On paper, the premise of “Signing Tony Raymond” is pretty funny; a college football coach trying to prove himself and gets swindled by a bunch of locals and bullied by fellow coaches. There’s even a lesson buried in here, but the execution is kind of boring and pretty by-the-numbers. The biggest problem is that every character feels like a wonky caricature of people we’re supposed to care about. If the film had leaned all the way into the comedy aspect, this would’ve worked better.
Put him in, Coach
Directed by Glen Owen, “Signing Tony Raymond” has some fun moments. One in particular with Marshawn Lynch’s Eugene Ledford, a former Alabama player who puts a gun in main character Coach Walt McFadden’s (Michael Mosley) hands. This led to a comical sight gag prevalent throughout the film that highlighted just how out of his depth McFadden is.
Oh, Walt. Poor, sweet Walt. The most disrespected person in the whole movie, McFadden really tries his best in the shark tank of college football recruiting. His cheating asshole of a wife, Donna (Nikki Estridge), discourages and berates him at every turn. His co-workers steal his ideas and pass them off for their own. He’s swindled out of money by grifters left and right. His kindness is often taken advantage of and it gets frustrating to watch. Oh yeah, and the Head Coach, Crew Marshall (Charles Esten), is banging his wife. The dude has terrible luck.
Finding Tony Raymond
The film goes from zero to a hundred in a short amount of time. “WTF” moments like the aforementioned Eugene-takes-Walt-shooting scene, boosters with blatantly illegal bribes, stalking redneck uncles, drunk, seductive mothers, and a corrupt cop that wants the best for her son. There was a lot going on.
In the center of the craziness is the title character himself, Tony Raymond (Jackie Kay); a highly sought-after defensive end that is wanted by every college football program in the country. Walt gets wrapped up in Tony’s family’s insanity, at first, because he wants to sign him to Louisiana University. However, over time, Walt actually starts caring about these weird ass people. Tony’s pretty elusive throughout most of the movie, but when he and Walt finally connect this is where the heart of the film starts to bloom.
Tony is actually a sweet kid that feels overwhelmed by all the recruitment noise, the deals that come along with it and the shady coaches promising him and his family impossible things. He dislikes the business side of it all. It’s scenes like this that make the film worth at least one watch. Tony’s all about his family and that is a thread that carries through the story and makes him and his folks relatable.
Final thoughts
“Signing Tony Raymond” is a lighthearted film with a few laughs that tries to teach a lesson about how absurd college football recruiting has gotten lately. Unfortunately, it lags a bit in the middle and takes too long to get to its point. The characters are too thin to really care that much about, but it’s still an entertaining watch.
Rating:
A young college football coach (armed with a lucrative NIL offer) is sent to rural Alabama to sign the nation’s top high school defensive end and soon finds himself trying to outflank a frenzy of rival recruiters, fight off grifting townsfolk, and somehow win over the player’s wildly dysfunctional family.
Written & Directed by Glen Owen. Starring: Michael Mosley, Mira Sorvino, Rob Morgan, Marshawn Lynch, Brian Bosworth, Champ Bailey and Charles Esten.
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