Swagger: What Is Coach Ike Hiding From Jace?
Swagger is Apple TV+’s latest offering and gives new life to sports shows. With the success of shows like Friday Night Lights and the CW’s All American, sports shows are slowly carving out their niche on television. Audiences have always loved a good sports movie but they’re harder to do on television. Football has been the primary focus but Swagger explores the world of youth basketball.
From NBA star Kevin Durant, filmmaker Reggie Rock Bythewood, and the team behind Friday Night Lights. A basketball prodigy must navigate a maze of pressure if he’s going to overcome the odds against him and learn what it truly means to have swagger.
What makes Swagger so appealing from the start is the infusion of young actors in a world full of A-listers rule your screens. Typically when it comes to youth actors, the tone is more teenybopper. However, Swagger has plenty of drama but leans more towards young-adult and trends towards more mature themes.
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So far, one of the longest-running stories throughout the season is the trust between Coach Ike “Icon” Edwards and his star player Jace Carson. The trust is there early on between the two, but Jace’s mom, Jenna, still has her hangups. Something never sat right between her and Coach Ike. Whether she doesn’t trust his true intentions or just doesn’t believe he has her son’s best interest at heart, there’s a clear rift between them that, as of the last episode spilled over to Jace.
It’s clear the young and impressionable Jace looks up to his coach and his former glory. When his past comes back to haunt him, the lack of trust comes to a head. After some digging, Jenna finds Ike’s blown championship game might be more than it seems and Jace decides to confront him about it. After an exchange of words, friction is at an all-time high.
But something isn’t sitting right. In the exchange between the two, Ike tries to explain it’s not what Jace thinks. Clearly, there’s more going on here that isn’t going to be resolved until the season finale. So what if he’s innocent? The line that stands out between the two is when he explains “My dad died thinking I was a piece of s#-t” with such conviction.
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Two things stand out on Swagger that might hold some clues. First is just how much coach puts other people first. We see a few scenes where his boss asks him to sacrifice his time and work extra shifts. He puts his family first while putting his work first, despite being late for a game. He takes Phil in when he faces struggles at home. Despite the outside noise, he continuously puts others and the team first.
Then there’s his fractured relationship with his former teammate, Lester Davis, that has also forced a wedge with Jace’s relationship as well. While they’ve painted a picture of Ike turning his back on his team and selling out, throwing the championship game. From what we know, what is the real reason his game was so off? What Does Lester want an apology for?
Despite his flaws, there’s been no sign that the Swagger coach would ever betray those closest to him. There had to have been something on the line, something that was held over his head that lead him down that path. The real reason is yet to be revealed, but I’d be willing to believe he again made a sacrifice and put someone else first.
Rick ODonnell aka Caveman Rick has many years covering the Miami Dolphins, Sports, and all sorts of movies and television.
