Friday Night Lights ? (Austin, Abilene, Waco: home, high school, live)

[Wakyco]

I've been watching the TV series "Friday Night Lights". For those of you not familiar with it, the show is basically about a small (1 high-school) town in Texas and the support the high school football team receives.

I only saw a few episodes of the first season so far so, there may be more to it but, what I would like to know is how accurate is the show?

Specifically, these are the questions I'm curious about:

1) I know high-school football is big in Texas but are coach's really threatened to get fired by losing just 1 game to an underdog?

2) Can a coach actually call for an impromptu practice?

3) Can teams still have coach led prayers before a game?

I might think of more questions but for now...these will do.

[bgrn198]

Did you know it's filmed here in Austin?

Friday Night Lights (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[jaxart]

Originally Posted by Wakyco

Specifically, these are the questions I'm curious about:

1) I know high-school football is big in Texas but are coach's really threatened to get fired by losing just 1 game to an underdog?

2) Can a coach actually call for an impromptu practice?

3) Can teams still have coach led prayers before a game?

The answer to all three questions is - YES! Especially in the smaller towns where football games are one of the major distractions during the season.

[debzkidz]

Yes, most definitely to all.

[texasdiver]

I agree, it's an awesome show and really far more about small town life than football. In fact the best episodes are the ones with the least amount of football in them. For those not in Texas, several comments.

1. The high school football stadiums in Texas are generally MUCH more elaborate and nicer than those shown on the show. Especially at the larger 4A and 5A level. The recent episodes showing the run-down East Dillon stadium are really not realistic. Maybe a tiny rural 1A school with 100 students might have a stadium like that. But most definitely not a big school. In fact, most people not from Texas would not believe what is considered normal for a HS stadium in Texas. Artificial turf is becoming the norm even down to the 3A level. Here in Waco two local 3A schools (La Vega and China Spring) both converted to artificial turf last year. Both only have about 600 students. Ratliff Stadium in Odessa, home to the Permian Panthers which was the school profiled in the Original Friday Night Lights movie holds 18,000 students in an all-weather artificial turf stadium

TexasBob.com - Ratliff Stadium - Odessa, Texas

And that is one of the older ones in the area. Most of the new HS football stadiums built around Texas are much nicer.

2. Yes, coaches get hired and fired all the time. They are often the highest paid employee of the school, hired paid than the principal.

3. The traditional prayer before games and after games is still traditional in Texas. But generally speaking it isn't going to be the coach leading it but rather a player.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by Wakyco

I've been watching the TV series "Friday Night Lights". For those of you not familiar with it, the show is basically about a small (1 high-school) town in Texas and the support the high school football team receives.

I only saw a few episodes of the first season so far so, there may be more to it but, what I would like to know is how accurate is the show?

Specifically, these are the questions I'm curious about:

1) I know high-school football is big in Texas but are coach's really threatened to get fired by losing just 1 game to an underdog?

2) Can a coach actually call for an impromptu practice?

3) Can teams still have coach led prayers before a game?

I might think of more questions but for now...these will do.

1) It depends on how dominant the team is. If they are ranked toward the top, there is a lot of pressure on the coaches, but there is often just as much pressure on the players. It's kind of funny, my high school's team is pretty much the worst 5A team in the state, and we are the team that if you lose to them, your job is on the line.

2) Possibly. I'm pretty sure there are laws limiting the amount of pracice, but if all the players are determined an willing to listen to the coach's request, then there's no preventing them really.

3) There are nondiscrimination laws in place, but in a small town where virtually everybody is Christian or just used to prayer, I doubt there would be any objections.

That's my take on it.

[getmeoutofhere]

High school football is not a sport in Texas, it's a religion.

Go watch Varsity Blues. Most of that movie is spot-on.

[GayleTX]

A friend who grew up in the town that show is based on told me recently that it was not all that accurate......that the football obsession is actually much worse!! She said if they'd told it like it really was, that people would not have believed it. Having grown up in such a town myself, I had no reason to doubt her opinion.

[TT Dave]

Yep on all three! High School football is indeed HUGE in Texas. "Friday Night Lights" (the movie) is based on actual events at Odessa Permian. I was in that district in high school (Abilene Cooper) back when Permian was so dominant and I had cousins that attended Permian during the time period of the film so I remember all that stuff in the movie very well. And like someone said above, "Varsity Blues" is very accurate too. When I lived in Midland back in the 90's I'd say that 90% of the local sports stories on weekends in the fall was about H.S. football. It's been pretty much the same intensity here in Abilene, especially in recent years with Abilene High being a force to be reckoned with. I'm sure it's similar in many other parts of Texas too...LOL.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by Wakyco

I've been watching the TV series "Friday Night Lights". For those of you not familiar with it, the show is basically about a small (1 high-school) town in Texas and the support the high school football team receives.

I only saw a few episodes of the first season so far so, there may be more to it but, what I would like to know is how accurate is the show?

Specifically, these are the questions I'm curious about:

1) I know high-school football is big in Texas but are coach's really threatened to get fired by losing just 1 game to an underdog?

2) Can a coach actually call for an impromptu practice?

3) Can teams still have coach led prayers before a game?

I might think of more questions but for now...these will do.

Real answers:

1. By losing just one game to an underdog, no. By consistently underperforming (the length of time and whether "underperforming" means two losses or six depends on the school), a coach is likely to get fired. Happens all the time.
2. Yes, but only if he's still under the maximum practice and game time allowed per week under UIL rules. If he's over, he COULD get in trouble, but it's not likely.
3. Yes, but actually in my experience it was always player-led on the field. Most schools still have priest/pastor-led prayers over the PA system before the game as well.