Description: It's 1971 in Alexandria, Virginia. High school football is the town's most popular sport. The school board is under court order to integrate the public schools -- both students and faculty. It demotes the white man who is head coach of the high school football team, appointing a black man in his stead. Many of the new black students are going to make the starting team. Some students, white and black, who started for their school the previous year or who expected to make the starting team in 1971 will be relegated to the bench. Tensions are very high.

This film combines two stories. One is the well used formula about the triumph of an underdog sports team. The other describes the successful integration of a high school football team using three important subplots. The first is the interaction between the two coaches. Herman Boone, given responsibility for a team filled with angry players, both black and white, must navigate treacherous waters. Coach Yoast, for the sake of students he has known for years, accepts his demotion. He becomes an effective and loyal part of Boone's coaching staff despite the fact that Boone had been placed over him. The two coaches, although they have different coaching styles, are united in their desire to create a winning team and do what's best for the students. The second subplot is the story of two players, Gerry Bertier, the white team captain, and Julius Campbell, a talented black player. Coach Boone requries that they bunk together at training camp. The boys get beyond their initial hostility and forge a friendship that lasts the rest of their lives. The third subplot of the racial integration story is that of the team. Responding to the leadership of Boone, Yoast, Bertier and Campbell, the team comes together as a unit despite the racial hatred roiling the community around it. The Titans become a model of integration for a city in troubled times.