Coach Terrell Brent emphasizes academic success and emotional development for his players
By Aedan Alexander-Mullen
As floodlights beamed down on the field on a warm October evening, Coach Terrell Brent implored his team to play with urgency. Trailing MLK High School by two points with only minutes left in the final quarter, it seemed that the Belmont Tigers’ perfect start to the season could finally come to an end at the Benjamin L Johnston Memorial Stadium in Northeast Philadelphia.
But by the end of the quarter, freshman quarterback Nafis Watkins had marched the Tigers down the field to a game-winning touchdown, extending their unbeaten record.
Winning has become commonplace for Belmont Charter High School football in the past few years. Since taking charge of the team, Coach Brent has led the Tigers to outstanding success on the football field while emphasizing the importance of academics and character development for his players.
Brent came to the high school three years ago when gun violence was raging in Philadelphia. Belmont’s former West Philadelphia neighborhood had become a hot spot for shootings with over a dozen teenage victims in the past three years.
“Yes, my kids have lost friends, family members to gun violence. Sadly, it will always be an issue in the city,” Brent said. We just try to keep our kids busy and away from the drama.”
Although gun violence has gone down in Philadelphia since the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 100 children have been shot this year, according to city data. At Belmont’s October game, security waved metal detector wands over fans entering the stadium. Students who couldn’t get into the game watched from the fences, and several police cars were posted around the field.
Belmont’s community has been personally impacted by the epidemic of gun violence in recent years. Until the school moved to the new Fairmount location, lockdowns due to shootings nearby were common. According to the Philadelphia Obituary Project, a volunteer worker at BCHS and a Belmont Middle School graduate was killed in a 2021 shooting.
Christine Gullotti and Dante Banks, two Belmont administrators, wrote in a PhillyVoice op-ed that Belmont trains staff using a trauma-informed approach and formed a truancy intervention team to mitigate the emotional impacts of gun violence on students. The school has also conducted community outreach to anti-violence nonprofits and local law enforcement officers to build trust with them.
Despite the distractions, Brent said his team’s focus is in the classroom and on the field.
“We make sure they understand that they are student-athletes, student first,” Brent said. “We take care and provide for kids outside of football to make sure that we take care of the whole child.”
When Brent arrived, there was a limited budget for football equipment and no designated practice field or home stadium. This past year, Belmont High School moved just steps away from the Franklin Institute but still often uses a space in Fairmount Park for practice.
Brent grew up in the Belmont area and took over as head coach from his own former coach. He says he wants to push his kids to greater heights beyond just football.
“We have two college athletes, but we are a young program and will be sending more,” Brent said. “We’ve sent kids to trade school, and helped students get internships and job opportunities.”
He’s developed a reputation for personally ensuring his athletes’ success. Between driving students to college visits out of state, holding practices almost year-round and requiring high academic standards for players to be on the team, he said he’s trying to ensure his athletes are well-rounded students and young men.
“He doesn’t just hold them to a low bar, he makes sure they’re going above and beyond and setting a standard,” said John Widmer, Belmont’s head of school. “In a small school, people underestimate how big of an impact that has.”
Widmer said that Brent’s team is excelling and setting an example for the rest of their peers who aren’t on the team. According to Widmer, four in five of Belmont’s graduating class last year went on to postsecondary education programs compared to a city average of only 44%, something he partially attributes to the team’s leadership.
“ In school, he’ll always make sure that all of his players are always in class, grades up to date,” said Moise Fleurival, a junior on the team playing both wide receiver and linebacker. “ Outside of school, like really living our life and stuff, he makes sure that whatever problems we have at home, if we need help with anything, he’s always there for us.”
Elias Colon, another two-way player and a junior at Belmont, came to the school to play for Coach Brent. He said the environment the coach has created is special to the team.
“ I feel as though it’s more than just football,” Colon said. “It’s a team coming together, putting pride aside, playing as a team, and being better student athletes and not just an athlete.”
On the field, the Tigers have made major strides in Brent’s three years as coach, winning multiple division titles. This year, they can go even further as one of only ten Philadelphia teams with a shot at a state title.
They’ve continued their red-hot form going into the postseason this year after a 9-1 season, producing a dominant shutout win in their opening knockout game. They are the only public league team left in the playoffs this year, as well as the smallest school in the public league to even have a team.
According to Brent, while the school’s small size has caused some challenges, it hasn’t stopped them from performing against much larger schools.
“Being the smallest program against the city, going against 4A-6A programs, our facility and resources are behind, but we are working on things such as a weight room and practice field,” Brent said.
Moving to their new building in Fairmont, just blocks away from Center City, has helped Belmont get some breathing room, but the team still lacks basic amenities other schools have such as a dedicated practice field and home stadium. Brent’s players say the lack of facilities only motivates them to be better.
“ I feel like it really doesn’t put us at a disadvantage and mostly motivates us to work for it,” Fleurival said. “Because we’re really like the smallest school in Philadelphia, we don’t have a lot of access to certain stuff that other big schools have. So it really brings the determination and the dog out of us.”
For Brent, though, regardless of where the team is playing, the most important thing is helping his students orient themselves for brighter futures and to be better people.
“I hope to make a difference in kids’ lives, however that might be. I am the change I wanted to see coming from poverty,” Brent said. “Tell them if I could do it, then I know they can. I am the difference.”