At Bethune, Alvin Wyatt has a true 'home' edge

Alvin Wyatt clearly enjoys being flashy. Bethune-Cookman's football coach has maybe the most distinctive sideline wardrobe in the game. Shirts opened to mid-chest, gaudy jewelry dangling from his neck, sunglasses, pointed shoes with a glossy shine. And when he's away from the football field, he sometimes can be found driving around Daytona Beach in his luxury sedan. It's simply part of his lore, the way he's always been, the way he'll always be.

Yet Wyatt also has a simple side, the one that is the backbone of his football program.

BCU Wildcats head football coach Alvin Wyatt(Mark's Digital Photography).

For nearly three decades, the Bronson Residential Complex - the Bethune dorm that houses most football players, wedged between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the team's practice field - has been his year-round home. He eats alongside the students, shares a bathroom with them, rides the same elevators, walks the same hallways. His reason? Officially, it's to save money, since he isn't exactly one of football's higher-paid coaches.

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