A trend has been detected in ESPN’s folly into cinema.

The network apparently likes to make movies about legendary college coaches/dictators who use highly abusive and controversial methods of motivation.

Last spring, ESPN focused on Bob Knight in “A Season on the Brink.” Paul “Bear” Bryant is the focus of the network’s newest production, “The Junction Boys,” making its debut at 7 tonight.

Knight and Bryant are sports’ versions of “Patton,” which did pretty well for Hollywood. Evidently, ESPN believes viewers love to see these “generals” berate and pound young kids into submission.

But there is a difference between the two movies. Though I think Brian Dennehy turned in a good performance, many critics had a hard time seeing him as Knight. That won’t be the case with Tom Berenger’s portrayal of Bryant.

Unlike Knight, Bryant had a far more distinctive voice, making it easier to imitate. Berenger does a solid job of capturing the legendary coach’s Southern growl.

Berenger also has the physical presence needed to walk in Bryant’s shoes.

Ultimately, though, “Junction Boys” succeeds where “Season” didn’t because of one important item: It is a better story.

“Junction Boys” examines the 10-day boot camp Bryant held at Junction, Texas, in 1954, his first year as coach at Texas A&M.

Based on Dallas writer Jim Dent’s book, the movie shows how Bryant wanted to whip his team into shape. The coach goes to such extremes, he makes Knight look like Mary Poppins.

Bryant had his players train from sunrise to sundown in the 114-degree Texas summer heat. He also denied his players water during drills, further compounding the cruel and unusual punishment.

The movie examines how the players dealt with the torture. Even though future coaches such as Jack Pardee and Gene Stallings were among “The Junction Boys,” the movie decided to use fictional composites for the players.

Australian actors portray them because the movie was filmed outside of Sydney for monetary reasons. The Aussies do a good job with their Texas accents, and an NFL Films crew helped them make the football scenes look authentic.

The movie itself starts slowly, but it becomes riveting when the scene moves to Junction. A yellow hue and the dust convey a sense of unrelenting heat.

The movie delivers when Bryant ultimately is depicted coming to the realization that he went too far with his methods. He attempts to explain his misguided actions by telling the father of a player that the long football season is “a war.”

The father, a World War II veteran who lost an arm, says, “Coach, I know about war. Football is a sport.”

Bryant started the camp with 111 players but left with only 35. In a moving ending, Bryant actually apologizes to his players at a 25-year reunion for the survivors.

As for quibbles, the dialogue at times ventures into Hollywood sappiness. The movie also fails to show why these same players who were abused by Bryant in 1954 came to revere the coach in the 1979 reunion. One minute they hate him, the next they love him. It would have been nice to see how they got from A to C.

Note: “Junction Boys” was written and directed by Mike Robe, a Kansas University product.