By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 12, 2007; E06

Every Wednesday night after practice, the fifth-ranked Suitland football team gathers in the school for one more meeting. But it has nothing to do with X's or O's.

Instead, arranged by Coach Nick Lynch and assistant Eric Wade, members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity come to the school. Their mission is twofold: help the players succeed academically and try to get them to mature into adults.

"What's so great about it is they don't just hear it from me all the time talking about how valuable education is, how you come off, how you present yourselves," said Lynch, whose team is 5-0 this season entering today's game at Eleanor Roosevelt. "The kids enjoy it. They see Coach Lynch all the time. They're probably sick of me."

And so, recognizing that many of his players come from single-parent families and are susceptible to the many temptations faced by teenagers, Lynch has Omega members come to the school twice each week, one night for the junior varsity and once for the varsity.

"I was kind of confused. I was thinking the Omega, it had to do with step [dancing] and all those things," quarterback Carlos Fields said. "Once they came, I understood what they were here for."

Lynch knows the program's leaders as Brother Bleu and Doctor Wright. Bleu Colquitt, a former high school basketball assistant coach, has a background in real estate and developing affordable housing. He was talking to Wade three years ago about his projects in the Suitland area when Wade suggested working with the high school team.

Colquitt, in turn, asked Vroman Wright to design a program to work with the players. Each week, several members of the fraternity come to the school to talk with the team. Part of the time is spent doing homework and seeing if the players need help in any specific classes. Then the conversation turns toward their lives and how the players carry themselves.

"More of these guys need to consider college, whether it's a junior college or a four-year college," said Wright, who works for the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources. "Another area we've tried to stress is overall respect for the opposite sex."

Said wide receiver Tavon Green: "It's made a difference. They don't talk about football. They talk about how to get us in college -- that it's their responsibility. It has been beneficial."