With the 10-year anniversary rolling around, I have found myself becoming nostalgic about my all-time favorite television show, Friday Night Lights. If you have ever watched Friday Night Lights, you know the vast amount of love and relationship drama that goes along with it. Personally, I fell in love with the show and could never get enough of it. Everything about it is super genuine, and the characters are very relatable. While all of the relationships in this show played very important roles in making Friday Night Lights as amazing as it is, there are definitely some couples we loved together more than others. Here is the ranking of eight major couples in Friday Night Lights.
1. Eric Taylor and Tami Taylor
I really do not think this relationship could ever be beat. Anyone who is a fan of this show knows that Coach Taylor and Tami Taylor are the ultimate #relationshipgoals. They have an amazing marriage, know how to compromise, are great parents, and always work out their problems in the end. We should all aspire to find a love as geniune as theirs. (You’d also be lying if you say you never had a crush on Coach Taylor.)
2. Tim Riggins and Lyla Garrity
They’re the couple you loved to hate and hated to love. Even though their relationship began in the most controversial way ever (Tim getting with his best friend’s girl behind his back, and Lyla cheating on her crippled boyfriend with his best friend), fans cannot deny that they weren’t in love with Tim and Lyla. She made him a better person, and he made her fun, happy and spontaneous. Their mismatched relationship (the good girl with the bad boy) had girls everywhere wishing they could find their Tim Riggins.
3. Julie Taylor and Matt Saracen
Julie and Matt definitely had their ups and downs throughout the seasons, but they are the definition of young, passionate love. Fans had the privilege of watching these two grow up together. From Matt’s first time confessing he had a crush on Julie to the time Coach caught them in bed together, this relationship was extremely relatable for many young couples going through high school. Their relationship definitely pulled on the heartstrings of fans reminiscing about their first real relationships.
4. Luke Cafferty and Becky Sproles
Luke and Becky both came into the show in the later seasons, but they definitely made a lasting impression. Luke is an extremely attractive farmer and football player with strict, religious parents who develops a crush on Becky, a beautiful, sweet, girl with a troubled home life. These two find themselves in a difficult situation after one reckless night, but after working through their problems, they eventually find their way back together with Becky sending Luke off to war. Fans could not help but fall in love with this sweet couple.
5. Landry Clarke and Tyra Collette
This is the couple that no one ever saw coming. Landry was considered a dork, and Tyra was the tall hot blonde that played the field. Landry was the one always pining over and crushing on Tyra, but it was not reciprocated. Their relationship started off friendly, but when Tyra found herself in a bad situation, Landry was the one she turned to. The sequence of events leading up to the two of them dating may have left fans confused and a bit angry, but the way both Tyra and her family loved and needed Landry in their lives was extremely heartwarming.
6. Vince Howard and Jess Merriweather
This is another couple that showed up later in the series but one that was not forgotten. After Vince’s friend Calvin was killed, Jess comforted him, and in the process, was forced to acknowledge her true feelings for him. He was the good guy who supported Jess while she had to help out with her father’s business and her three younger brothers. She was there when he was dealing with his mother’s drug abuse and father’s return. They really were each other’s support systems.
7. Jason Street and Lyla Garrity
Even though Jason and Lyla were not long-lived, they were definitely something special for the time being. They were completely in love with each other; the type of couple that is experiencing passionate love for the first time. It was the typical quarterback-cheerleader relationship, and it just made sense. Lyla was a sweetheart and would do anything for Jason, while Jason was the all-American dream boy that all parents wanted their daughters to date. The two tried extremely hard for their relationship to work, but in the end, they were both meant to be with other people. Whether you were team Lyla-Jason, or team Lyla-Tim, fans would agree that Lyla and Jason always have a special place in their hearts and are a reason the show pulled them in from the beginning.
8. Tim Riggins and Tyra Collette
Tim and Tyra were always that on-again, off-again couple that just could not seem to make it work. They were friends, enemies, and lovers, but always seemed to stay in each other’s lives, no matter what. These two helped each other through some hard times, and even though they were never the couple fans were rooting for, we all knew they would always stay by each other’s sides. This is proved true as the show’s ending left a promise of them ending up together at last.
To all my Friday Night Lights super fans out there, remember the motto: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose. Texas Forever.