An overview and brief analysis of the leadership characteristics demonstrated my the characters in the film.

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2003)

`Remember the Titans' takes place in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. This was a time where segregation still took place and the government was attempting to integrate society. T.C. Williams High School was becoming an integrated school bringing together students from other schools around the area. For this very racial divided town, most did not agree with what was happening. The students and staff were told to just make it work.

Coach Bill Yoast (played by Will Patton) was the schools white football coach who led the team to fifteen winning seasons. When the decision was made to integrate the school, Coach Yoast was demoted to assistant coach and Coach Herman Boone (played by Denzel Washington), a black man from another school, was to take his place. Neither Yoast nor Boone liked what was going on but both new they had a responsibility. The high school football team was comprised of two distinct groups of people that were not willing to work together as a team. A team is all about working together to achieve a common goal and Coach Boone and Coach Yoast taught the boys how to work past racial prejudices and come together as friends and teammates.
As the film unfolds and the students start looking past the color of their teammates' skin, two of the boys' friendships clearly stand out. Gerry Bertier (played by Ryan Hurst,) the white team captain, and Julius Campbell (played by Wood Harris,) a black player, form a true friendship that no one, not even a girlfriend could break apart. Toward the end of the film Bertier gets into a very bad car accident that paralyzes him from the waist down. While in the hospital, the only person that he wanted to see was his `brother' Julius. Bertier had once said that he would never play football with a black and here he was referring to him as his `brother.'
Coach Boone and Yoast had helped the students overcome and breakdown the once racial barrier of the team. The 1971 T.C. Williams High School football team was undefeated. For the first year as the only integrated team of the area, the coaches led their team to championships where they won. For the Titans it was not only about winning on the field, but it was about winning the battle of racism.
Throughout `Remember the Titans,' many concepts/ideas from class are presented. Motivation, teamwork, and multiculturalism are just a few of them that are portrayed through the story line.
Coach Boone is the teams' key motivator. When he took the job to be the head coach for the T.C. Williams Titans High School football team, not only did he have to motivate the players to break racial barriers and work together as a team, but he also had to motivate his fellow coaches. He came in coaching for a team that was already very good and had won championships for the past fifteen years. Coach Boone realized how good they were and decided to take the team to camp anyway. His purpose of camp was not solely intended to teach the kids about football, but more about how to work as a team and put racial prejudices aside. He made the students dress alike and become acquainted with team members of the opposite race.
After not even a day of being at camp, two of the boys, and then the entire team, got into a fight because of their differences. Coach Boone brought the team together and told them that they were to redirect their anger and use team effort to achieve perfection. His goal was to bring these kids from different backgrounds together to transform them into a team. During the Titans first game of the season, Coach Boone talks with the boys before the game motivating them to work as a team. `Don't let anything, nothing come between us. Nothing tears us apart. In Greek mythology, the titans were greater even than the Gods. They ruled their universe with absolute power. That football field out there tonight, that's out universe. Let's rule it titans.'
While Coach Boone was the base influence for motivation, two of the players really stood out as being the advocates of coming together and working as a team. Gerry Bertier and Julius `Big Ju' Campbell showed their fellow teammates what it was like to surpass racial prejudices to come together. At the beginning of the movie, Bertier, the team captain, does not want blacks to be playing on his team and his attitude toward the players shows that. In one of Bertier and Big Ju's first conversations, Big Ju says to Bertier, `attitude reflects leadership.' This conversation was the stepping stone for them learning to respect each other both as teammates and friends.
Coach Boone and Coach Yoast encountered the same challenges that the players did. They too had to overcome racial barriers and work together as a team. Both Coach Boone and Yoast and Bertier and Big Ju were the main influences of the story.
The entire movie deals with issues such as communication, influence, power, motivation, teamwork, conflict, problem solving, authority, responsibility, decision making, and multiculturalism. It was a very moving film and I recommend it to everyone.