Coach Taylor's 10 Best Quotes In Friday Night Lights, Ranked

Throughout the run of Friday Night Lights, Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) was one of the most inspirational, well-intentioned characters, always ready with an inspirational quote or turn of phrase. Throughout the five-season run of Friday Night Lights, Coach Taylor became one of the most revered figures in sports drama. Pushing his players to do everything they were capable of, Coach was great at his job even if he wasn't always phenomenal at balancing his professional life with his family life. Even as a great father and a devoted husband, Coach was dedicated to the team more than most anything.

As the show moved from Coach's position for the Dillon Panthers to the East Dillon Lions, the show was able to see him working at different capacities. While some players needed encouragement and kindness, others needed tough love and serious discipline to move forward. The majority of Friday Night Lights revolved around the way that Coach Taylor moved throughout his time with his teams, and knowing that he was able to keep them in line, some of the show's best quotes come from him. Coach Taylor's best lines on Friday Night Lights encapsulate the true meaning of the iconic series.

10 “Stay away from dumb, gentlemen.”

Season 5, Episode 5

Although the majority of Coach's speeches on Friday Night Lights push toward a unified goal for his teams or his family, he does often have some specific advice for his players. During one of Coach's many attempts to steer his players away from being self-destructive or allowing their emotions to ruin their futures, he makes it clear that while he's poking fun at his players with the way he speaks to them, he's also giving sound, solid advice. Boiling a complicated life lesson down to a few words, Coach knows what he's doing when he doles out a little wisdom.

9 “You listen to people that love you, and you listen to people that you trust. Most of all, you listen to yourself.”

Season 1, Episode 13

Early on in the run of Friday Night Lights, establishing Coach Taylor's character wasn't difficult, but took some time to instill just how much his job and his family meant to him. Late in the season, as things were shifting for the Dillon Panthers and Coach Taylor was doing his best to work through the decision of whether he was going to stay or leave, he shared some advice that was two-fold. While sharing his philosophy surrounding decision-making with someone else, his leadership shined through, and Coach Taylor gave advice he should be taking himself in order to move forward.

8 “You can't beat yourself up because you're taking chances on things.”

Season 3, Episode 6

Friday Night Lights season 3 saw Coach Taylor in a difficult bind as he went back to coach the Panthers for another season, choosing to split time between the now veteran quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) and rookie J.D. McCoy (Jeremy Sumpter) despite public vitriol. In coaching, Taylor makes it clear that he values the way his players are able to put their whole selves into the game. While this works for some of the Panthers, it can be tough on others who are trying new things and aren't seeing results. Coach Taylor does his best to softly encourage.

7 “You may never know how proud I am of you.”

Season 5, Episode 13

Coach Taylor is one of the most involved coaches in TV sports, and throughout the final season of Friday Night Lights, he made it clear that he was doing what he loved and never taking it for granted. In working with the East Dillon team, Coach took on a whole new challenge that came with a different team and a different sense of how to work with them. After years of guiding and supporting a team he felt familiar with, new players presented new challenges, but his sense of pride in his team never wavered, no matter the circumstances.

6 “You wanna be pissed? Fine, go ahead. You be pissed I don't give a damn. But you're not quitting this team.”

Season 3, Episode 5

Coach's attitude toward anger was always interesting on Friday Night Lights. While he was aware that it could become distracting for his team to be angry with each other or themselves, he also knew that they could use that sense of anger to fuel their games and work toward a common goal. Speaking to a frustrated player who was angry with the team, Coach made it clear that letting himself down was fine, but Taylor wasn't going to allow someone to quit on the team when they were needed. Coach always ensured that the team came first to his players.

5 “Don’t quit on me. Don’t quit on yourself.”

Season 4, Episode 2

In a similar vein, Coach Taylor doesn't like the idea of a quitter on his teams on Friday Night Lights. During the show's fourth season, but his first as the coach of East Dillon, Coach is trying to motivate a team that feels lost and unmotivated. Coach's mentality surrounding quitting was always to try and push through, but having to instill that into a group of players who weren't entirely sure about what their next moves were became a tough sell. In telling his players not to quit on him or themselves, Coach Taylor made a genuine, sound plea.

4 “Success is not a goal. It’s a byproduct.”

Season 5, Episode 5

During the final season of Friday Night Lights, Coach Taylor's inspirational moments are also filled with a sense of nostalgia that fuels the series. In trying to ensure that the team is successful, Coach wants his players to know that they're not actually searching for success itself, but instead trying to do hard work that pays off by the end of the season. Sharing that success is a byproduct of the work they're doing, Coach Taylor's words resonate with his players on Friday Night Lights, even if they don't wind up bringing the high level of success they're hoping for.

3 “Every man at some point in his life is gonna lose a battle. He's gonna fight and he's gonna lose. But what makes him a man is that in the midst of the battle, he does not lose himself.”

Season 1, Episode 22

An early episode of Friday Night Lights brings one of Coach Taylor's most inspirational speeches, one that makes it clear that he's likening football to battle and hoping that his players are able to move through their games with the sensibilities of soldiers. Sharing that losing is part of winning the war, Coach Taylor makes it clear that he doesn't expect 100% success at all times. He shares with the team that rather than looking at the game in a win or lose lens, that they should hold on to who they are and keep their identities through battle.

2 “I said you need to strive to better than everyone else. I didn’t say you needed to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. That’s what character is. It’s in the trying.”

Season 5, Episode 11

Coach Taylor's emphasis on building character and making sure that the teams he works with aren't just good players, but are good people is what makes him a unique coach. Clarifying that excellence isn't about proving you're better than others, this Friday Night Lights quote makes it clear that trying is what builds character and makes someone excellent. Coach Taylor believes that through commitment and work, his players will be able to do what they set their minds to. Even in tough moments, Coach Taylor's intense belief in building up his players is what sets him apart from the rest.

1 “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”

Recurring

Although Coach Taylor's best quote isn't said at one specific moments, the many instances of "clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose," that are chanted throughout the series' run have become an iconic tagline for the series. More than a simple mantra, Friday Night Lights adopted the catchphrase as something that was able to rally the troops at any time. Whether it was being said within the scope of the larger team or as a quiet declaration for the Taylor family, Friday Night Lights' most famous phrase was a trademark for Coach Taylor, who wanted to consistently encourage his players.