiting ranking websites and several other things keep us fans stirring for a little while. But at the end of the day, this gets tiresome.

With that being said, documentaries and television shows featuring college fans, teams and players are becoming more and more popular. Whether it is a team that produces one on YouTube, or is featured on a main cable tv network or streaming service, there are several options here.

Here are my top recommendations for college football documentaries to watch this off season to help the days go by:

Saturdays in the South: A History of SEC Football - Initially aired on SEC Network in 2019, this eight part series chronicles the history of SEC football, chronicling it all the way back to its roots. Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Nick Saban, Billy Cannon and several other players, coaches and story lines are featured in this documentary. Each episode covers a decade or so and will leave you starved for more.

The Season: Ole Miss – The Ole Miss Rebels YouTube channel features the Ole Miss football teams each season week in and week out and has been airing for about 10 years now. Recap this past season which was the first 11-win campaign in the team’s history, or watch previous years as well. This channel also provides other season-long documentaries on other Ole Miss sports teams.

The Pulse: LSU Football: ESPN covered the LSU football team this past season week-by-week. Follow the Tigers as they battled through SEC play and get an inside look at the culture Brian Kelly is creating in Baton Rouge.

Coach Prime- Although a non-SEC story, Deion Sanders has captivated much of the country with his success the previous three years at Jackson State University, before moving on to coach the Colorado Buffaloes at the FBS level this year. Catch this one on Amazon Prime Video as it chronicles the strong start of the Buffaloes this past year, as well as their struggles and triumphs the rest of the 2023 season. You can also go back to watch season one which covers Deion’s last year at Jackson State University.

Last Chance U - Although it hasn’t aired in a few years, the four season of Last Chance U can be seen on Netflix which features different junior college programs with many FBS level athletes trying to get their first or second chance at an FBS scholarship offer. Last Chance U follows a team week-by-week, while profiling different players that you get to know. Some of the names you will recognize, which makes the show an intriguing off-season watch. Last Chance U has a basketball addition as well.

QB1: Beyond the Lights - Spencer Rattler, Jake Fromm, Justin Fields and others are featured in this Netflix high school football documentary which features some of the top high school seniors of that season as they lead their teams through the year, as well prepare for the college level. Although the show stopped airing in 2021, it is neat to look back at some of the players that have been successful at the college or pro level, as well as some that did not pan out.

The off-season can be challenging, but documentaries like this can definitely help the days to go by. And before we know it, spring practice will be here, SEC media days and then onto fall camp where things really start to gear up. Until then, tune in.