All American: Homecoming Boss Breaks Down the Season 2 Premiere and Damon's Big Move

[Warning: The following contains spoilers from Season 2 premiere of All American: Homecoming. Read at your own risk!]

It's the spring semester at Bringston University, and for the crew on All American: Homecoming, that means more drama is on its way. The baseball team and the university are in a precarious position after Damon (Peyton Alex Smith) decided to transfer schools so he wouldn't be coached by his birth father, who gave Damon up for adoption when he mistakenly assumed that Damon was the product of an affair. However, Damon was a key player in helping Bringston win the college championship, which the school needs to keep the program open in wake of the cheating scandal that erupted in the series premiere. 

While the family dinner crew supports Damon in doing whatever he needs to for his own mental well-being, his departure will mean huge things for his teammates, for Amara (Kelly Jenrette) who has taken over as president of the university, and for his girlfriend, Thea (Camille Hyde), who is being forced to sit out a semester of tennis after suffering a tendon injury in the Season 1 finale. Coach Marcus (Cory Hardrict) has returned to try and help the situation, but it's unclear whether it's too late for him to do any good, or if he's even ready to be an active part of the group.

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Simone (Geffri Maya) may also struggle with the news of Damon transferring considering how close they became over the course of the first season, but she's fighting her own battle on the tennis team: Thea blames her for the injury, and Simone has to prove she deserves her spot on the starting roster. 

It seems like the family dinner crew needs each other more than ever, but there's more infighting and drama among the ranks than they've dealt with before. Co-showrunner Marqui Jackson talked to TV Guide about what's in store for everyone in the sophomore season.

How is Coach Marcus coming back into the fold going to stir things up? Is he going to be successful in coming back to the group? 
Marqui Jackson: He will be ultimately successful, but that won't mean he won't have a bump or two, or curveball along the way Once he kind of lands back in the group, he will be welcomed. Marcus will have to struggle with being back with his village and just having to fight back any kind of fears that they won't accept him as he returns to normal life, trying to figure out what does that look like now that he's knowing that he really needs to take a deeper step in managing his own mental health. 

What is Damon looking for when making the decision to leave Bringston? What is he hoping to find at Hawkins? 
Jackson: Damon just wants to escape. Escape from his birth father, Jesse, who he doesn't respect. [Damon] can't bring himself to play for him. The only thing that Hawkins has to offer Damon is that Jesse is not there. It's a hard decision that he makes to leave Bringston, but it's one that he feels he Neds to make for his self-care. 

What is the fallout of Damon making this decision? It's going to affect a lot more than just him and the team. 
Jackson: It does have major repercussions for the team, for Jesse, and for Mara as president of the university. At Hawkins, the thing he'll start to realize is how much the Bringston family means to him, how much he needs it. Damon has grown a lot over the course of the first season, which is just their first semester. As he starts to reflect on who he was when he came to Bringston and who he is now, that will really start to make him reevaluate and question the decisions he's made. 

On the other side of campus, Simone has to fight for her spot on the tennis team. What does that journey look like for her in Season 2?
Jackson: The major arc for her in the first episode is realizing that she is enough and that she deserved that spot. It's just about keeping on and maintaining. As we get into Episode 2 and the other episodes of the season, she will realize that with Thea gone and not as No. 1, the politics and the dynamics of the team have shifted. Simone will find that being a major challenge as she tries to grow on the team. 

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Simone's biggest struggle in Season 1 was her mental game. How much is that affected now that Thea is now her nemesis?
Jackson: She's using the tools that she gained. This season is really about the moment, trying to find ways to have a little bit of a release, hence the midnight kiss with a stranger. She is trying to find a way to step into her own identity as a tennis player and as a woman. She's trying to move up the ladder, but her mental game is going to be a progression from last year into this year because she knows more about herself and what she's up against. That doesn't mean it'll be easy. 

She and Damon spent a lot of time fighting their romantic tension last season. Now they're trying to be friends because they have other relationships taking priority. How does that work in the first half of the season?
Jackson: In the first part of Season 2, they'll continue to be friends. They continue to kind of feel their way through what it means to be friends. They kind of have other love interests going on. There will be some mistakes that are made, some boundaries that have to be created. There will be a boundary that is crossed as we deeper into the first half, but it is about them navigating what it means to just be friends when they did have all that tension in Season 1.

Nate was taking care of everyone in the season premiere, but what can we expect from her storyline in Season 2? 
Jackson: Another thing that I am really excited about this year is peeling back the layers and dimensions on Nate. Yes, Nate is the Buddha and the one that gives advice, but we'll see in this season that Nate's gonna be the one receiving advice from her friends. We're really excited to get to know Nate more, what she wants for herself, what she wants out of her experience at Bringston, and just really telling a relatable story about what it's like for someone at 18 or 19 years old to be on that journey of trying to figure out who she is, what she wants to do. 

Thea is being forced to slow down because of this injury. How does she adjust to a life that can't revolve around tennis?
Jackson: Damon will kind of be the rock that she needs, but Thea, especially as we get deeper into the first half, will start to change and shift in ways that she didn't imagine, in ways that scare her. She's in this relationship with Damon, but she's been pursuing tennis for so long that she doesn't really have experience with relationships. That's going to be kind of new for her, to figure out who she is without tennis as she's building this new relationship and forging new friendships. She will find herself off-balance, but we'll see what it's like for an athlete like Thea to reclaim her sport and to get back on the court, maybe too soon. We'll see what someone like her is willing to do to get back on that court, because there is a loss that she feels, despite all that she's gained. 

All American: Homecoming continues Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.