Friday Night Lights Characters

A junior running back, Chris Comer has a breakout season after Boobie Miles’ injury, taking the starting job from him and from Don Billingsley, another senior.

An African American assistant coach at Permian—one of the very few—Hearne convinces Boobie to stay on the team early in the season, after Comer has taken Boobie’s job in the starting lineup.

The Panthers’ athletic trainer, Trapper believes that Boobie puts himself before the team, and that, after his injury, Boobie refuses to play through the pain of his knee injury.

An assistant coach for the Panthers, Belew accompanies Coach Gaines on their trip to the coin flip against the two Midland High Schools.

A former Permian star during the 1987 season That year, Shawn Crow leads Permian to the state semis, playing through pain. After that season he was hobbled by a herniated disc, which causes him to miss the first season of his college career.

Mike Winchell’s father, who dies of injuries sustained during a work accident when Mike is a boy. Billy Winchell encourages his son to play football, and to do in dedicated fashion, without complaint.

A secretary at a local oil company, Lanita Atkins is a prominent liberal spokesperson on white-black issues, and activist in Odessa, a town not known for its liberal political views. Bissinger interviews Lanita to hear her views regarding football in West Texas, and its impact on local communities.

The first black city council member in Odessa, Willie Hammond, Jr., is later convicted of arson for a complicated plot to burn down a building in town, one he and others wished to redevelop.

A pastor at Ivory Christian’s church in Odessa, Pastor Hanson encourages Ivory to preach while playing football, but cautions him against giving up the game entirely, since Christian is so talented.

An extremely talented running back for the Marshall High football team, Odell Beckham is one of the primary reasons Marshall defeats Permian early in the season, prompting some in Odessa to call for Coach Gaines’ firing.

The wife of coach Gary Gaines, Sharon Gaines is often sick with worry during the football season, since she knows that one or two losses could doom her husband’s career, and spark the outrage of community members throughout Odessa.

The superintendent of Ector County, in which Odessa is located, Hugh Hayes worries that football, though important, has been given too much attention in the local schools, to the detriment of their educational performance.

An English teacher at Permian High, LaRue Moore, like Hugh Hayes, worries that perhaps football has warped the school’s academic mission, tilting everything toward performance on the field, rather than in the classroom.

The father of Brian Chavez, Tony Chavez worked his way through university and law school to become a prominent Latino lawyer in the east side of Odessa, Permian’s home base and a community dominated by white middle-class families.

The former coach of Permian, winner of a state championship in 1980, John Wilkins is the Ector County athletic director, and is known as “Darth Vader” for the grimness of his demeanor during athletic contests.

Another star player for Carter, Derric Evans dominates Permian on offense and defense. Evans and Edwards, who both receive D-1 football scholarships, are arrested and sentenced to significant jail time for their role in armed robberies in the spring of 1989, destroying their college careers before they begin.

Three former Permian players, whom Bissinger interviews during the state semis. Jerry Hix, Joe Bob Bizzell, and Daniel Justis talk longingly about their time on the field for the Panthers, even as they admit that football has ravaged their bodies, and left them with life-long injuries.

The daughter of Gary Gaines and Sharon Gaines.