​Editor’s note: The Tennessean is running a season-long, all-access series inside the Pearl-Cohn football program. To follow along with the project, please subscribe to The Tennessean here.Josef “LJ” Funk came to Pearl-Cohn from Brentwood High School.The 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior quarterback saw his Pearl-Cohn quarterback competition when he enrolled as a sophomore.The Toledo football commit quickly earned the starting spot − and the respect of his teammates − that season over a senior and led the Firebirds to the TSSAA Class 4A semifinals. Funk led the team to a TSSAA Class 4A state runner-up finish in 2025 and finished the season having completed 67.3% of his passes (173-for-257) for 2,902 yards, 30 touchdowns and eight interceptions while also running for three scores.This season, he’s looking to take the Firebirds a step further, to a state championship trophy.Not bad for a kid who, at first, didn’t give Pearl-Cohn a second − or first − thought when he decided to leave Brentwood.”I was like, ‘OK, I need to make a move,’ ” Funk told The Tennessean. “There’s a bunch of different schools I was going to look at. Pearl-Cohn, I never even thought about it.”‘I really want to do that’At least not until Funk’s father received a phone call from Robert Left, whose son, Western Kentucky commit Landan Left, grew up playing basketball with LJ.Landan Left had left Montgomery Bell Academy in favor of Pearl-Cohn. His father thought LJ might be interested in doing the same.”He’s like, ‘We’re pulling Landan from MBA and we would love to reunite,’ ” Funk said. “I heard that, I was like, ‘OK, I really want to do that.’ “He wanted to do it for the opportunities. For the chance to play at the next level.So after he did some research into what the Pearl-Cohn football program was all about, Funk’s parents rented an apartment in Nashville, LJ transferred and the rest is, well, what Funk hopes will be more history.Y’ALL COME BACK NOW: ‘We’re doing it for a purpose’. Pearl-Cohn football’s success tied to assistantsA history that includes earning respect on and off the field at a school 15 miles, and in many ways, worlds away from Brentwood High.There are less than a handful of white football players at Pearl-Cohn, which has an enrollment that consists of 99% minorities, 88.2% of which are Black, according to U.S. News and World Report.”He worked his butt off and developed, got taller, bigger, stronger,” Pearl-Cohn coach Tony Brunetti said. “His work ethic, his mindset, his personality. He learned the offense and took over and the kids respected him.”‘It’s a lot different of an environment’How has LJ Funk managed to fit in off the field?In the hallways?In the locker room?By being LJ Funk.By having lived in the country when he was young. By having lived in Brentwood. By moving to Nashville and attending Pearl-Cohn.”I’ve been able to be myself in every type of environment,” Funk said. “I didn’t come here trying to act different. That’s what (people) respect most.