Friday Night Tykes Season 2: Preview and TV Schedule

Friday Night Tykes, the Esquire series that follows several teams in the Texas Youth Football Association and the adults who take the games way too seriously—often to detrimental, disturbing and disappointing levels—is set to return on Tuesday, January 20 at 9 p.m. ET.

Or if you can't wait that long, you can watch the debut episode of Season 2 online here.

Below, you'll find more on the schedule and a preview of the second season of the Esquire Network's controversial show.

Schedule

For the weekly Friday Night Tykes television schedule, check out Esquire.com. 

Preview

Season 2 will take Friday Night Tykes to the 10- and 11-year-old junior division this year in the San Antonio-Austin region, focusing on the Texas Spartans, Alamo City Lobos, San Antonio Colts and the San Antonio Outlaws.

The Outlaws are the defending champions, so following whether they can repeat and earn another title this year will be a primary storyline of Season 2. 

Here's a preview of the team:

But while the TYFA is supposed to be all about the kids, it often ultimately becomes about overzealous parents and coaches with a complete lack of perspective. The first season was often derided for showing coaches who drove young kids to the point of vomiting or encouraged them to attempt to injure opposing players.

So controversial did the program become that Illinois Senator and Democrat Dick Durbin wrote a letter to Esquire Network President Adam Stotsky, calling for the program to be taken off the air, noting "With all we know about the risks of concussions in youth sports today, it is unconscionable to televise and celebrate the conduct of a league that directly endangers the health of children." 

The response from television critics and media outlets was mixed, though the voices opposed to the program were the loudest. Jon Solomon of AL.com was particularly disturbed by the show in the review he wrote last February, noting "What the cameras document could be considered child abuse anywhere else other than on a football field."

Anybody who has played football knows that the game is, at its core, about controlled violence, which means that the intensity and aggression of the coaching is generally at a high level. That's one thing at the high school, college or professional level. 

It's quite another on a level where kids who are still developing mentally, emotionally and physically. 

To the credit of TYFA and its president, Brian Morgan, after some of the more disturbing behaviors from coaches and parents alike in Season 1, an effort was made to make changes with the league, per Randy Harvey of the Houston Chronicle:

"

Morgan said three areas of particular concern were coaches' conduct, player safety, and parents' etiquette. One coach was suspended for the 2014 season for encouraging cheating, another for six games for profane language. Based on two episodes made available for media reviews, the tone of the show and of the league is gentler.

'If the kids are having fun, we're doing our jobs,' one coach said. 'That's more important than a championship.'

"

Don't expect that sort of attitude to be reflected across the board, however. It may be the healthy approach to youth sports, but it wouldn't exactly drive ratings, would it? 

And that, in a nutshell, is why Friday Night Tykes is such a divisive show. Some folks will argue that the program exposes the intense and often unhealthy nature of youth sports. Other folks will argue the program exploits that very nature for ratings.

And more than a few folks out there won't see anything wrong with the behavior of certain coaches or parents at all. Which is why Friday Night Tykes exists in the first place.