Independence alum documenting team’s season in own version of ‘Hard Knocks’

MINT HILL, N.C. ( CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE ) — Many football fans are familiar with the longtime HBO series “Hard Knocks,” which chronicles an NFL team’s entire preseason each year.

That documentary concept has been adopted into the college football world and has now reached the high school ranks. Coming off an appearance in the 4A state semifinals, Independence High School is producing its own weekly show and is having a blast doing it.

“It’s pretty cool, we just wanted to kind of put our program on notice a little bit,” Independence head coach DJ McFadden said. “I think it’s cool for the kids. It’s something they’ll always have when they get older.”

McFadden, like many, has become a big fan of the shows catchy jingle and thought, why not create his own show?

So, he called on a former Patriot player-turned-videographer Tyree Glenn, who jumped at the offer, trading a football helmet for a camera.

“I originally did my first series last summer, each episode was a minute-long episode,” Glenn said. “Coach McFadden reached out to me with the idea of ‘Hard Knocks,’ and I was all aboard.”

From one-minute recaps to nearly hour-long episodes, Glenn is showcasing Independence football through a much different lens, with the potential of much different eyeballs on it.

Unlike HBO’s crews, Glenn is a one-man army, overseeing three student assistants.

With each new episode, like each new football game he used to play, comes things to learn from and improve upon.

And for this young entrepreneur, like his playing days as a safety, is tackling this new endeavor head-on.

“I love challenges, I love facing adversity. I love striving to be the top performer,” Glenn said. “Nothing in life should be easy. I want to look at things when I’m done and really be glad that I put the time in and that it was hard. I never want nothing to be easy in life.”

Independence kicks off its 2024 campaign Thursday at 4 p.m. against Myers Park in Game 1 of the Keep Pounding High School Classic doubleheader.

In the late game with an 8 p.m. kickoff, Providence Day and Weddington will do battle at Bank of America Stadium.

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