Some key new characters in the 2022 college football season
Every college football season is always disrupted and defined by offseason growth or changes from people who weren't key characters the previous year.
Sometimes television shows don’t really develop their main identity until they introduce new characters who can allow the show to find its narrative footing and really take off.
Parks and Rec as most people remember and know it today wasn’t really the fully recognized version until they lost Paul Schneider and his Mark Brendanawicz character and replaced him with Adam Scott’s Ben Wyatt and Rob Lowe’s Chris Traeger.
A lot of the “small town existential angst” they were originally aiming for was basically tossed out the window and it became more of a show for and about college educated suburban liberals putting up with Middle America. A little less poignant but much more in line with what the writers knew and consequently funnier.
Even before then they had to adapt around the emergence of the Andy Dwyer character because Chris Pratt was way too effective to jettison as they’d originally intended.
College football has a ton of brand new characters every season. Sometimes new guys emerge who are expected to play major roles and they do, other times people come out of nowhere to define a season.
There’s constant shuffling as familiar head coaches move around or face new challenges and the supporting cast of Heisman-contenders and star players is in constant flux. The writers can’t jump the shark because there isn’t anyone with any real control over the narrative.
It makes for a compelling entertainment product. This coming season there will be some players emerge who weren’t really household names in the past but will end up changing everyone’s expectations for how this season will progress. I’m going to take a stab at outlining a few characters who could end up being important this season.
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