Friday Night Lights: Every Main Character, Ranked by Likability

While the NFL has a tight hold on Sundays, Fridays in almost every city across America is reserved for High School Football. Friday Night Lights took that lifestyle and provided viewers a glimpse into what’s it like to love nothing more than the sport. Each storyline was filled with football references, but Friday Night Lights went well beyond what was happening on the field.

The hit NBC show took their characters and gave them more personality than any viewer could have wished for on a show based on sports. It showed the pressure on the kids to perform, but then still how they navigated everyday life while having a plan for the future if their dreams didn’t work. In a cast dominated by sometimes entitled teenagers, who came across as the most and least liked characters?

10 Brain “Smash” Williams

If there was one character where everything just seemed to go wrong on Friday Night Lights, that would be Smash. From steroids, racial remarks, and injuries, he could not find the light at the end of the tunnel. With his scholarship offers beginning to decline, he was at the point where he just gave up on football.

At Dillon, he was on the verge of stardom, but he just couldn’t stay out of his own way. A cocky teenager, Smash had to humble himself and seek the help needed to become the player and man Coach Taylor and his mother knew he could be.

9 Lyla Garrity

Lyla was destined to find a way out of Dillon. As the girlfriend of starting QB Jason Street, Lyla’s outlook on life was based on the Bible. Her goal was to get out of town and attend Vanderbilt University. Lyla went through some confusion at times, but stayed the course.

Her relationships and sometimes bad choices in men gave her a bad name in Dillon. She was labeled a spoiled brat, but Lyla just had her goals set higher than most of the kids in town. In the end, she kept true to her dreams, stayed the course, and went to Vanderbilt.

8 Jason Street

Once regarded as one of the nation’s best quarterbacks, an injury ends Jason Street’s playing career. Now paralyzed, his life was forever changed. Street lost his NFL dreams, his girlfriend, and his will to fight. But he somehow battled through it all and gained a new perspective.

Jason fathered a child and embarked on a mission to become a sports agent. He did achieve his goal and also figured out a way to make things work with Noah’s mother Erin.

7 Landry Clarke

Landry began the show as basically a personal chauffeur for Matt. Not interested in football at first, Landry decided to change his tune to impress his father and the object of his affection, Tyra. While on the team, it’s clear that Landry is out of his league. However, he sticks with it but is faced with more issues than he expected.

His love for Tyra results in a murder. Landry also agrees to tutor Tyra to help her get into college while still holding a torch for her. Landry always knew he was destined to leave the small town of Dillon.

6 Julie Taylor

Julie is the daughter of Tami and Eric Taylor. Not too obsessed with football, it was ironic that she fell in love with a football player. The Matt she gravitated to was the quiet one, but his presence began to overshadow their relationship and things got rocky.

While in college, Julie begins a relationship with a member of the staff. Things get bad and Julie returns to where she feels safe. Not wanting to return back to school, she decides to give it another try with Matt. She was generally a nice person, but had some obvious flaws too.

5 Tyra Collette

At the beginning of Friday Night Lights, Tyra was the other girl who wanted nothing more than to get out of Dillon. The problem was, she didn’t have a real plan. Not one who took school seriously, Tyra realized that she had to get help if her plan was to come to fruition.

She finally had enough of Tim Riggins and struck up a strange relationship with the nerdy Landry. What came from that was her ability to get her life in order. Tyra was able to get into college and returned home to check in on the recently released-from-prison Tim at the end of the show.

4 Matt Saracen

The quiet kid who played in the background was soon thrust into the spotlight. Matt did what he could to keep a low profile, but in a small town such as Dillon, it didn’t take too long before he was consumed by the pressure and accolades. He loved school, was a great teammate, but his best trait was still as a doting grandson.

Matt lost his spot as the starting QB, but still had college plans. He decides to stay home, but did so for Julie. Somehow, they made it work in the end.

3 Tim Riggins

Tim Riggins is easily the wild child of the bunch. His family dynamic was a complete mess, with an alcoholic dad who wanted nothing but a winning attitude from his son. Riggins played the game with brute force and partied off the field with that same attitude. Around town, Riggins was regarded as a womanizer, but the truth is, he was just looking for acceptance.

As wild as he was, Tim was still about family. He went on to open up an Auto Body Shop with his brother Billy, but when the shop gets nabbed with illegal activities, it was Tim who took the fall so Billy could be with his family.

2 Tami Taylor

Tami is the wife of Eric, and her main role was holding the family down through all the hardships that came with being a football family. Tami wanted to do more and be more for the community, and help the kids explore other avenues for their futures.

Finally realizing that she has to follow her dreams, Tami takes a job in Philadephia, but was ready to refuse it for her husband’s dream. In the end, Eric finally did something for his wife in one of the most emotional scenes on the show.

1 Eric Taylor

As one of the characters who made it through the entire run of the series, Eric Taylor plays an important role on Friday Night Lights. As the head coach of the Dillon Panthers, it was Eric’s job to mold these kids into great players. His job also extended off the field, as most of his players were in search of a parental figure and had demons of their own they often brought to the filed.

Taylor often found himself in a no-win situation regarding boosters. They wanted a championship every year. Taylor wanted to win, but not at the expense of his kid’s safety and integrity.

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