Home Turf Review 2025 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
The Hallmark Channel is ready to ‘Fall into Love’ again as the network reunited last year’s Our Holiday Story co-stars Nikki Deloach and Warren Christie for the charming rom-com Home Turf.
Deloach stars as Cassidy Miller, the new incoming president of Whittendale College, a smaller institution that needs her help in turning around its finances. As Cassidy is reminded, the previous administration saw the college’s budget as just a suggestion. But Cassidy is horrified to learn that funding for the school’s arts program is going to be the first thing on the chopping block, so she needs to work up a plan to prove to the board that the arts are just as important as football. Unfortunately the new football coach Logan (Christie) does not share her belief in that matter and challenges her to find a way to fund the football team, which is a huge revenue generator for the college, and the arts program or just let the arts go. Luckily, Cassidy knows of an alum who is now wealthy and could be sweet-talked into a donation, which he agrees to meet with her about, but she needs a plan … which she does not have.
At the same time, a pipe has burst in the football players’ dorm, displacing five freshmen. As there is a housing shortage on campus, Cassidy finds some space at a college three towns away which Logan objects to because the travel time will impact his players’ practice and studies. But he knows of a place on campus that does have space — the president’s house, where Cassidy lives alone — enjoying her space there to decompress after a long day, but was also built for the first college president and his ten children. There is plenty of room for five young men, and Cassidy feels cornered enough to allow them to stay with her — for five days and the second the pipe is fixed they are outta there. The players’ arrival starts off on the wrong foot as it sounds like an army moving in, and within a day Cassidy’s house looks like a tornado has torn through it. The only way she will be able to deal with the young men is if there is one more resident — Logan, and after seeing his own house she isn’t sure he’ll be much better at making the boys tidy up. But they all institute a plan, everyone is given a chore, and harmony is restored … briefly. After stepping on Cassidy’s toes again, Logan gets each of his players to cook a dish for her for a meal, which touches her heart and she invites them all to have dinner with her. She also helps player Nick overcome his shyness with a girl he likes at the library by ordering some books for her to deliver … and quickly returning the books after they invite her in and leave them alone to get to know each other better. But there is a major complication at the dorm, with the water damage causing a delay in repairs that will go on for another ten days.
Meanwhile, to woo Mr. Farnsworth into agreeing to make a donation, Cassidy still needs a plan and after their first meeting he brought up the Fall Formal, which the school no longer does, but she assures him she is bringing it back so he can relive that time when he returns and hopefully hand over the money. With less than a week to fix up the old room where the formal was held, now used for storage, Cassidy presses Logan and the team into action to help clear the place out and clean it up, somehow managing to pull off the formal to Mr. Farnsworth’s great delight. But it’s a night to enjoy things and not talk about money, so that will wait until the next day. The team has clearly noticed some sparks between ‘Madam President’ and ‘Coach’, so they set up a recital that ends up being a private performance for them which they appreciate. But they still have to come up with a plan for Farnsworth. He had donated money in the past but it was not used to his liking, and while he is a lover of the arts he loves football even more, so Cassidy comes up with the idea to have him fund a new stadium and that will be a constant source of revenue which can then fund the arts programs, but she will need Logan’s help to sell the concept. He’s all in and has a friend draw up some plans for the stadium, but he has to attend a ceremony for his father early that day with the promise that he will be back in time for the meeting. Of course the appointed time comes and Logan is nowhere to be found and he is not answering his phone, which forces Cassidy to hold the meeting without him … and it flops badly. Logan finally arrives, but it’s too late. Farnsworth, and his money, are gone and this moment of broken trust between Cassidy and Logan drives a huge wedge between them. Now that the boys have moved out and Cassidy is feeling like a bit of an empty nester, she still has to figure out how to keep things running fiscally and not lose her job in the process. Will Logan be the knight in shining armor who saves the day somehow? And will the players continue to play a part in Cassidy’s life? We’ll just say it all ends in a very satisfactory and heartwarming way.
Not being a follower of football, college or otherwise, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a movie I’d enjoy but football plays just a small part in this story. Yes, the subplot about Logan is that he has to turn the team around, and after losing their first two games, his job is as shaky as Cassidy’s (who is fighting some reverse ageism in her position as some think she’s too young to be a college president), but the real story is about the relationships that develop once everyone is under the same roof. While Cassidy sees the team members at first as invading barbarians, with Logan as their Barbarian Leader, they manage to quickly find a level of mutual respect for each other to the point that, even though it’s her house, Cassidy becomes a sort of ‘house mother’ to the boys, guiding them through their studies, domestic duties, and even romance. And once they start behaving, she welcomes them all into her home and her heart. And that also goes for Logan, who impresses her with his patience and skill at molding the boys into respectful young men. And when Cassidy realizes how much she misses the full house — to a point — she makes sure that they all remain a sort of family that they’ve created by having them all come to the house every week for Sunday dinner, just like in the Hearts Around the Table series of movies. It’s just wonderful to see how the relationships develop, how the players mature so quickly, and how the romance between Cassidy and Logan develops slowly which makes it all the more believable. The screenplay by Gregg Rossen and Brian Sawyer does not wallow in the maudlin, instead it’s full of humor, some laugh out loud moments, warmth and charm, cleverly bringing together these diverse folks to form their own chosen, blended family. Director Maclain Nelson keeps things steady and elicits some wonderful performances from the cast. There’s nothing flashy about the direction, but everything is there to tell the story in the best way possible.
As for that cast … Nikki Deloach could not be better for this type of role. Even when situations are serious, she doesn’t allow Cassidy to become too angsty or overwrought. Deloach can handle the comedy probably better than anyone on Hallmark with her great timing and wonderful facial expressions that put her right up there with Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. She can toss off a one-liner and throw a whithering glace or a bit of side-eye with the greatest of ease, making her a complete joy in this role. And having worked previously with Warren Christie only makes their chemistry seem all the more natural. For his part, Christie gives Logan that hard edge he needs, almost always in ‘coach mode’ while feeling the pressure to deliver a win and live up to his legendary father’s coaching reputation. There comes a moment when Cassidy tells him to stop following his father’s playbook and write one of his own, and that really seems to turn the tide for him. Christie can have both the hard edge and a great big heart with Cassidy and his team, and while he might not have the funniest moments in the movie, he has great reactions to everything going on around him. He really is the perfect straightman for everyone else’s antics.
As for the players, it’s really interesting that they cast Laith Wallschleger as one of the team. Just last year he was the star of Lifetime’s holiday movie Christmas in the Spotlight playing a very thinly veiled version of Travis Kelcie, and now here he is playing a college student hoping to turn pro. In both movies he gives very different performances, here he is a fish out of water, several hours away from his family, and while he is the most imposing figure of the five, he is a gentle giant who loves movies and keeps the team together. Louis Boakye has the biggest side story of the five with his attraction to the girl at the library whom he is too shy to approach. He registers genuine surprise when she appears at the door which makes him all the more charming. Interestingly, he was the most arrogant of the five at first, feeling that doing housework was beneath him because the football player are ‘stars’, but after Coach knocks him down a few pegs, he becomes more humble and is more of a team player within the walls of Cassidy’s house. Arthur Marroquin, Onias Snuka and Tanner McKay are also wonderful as the other players, with Marroquin getting a little more of the spotlight as the exchange student who speaks very little English.
Jess DelVizo brings some humor to her role as Cassidy’s assistant Zoe, and Timothy A. Threlfall could have made Farnsworth into a complete Grinch by leaving the college high and dry, but when he returns after Logan reached out, it was like his heart grew three sizes that day and he radiates warmth and respect for what Cassidy is trying to do for his alma mater.
I had middling expectations for Home Turf, and even while it is a pretty simple and straight-forward story, it still manages to charm with its idea of ‘family’, showing how different people can respect each other and work together for a common cause and delivering that message without a heavy hand, while still being terrifically funny and heartwarming, giving Nikki Deloach a real showcase for her talents, making her a true MVP at Hallmark Channel. The network really scored a touchdown with this one.
