Coach Drip and Jae Jones on Turning a Lifelong Friendship Into MoCo Center

Michael “Coach Drip” Turner and Justin “Jae” Jones have been friends since they lived on the same Montgomery County block as kids. Turner and Jones now run MoCo Center, a highlight and interview show for Montgomery County high school football that, they said, covers all 25 county teams.

Turner and Jones joined Moderately Mic’d to talk about growing up in the county, how MoCo Center started with one photo after an Einstein-Blair game, and what it takes to put out a football highlight show every week. MoCo Center is part of 6-13 Faye Productions, the media company Turner said he started in 2020.

Covering every school, not just the big ones

Turner and Jones described MoCo Center as their version of the SportsCenter highlight shows they grew up watching, built for Montgomery County Public Schools football. One of the two said that with visits to Richard Montgomery and Sherwood, the last two schools on their list, MoCo Center will have been to all 25 MCPS football schools in three years.

Jones said MoCo Center “started with three teams, covering three teams,” and that the two are now recognized when they go to schools such as Poolesville, Watkins Mill and Damascus.

Turner said part of the motivation came from a question he once asked on Instagram: when the Gazette’s all-county photos would come out, a feature he remembered from growing up. Turner said he was told the paper did not do that anymore. “Our plan was just to put on the kids,” Turner said. “We really didn’t think of it to be anything about us.”

Blair, Einstein, Giant and go-go

Turner went to Montgomery Blair High School and said his roots are in Silver Spring, with time in Gaithersburg and Florida too. Turner also works at Montgomery College. “I chose Montgomery College because I live here and I wanted to give back to where I’m from,” Turner said.

Jones said he went to private schools in Washington, D.C., then Takoma Park Middle School, spent a school year in Detroit, and graduated from Albert Einstein High School. Jones said he was supposed to go to Blair, where his friends were.

Jones grew up playing basketball, football and baseball, but said his high school sports career ended early because of inconsistent grades and his attitude. Jones said he now tells his son to be “the student before the athlete.” “You couldn’t tell 15 year old Jae that,” Jones said.

Turner spent years in go-go music. Turner said he did not like go-go at first, started his own band, and later joined his cousin’s band. “We were like the Beatles of Montgomery County,” Turner said.

The Coach Drip name came out of a Montgomery Blair football media day, Turner said, after he reached out to Blair’s coach for the sports podcast he produced. “They were like, yeah, you’re the drip coach. And I was like, I don’t like that name,” Turner said. “So I was like, just flip it, Coach Drip.”

How 6-13 Faye and MoCo Center started

Turner said 6-13 Faye Productions grew out of 2020, when a life-changing experience led him to organize protests, including one in Silver Spring. “I just wanted to put out positive content,” Turner said. The 6-13 Faye name honors Turner’s grandmother: Turner said 6/13 is her birthday and Faye is her middle name.

6-13 Faye started with a video game podcast, Turner said, and grew to shows including In the Four Corners of Wrestling and Thee Man Cave Sports Podcast. Jones said he joined the sports podcast after a show he co-hosted ended, telling Turner, “if you need somebody like I’m willing to do it.”

MoCo Center itself traces to an Einstein-Blair game the two watched from the bleachers. Turner said two players recognized him after the game and asked for a picture. Turner said he called Jones afterward: “I said bro, we can’t sit in the stands no more.” Turner said he looked up how to get media credentials, applied, and had them about four days later. “I was crying man. I was so happy,” Turner said.

Turner said he came up with MoCo Center’s name, its logo and its plan in a single day. “I literally came up with the name of the show, the logo of the show and what we’re going to try to do in one day,” Turner said.

A full Saturday of film

Jones said the two pick their games before the season, go to Thursday and Friday games for interviews, concession-stand segments and postgame jersey swaps, then split the week’s games on Saturday, six or seven each. Jones said he cuts his highlights into a Google Drive folder he shares with Turner, and Turner takes the clips from there.

One of the two said there are usually 13 games a week, and that about 80% of MoCo Center shows have had all 13 games represented, “even if it’s two or three clips.” One of them said a Saturday of editing once ran from 8 a.m. until midnight.

For MoCo Center’s Top 5 Plays of the Week, one of the two said his partner flags candidate clips with “TPN” in the file name, and he makes the final choice: “I pick them.” Capital Sideline, Makstein’s sports site, shares MoCo Center’s Top 5 Plays of the Week.

The Drippy Bowl and what comes next

One of the two described the Drippy Bowl, an all-star 7-on-7 game MoCo Center puts on each year. The same speaker said Drippy Bowl 4 is planned for the week after the state championship games, which he believed would be Dec. 12, and that this year’s game pits a Prince George’s County team against a Montgomery County team. 6-13 Faye has posted the Drippy Bowl 4 selection shows on its YouTube channel.

“I want to have a network that we can be proud of,” Turner said of 6-13 Faye. Jones said fans have asked MoCo Center to cover girls flag football, basketball, baseball, track and wrestling. “We do want to move forward with other sports,” Jones said.

Asked what he would tell his high school self, Jones said, “Don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable.” Turner said he would tell himself that “you’re going to get to 43, and you’re going to say, man, I didn’t expect this.”

MoCo Center is on Instagram at @613fayedmv and on YouTube at 6-13 Faye Productions. Turner is on Instagram at @coachdrip_miket.

---

Watch the full episode

Listen to Moderately Mic’d

New episodes of Moderately Mic’d spotlight the people shaping what’s next in Montgomery County. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, watch the full episode playlist on YouTube, or see every episode on the show page.

Moderately Mic’d also airs on Montgomery Community Media (MCM) Channel 21, available on Comcast, Verizon Fios, and RCN.

---