At the conclusion of every football practice at Cranbrook High School, head coach Marcus Green calls for one final huddle, where teammates share their appreciation for one another.
Green calls on a player to shoutout a fellow teammate for what they accomplished during the session. Players celebrate each other for making tackles, executing assignments and giving full effort, including teammates who are learning football for the first time.
Green’s new tradition has become part of a culture that helped fuel one of Cranbrook's best starts in more than a decade. The Cranes opened the season with four consecutive victories, the program's strongest start through four games since 2015.
Cranbrook’s roster consists of 38 players, 12 of whom are international
students representing countries including Canada, Mexico, England, Korea, China, Thailand and Georgia. Many have only played American football for about a year.
The international presence reflects the school's broader student body. Cranbrook enrolls 816 high school students, including 158 international students representing 30 countries.
However they got here, now they are one team with one goal.
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The man for the job
Prior to Green's arrival, Cranbrook struggled to find consistent success. From 2020 to 2024, the Cranes went 9-32 and experienced frequent coaching turnover.
Senior receiver Anthony Warchuck, who has spent all four years in the program, said the constant change made it difficult for the team to establish an identity.
"My freshman year, we had different coaching staff for my sophomore year," he said. "So it’s really jumbled up for those teams, and that’s probably why we were resulting in some low records, but then once [coach Green] came in, he showed us that he’s here to stay and that he means business.”
Building a program is familiar territory for Green, who built Cornerstone Lincoln-King's football program from the ground up during his three seasons at the school (2022–2024). In 2024, the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches selected him as one of eight high school coaches nationwide for its UFL Fellowship, which paired him with the Michigan Panthers.
Green said those experiences helped shape the culture he has worked to establish at Cranbrook.
The learning curve
The culture Green has built has helped international players feel more comfortable with a sport that is unfamiliar to some.
Warchuck said veteran players have embraced helping their newer teammates learn the game.
"Some of them know football, some don't, but regardless, they're a part of this team and it's a pleasure to have them on or off the field and get to coach them up," Warchuck said.
Freshman Gustavo Almaraz of Mexico is learning to play football for the first time and said he is "loving it."
Almaraz, 14, grew up playing soccer but said the sport didn't always allow him to play as physically as he wanted.
Football has given him that opportunity, but it is the relationships he has built with teammates that have made the biggest impact.
"A lot of people bond through it, and it's just a beautiful sport,” Almaraz said.
The transition, however, has not been without challenges. Almaraz said learning football has required him to memorize plays and signals while learning skills ranging from catching passes to making tackles.
While Almaraz is learning football for the first time, other international students arrived at Cranbrook with previous experience.
One of those players is senior quarterback Raine Thomas of Toronto, who joined the program this season.
Thomas began playing football at age 9 before shifting his focus to hockey. He returned to the sport in high school and has emerged as one of Cranbrook's offensive leaders during his first season with the Cranes.
While Canadian and American football share many similarities, Thomas said adjusting to the American game required some adaptation.
"The field is smaller, less guys on the field, but it's definitely a faster game," Thomas said. "You have some more athletes, more guys who are committed to the game down here."
‘Ultimate display of diversity’
Football has become more than a common language on the field. It has also given players an opportunity to learn more about their teammates' cultures and backgrounds.
Almaraz has introduced teammates to Spanish-language music, including songs by Grammy-winning Mexican artist Luis Miguel. Along the way, he has also earned the nickname "Ocho," a nod to his jersey number (8).
Thomas has spent part of the season dispelling a few myths about his hometown, telling teammates that Toronto is not as cold as they imagine and joking that, despite rumors around campus, he does not know Canadian rapper Drake personally.
For Warchuck, some of his favorite memories have come away from the football field. He recalled taking teammates to restaurants such as Panera and Chipotle for the first time and watching their reactions.
"They're great," Warchuck said. "They're my best friends now."
So now as practice ends each day, veterans and newcomers gather for their huddle filled with kudos.
For Green, those moments represent the culture he set out to build.
"I think that's why the sport of football is the ultimate display of diversity," Green said. "Because it not only gets people from all walks, it gets people of all walks to walk in the same direction."
Contact Eric Guzmán: eguzman@freepress.com; 313-222-1850. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @EGuzmanreports.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: At Cranbrook, high school football is a universal language
