Out of the Foxhole

Bryan Scott ’17 may have never played football at Oxy were it not for Brett Kassel, who would become his future roommate. Newly hired football coach Doug Semones had ventured to the West Torrance Lions Club All-Star Football Game at Mira Costa High School in South Bay to recruit Kassel as a long snapper for the Tigers—which he did. But Scott, who had to wait until his senior year of high school to start his first varsity game, was making a pretty good showing himself.

“My mom and dad were cheering in the stands,” Scott recalls, “and Coach Semones came down to me after the game to introduce himself and he said, ‘How’d you like to take a trip to Occidental?’”

Prior to Semones’ overtures, Scott had gone unrecruited out of Palos Verdes High School. He made inquiries about being a walk-on at San Diego State and TCU, but “they kind of said no,” he recalls.

Even so, it took a little convincing to sell Scott on being a Bengal. “I’ve lived 45 minutes away, my entire life, born and raised in Southern California, but I had never heard of Occidental,” he admits. After Bryan and his dad, Bob, visited the Oxy campus for the first time, they came away a bit underwhelmed by its size.

Ultimately, it was his mother, Leslie, who urged him to take a second look. “My mom said to me, ‘Bryan, I think you’re making a mistake. Coach Semones is a good man, and Oxy has a great academic program. I think you should go to practice one day.’”

When he walked into Jack Kemp Stadium at 6 a.m., “All the guys are cheering,” he says, “and I look up and the scoreboard says Patterson Field. My grandfather was Major General James H. Patterson”—a personal hero—“so I took that as a sign.” After spending the day at Oxy, Scott committed two days later.

“My mom made me look at the College in a different way,” he says, “but Coach Semones changed my life with a quick trip to see my college roommate.”

Scott’s professional journey is rooted in perseverance, with opportunities and obstacles: early looks from NFL teams (Rams, Falcons, and Chiefs); spots on CFL rosters (Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto); and engagements of varying lengths with other leagues (TSL, XFL, and USFL). He persevered through injuries, roster cuts, and a pandemic. He was rewarded with trophies, championships, and the respect of his mentors and peers.

“Bryan wasn’t going to let anybody dissuade him from chasing his dream,” says one famous mentor, Super Bowl XVII champion and 1983 NFL MVP Joe Theismann. “I love that quality about him. He was going to do what he possibly could do to be able to get into the game. He played a bit and got a taste of it, and now he’s gone to another phase of his life.”

In the aftermath of the Argonauts’ Grey Cup victory on Nov. 17, 2024, at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Scott drank in the moment as his teammates celebrated all around him. “I’m holding the Grey Cup, looking up on the gray sky inside the dome with confetti coming down everywhere. It felt like a beautiful end to this chapter.”

Darnell Arceneaux didn’t arrive at Oxy on a carefully mapped path. A standout quarterback for St. Louis High School in Honolulu, the University of Utah, and the Hawai‘i Islanders of the Arena Football League, he pivoted to coaching after his playing days were over. He returned to his high school alma mater and was 2014 Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota’s football coach in his formative years as a quarterback.

Arceneaux and Semones had known each other for years—first as high school rivals (“I ended up beating Doug in three consecutive state championships”) and later as colleagues in arena football. When Semones landed at Oxy, Arceneaux saw the news on his Facebook feed and tossed off a casual comment—“Let me know if you’re looking for a quarterback coach”—to which Semones replied, “Dude, are you ready?”

Within days, Arceneaux was on staff with the Tigers, stepping into a Division III program that he quickly came to appreciate for its depth and tradition. He and Semones worked together during their four years at Oxy, which coincided with Scott’s time in jersey No. 18.

“Bryan was this kid who came out of nowhere,” Arceneaux recalls. “He had this big side arm, but it was all over the place, and his footwork was bad. But this kid was just a sponge. He kept learning, absorbing the arm angles that quarterbacks need to be successful, and manipulating his feet a little bit better in the pocket.

“He started to learn how to study like a quarterback, how to read defenses like a quarterback,” Arceneaux says. And he earned every rep. “Bryan is one of the hardest working athletes I’ve ever coached,” he says. “Everything that he got at Oxy he earned—no one gave him anything.”

Even his opportunity came the hard way—sitting behind starting quarterback Tommy Edwards ’14 in his first year until an injury sidelined Edwards during the third game of the season. “Then we went with Bryan,” Arceneaux says, “and when his number was called, that cat was ready.”

Starting on the road against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps the following Saturday, Scott went 19-for-38 for 222 yards, throwing one touchdown and running for a second in the Tigers’ 38-30 win. He finished his freshman campaign passing for 1,476 yards and throwing 11 touchdowns in his six games as a starter, going 4-2 for the Tigers and being honored as SCIAC Newcomer of the Year.

“Darnell is the greatest coach I’ve ever had,” Scott says. “He made me a better football player, but also the greatest leader I could be.”

Dylan Tedford ’17 grew up in Fallon, Nev., and enrolled at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., where he hoped to play football. Even before the season began, “I got hurt early in camp,” he says. As the semester progressed, he began looking for a change of environment.

The following semester, Tedford transferred to Oxy, where he joined the Tigers as a wide receiver. On the first day of spring practice, “Bryan and I chatted for two hours after lunch,” he says. It became clear that they had much in common—from their faith to their outlook on life.

“Bryan wanted everybody on the team to feel like part of the community and to do their best for each other,” Tedford says. “I was fully committed to Oxy football because those were my guys.”

Coach Semones called it the “foxhole” mentality—a shorthand for trust, accountability, and shared sacrifice—and Scott and his teammates ran with the idea, even designating the ATO basement as such (with his parents chipping in to furnish the space). “Everything was centered around the foxhole,” Tedford says, describing an environment where the standard was simple: “Be the type of guy that you would want to look at in a foxhole.”

The idea shaped daily behavior, from practice habits to how players supported one another off the field. “Everybody was all about each other—and all about the team,” Tedford recalls, a dynamic that made the program feel both tightly bonded and purpose-driven.

Tedford’s return to the game was brief. Just weeks into the season, he recalls, “I got a really bad concussion one morning at practice”—compounding a history of head injuries—“and then got some news from a doctor that just said, ‘Hey, probably best to hang it up.’

“For a few weeks there, I was pretty bummed out,” Tedford says. “Bryan was great at keeping me involved and making me feel like I was still one of the guys.”

After a year at Oxy, Tedford went home to Nevada, completing his degree at the University of Nevada, Reno. Even after he transferred, Tedford and Scott stayed in close touch. “It was like nothing had changed—I just wasn’t going to practice every day,” he says. Tedford returned to campus for several games, but one stands out: Occidental’s 35-27 win over defending SCIAC champs Chapman on Oct. 17, 2015, during Scott’s junior year.

Following a series of rushes by Kwame Do ’16, Scott connected with Devon Bullock ’16 to score the go-ahead touchdown, “and it was absolute pandemonium on the field,” Tedford recalls. “I looked directly at Bryan and knew how much he had put in for that moment and how much it meant to him to get it done with his guys. Seeing him enjoy that environment with everybody was electric.”

Today, Tedford lives in Carson City and works in the office of Gov. Joe Lombardo as a legal counsel and policy adviser. “It’s been a great way to learn about our state and a good way to get involved,” he says. And one day, Scott says, “Dylan will be the best man at my wedding.”

Scott’s most improbable play came not as a Tiger or in the pros but during the International Federation of American Football U-19 World Championship in Kuwait in July 2014.

Starting the third quarter trailing Team Canada 14-12 in the gold medal game, “The coaches put me in to spark the team,” he recalls. On that opening drive, it was 3rd and 6 for Team USA with the ball. Facing an all-out blitz from Canada, Scott looked at his roommate, Cal Poly Humboldt wide receiver Chase Krivashei, with whom he’d become tight over four games in nine days. “We don’t say anything to each other, but I’m hoping he sees what I see, which is there’s no one in the middle.”

On the next play, Scott took the ball—“Everybody’s in my face”—and threw a pass in the middle maybe 25 yards down the field. After taking a hit on the play, he continues, “All I hear is this cheering in the stands. And I’m thinking, ‘What is happening? Did I throw a pick?’”

In fact, Krivashei caught the ball, broke a tackle, and scored a touchdown to put Team USA ahead. That was the first of four consecutive touchdown drives—with no incompletions—culminating in a final score of 40-17. “We just boat-raced them after that play,” recalls Scott, who received the MVP trophy from Kuwaiti royalty.

Scott’s professional football journey began during his senior season with a surprise visit from Atlanta Falcons college scouting coordinator Sae Woon Jo, a former defensive line and linebackers coach at Oxy. He interviewed with Jo, who was later in attendance when Scott surpassed Oxy leader Andy Collins ’07 and broke Cal Lutheran quarterback Tom Bonds’ SCIAC career passing record in a 57-56 loss at La Verne on Oct. 15, 2016.

Jo’s visit “awakened an impossible dream for me,” says Scott, who ended his Occidental career with 9,073 yards and 77 touchdowns in 33 career games. “When he interviewed me and said, ‘Dude, you can do this,’ sometimes that’s all you need to hear.”

On March 22, 2017, Scott faced his most important audience yet. While training alongside USC skill-position players JuJu Smith-Schuster, Adoree’ Jackson, and Isaac Whitney, Scott was asked to throw at USC’s pro day when they needed a quarterback. The eyes of every NFL team would be on him, as the Division III quarterback stepped onto USC’s Cromwell Field surrounded by elite Division I prospects, league executives, and even Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.

After a full day of testing, his moment in the spotlight had come. “I remember grabbing the football and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can throw this thing.’ I’ve never had that happen to me in my entire life. And then I threw an easy up pass, which is a warm-up pass, and then another one, and then it just started flowing.”

What followed was a near-flawless performance; as Los Angeles Times NFL reporter Sam Farmer wrote, Scott completed “62 of 64 passes with one drop, and finishing the workout by hitting JuJu Smith-Schuster on a deep post corner that drew loud applause from the gathering of invited spectators in the stands, mostly family members of participants.” His photo was prominently featured in the Times’ sports section the next day.

After the Rams, Scott’s agent signed him to play in The Spring League (TSL), a three-week showcase for developing players, with four teams playing two games each in Austin, Texas. Participants were split into four teams based on where they went to college. And Scott was placed on the West team playing for Bart Andrus, a veteran football coach who currently is head coach of the Frankfurt Galaxy in the European League of Football.

During position meetings, Andrus worked with all 12 quarterbacks—including Johnny Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner and former Cleveland Browns quarterback. Scott impressed Andrus with his “great football IQ” and the ability to get the ball out on time.

The games were all streamed by Turner Sports, with the West team winning both its contests—including a 34-17 rout of Manziel’s South team—and Scott being named league MVP. “I went from having Johnny Manziel as my screensaver freshman year at Oxy to playing him and beating him.”

When TSL morphed into an actual league in the fall of 2020, Scott played for Andrus’ team, the Generals. “I drafted him first overall,” Andrus says. The six squads played all their games at the Alamo­dome in San Antonio, Texas, before COVID forced the league to shorten the season. Three weeks later, on December 15, the top two teams played in the championship game at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The Generals beat the Aviators 37–14, and Scott was named offensive MVP of the game.

After that campaign, Scott was as determined as ever to find his way to the NFL. In 2021, he had workouts with the New Orleans and Indianapolis Colts, neither of which resulted in a signing. Through his agent, Jamie King, Scott was introduced to Theismann, who got his professional start with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts. “Bryan was so determined to play in the NFL that it took me a while to say, ‘Some of us have gone a different route than from college to the NFL. Sometimes you have to go someplace else where you get a chance to play,’” Theismann says.

“When the USFL started up again, he was my first pick,” Andrus says, Scott had a knack for getting to know his teammates quickly—“a major asset for a quarterback, especially when you have a short time to prepare.”

In week two of the 2022 season, the Philadelphia Stars defeated the Pittsburgh Maulers 30-23 in a game that included the first three-point conversion in pro football history. Andrus called the play, which Scott executed—a throw from the 10-yard line to running back Paul Terry—capping a 272-yard, three-touchdown performance. Scott’s jersey, Andrus’ call sheet, and the game ball were displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the 2022 USFL Championship game in Canton, Ohio.

The high of that milestone was short-lived. In week three, Scott suffered a knee injury against the New Jersey Generals, sidelining him for the remainder of the season.   

In his 10 starts as a pro, Scott lost only once. “I was always this underdog who found ways to win,” he says of his gridiron career. His last play as a Tiger was a touchdown pass against Chapman, and his final play on the field for the Argonauts was a TD pass as well.

With his game clock ticking down, Scott started 2024 with the Toronto Argonauts in a depth role. He returned to the team that November as a reserve—one week before the Grey Cup championship. Then confetti ensued.

Scott wears a wristband of his own creation with the words “Live Your Why.” “My ‘Why’ is what wakes me up in the morning,” he says. “I want to help other people by making RISE as successful as it can be—not just for my family but for theirs too. Occidental set me up for that.”

Following his retirement from football, Scott founded RISE Environmental with a commitment to delivering reliable environmental services, innovative waste logistics solutions, and responsible recycling practices. “We do a lot of transportation of wastewater and hazardous waste,” says Scott, who majored in urban and environmental policy at Oxy. “It’s what my dad did for nearly 30 years.”

In a full-circle moment, Scott is learning the business from his original coach—his father. In 1988, brothers Bob and Jim Scott started a company called EnviroServ (short for Environmental Recovery Services Inc.) with an initial $5,000 investment. Over the next three decades, they grew the business into a leading player in hazardous and non-hazardous waste management on the West Coast before selling it to Waste Management in 2016.

Growing up, Scott knew little of the specifics of his father’s work—but what stayed with him was the life it made possible. Owning his own company meant control over his time and allowed him to show up for his son as a coach and as a dad. “We would get there before everybody for every sport. Baseball, I was there 45 minutes early hitting and pitching. Basketball, same thing—I had to make a certain number of shots before practice. Football, we’d throw every route on the tree before I started. That’s because he had EnviroServ—he was the boss.

“Rise was my mother’s word for me when I was an athlete,” he says. “There are old videotapes of me playing basketball in fourth or fifth grade, and she’s going, ‘Rise up, Bryan, rise up. Let’s go.’ And I’m like, ‘OK, Mom.’” He smiles. “She wasn’t an athlete herself, but she’s a little general. She’s the entire mental, emotional side of me.”

That foundation, he says, started with the people around him. “My Oxy teammates were all smarter than me—every single one of them,” he adds with a laugh. “Taking what I learned about leadership as a quarterback, I want to create my own foxhole with RISE.”

He carries that same mindset into business, using his football IQ as a bridge to his future endeavors. “My teammates trusted in me,” he says. “If I can help them become an accountant or a project manager, why not?

“If someone were to come to me right now and say you get to relive one week of your life, I would say I want to practice with my Oxy football team,” he says. “I’d want to be around my coaches who are among my best friends to this day. I’d want to be around those 50 guys in the foxhole—to get up at 5:30 a.m. and go to practice, then to class, and hang out with each other the rest of the day.”

“No matter what facet of life it is that Bryan wants to pursue, I wouldn’t bet against him,” Tedford says. “No matter what situation I’ve been in with him, I’ve been glad he was there. That’s a testament to the way that he conducts himself, and I’m proud he considers me a friend. Honestly, what more can you ask of somebody?” 

Additional photos by Marc Campos and Kirby Lee. Other photos courtesy Bryan Scott ’17.