Hello Everyone, Just one Question-What is up with the opening of East Dillon High and why would the Dillon School Board offer the Head FootBall Coaching job to Coach Eric Taylor when EDH doesn't even have a football team?

As far as I can remember the School district was splitting up and making a divided map of the town and anyone on this side of the street had to go to east and play football over there, but Buddy thought he could re-route the map because some players lived on the other side.

Now I'm not sure if East all ready had a team or it was voted to start a new football program at East. Maybe someone can help me out there?

That no good for nothing Joe McCoy.

seems like their re-opening the High School and with that comes a football team, most new HS's at least where I live come with a football team also...

I knew Dillon was getting over crowded that was a huge complaint from staff. But there is no money in the budget for the Dillon school how can they fund East? I know its just a show Maybe that no good for nothing Joe McCoy is funding Dillon and now they have enough in the budget to open East:)

Growing up in Texas many years ago, the competition was always between Odessa Permian and Midland Lee. I am thinking that they are trying to add this to the show next season. I am not sure if the coach that this show is based on ever changed from Midland Lee to Odessa Permian but it sounds familiar.

Regardless this is a great show and I love all the characters except Joe McCoy.

I believe that CT's EDHS Lions will beat the Panthers if there is a season 4, but nonetheless Tami will be principal at Dillon and Eric will coach East Dillon, talk about drama there.

If there is a season 4!!!! ugh i live for this show. I just watched the last episode of season 3 and I am in a panic. What do we have to do to make sure there is a season 4. there was some wrap up of the show but also some new possibilities. Are they filming any episodes yet? Is there hope? I am emotionally attached to all the characters. Help!

It was mentioned earlier in the season that splitting up Dillon into two districts would add a lot more funding from the state because of the additional district. Also, its been a while since I read the book, but the original Odessa used to be two districts like Dillon used to. Just like Dillon, the other Odessa HS was considered the crappier HS because of its location and its demographic. As a result, the other Odessa HS was closed down, just like East Dillon. Thats why East Dillon looks like a dump.
East Dillon should be getting the players from all the poorer families, something right up Coach's alley. This, of course, doesn't mean the players will be worse. But there will a lot less money for luxuries like a turf field and a Jumbotron.
Some people are saying this new job for Coach won't stick and the situation will get resolved quickly. I hope it does stick and I would love to see Coach build this program from scratch. If he really loves being a football coach and an educator, it shouldn't matter where he coaches. I wonder which side Buddy Garrity will choose? His friend or the uniform?

East Dillon Lions have a past as a good football team. When Coach Taylor goes to look around there's fencing behind the posts which is falling down with a few panels missing but you can still make out that it has '97 State Champions' written across it meaning the school was closed fairly recently and had a good football program before.

I think someone below had it right. The book talks about an Odessa High School that was the in town rival to Odessa Permian, but they were usually so bad of a football team that Permian beat them easily most years and it was not much of a rivalry. East Dillon sounds alot like that Odessa High School from the book. Midland Lee is Permian's biggest rival from the town of Midland, TX, right near Odessa. In the show, Laribee seems to play the role of Midland Lee, but other than a great episode or two in Season 2, the Dillon-Laribee rivalry hasn't really been explored. In the book, in addition to the football rivalry, Midland and Odessa have a rivalry because Midland is the more economically successful town, whereas Odessa is the poorer town. As the book describes, this rich-poor dynamic adds alot of the juice to the Odessa Permian-Midland Lee football rivalry. Assuming FNL gets a 4th season, I would like to see more about this aspect of the book brought into the show and the Dillon-Laribee rivalry worked into an episode or two.

Odessa High School has never closed, and yes that would be the inspiration for East Dillon high.

Laribee is sort of the rival for Dillon, but I've gotten the feeling that the team that is supposed to take Midland Lee's place in the show is Arnett Mead.

Also, from how Coach Taylor wanted to build a field in "Mud Bowl", I think that a switch to East Dillon and a sort-of "get back to the basics" situation is what his character thrives on.

I also love this show, all the characters have there own good stories. My favorite is saracen and i thought he would goto college, he even should of got a scholarship he was pretty good. But if there is a season 4 and EDHS opens up i think ET will take the job and matt saracen might get a coaching job with him at the school now that hes staying home

For anyone wondering where East Dillon HS is really located, it is Granger High School in Granger, Texas. Granger is a small farming town NE of Austin about 50 miles. It is indeed a very small school (1A) with about 200 kids, TOTAL from K to HS. They won state in 97' as the fence says in the finale scene and went to the semifinals 2 years ago. I would love to see a 4th season set there as Granger still uses their old turn of the century main school building.

That's one of the strong points of this show. They use real places, nice to know where EDH really is located.

I would love to see a fourth season with this new touch of rivalry in it. But would they be playing in the same league, for they will be starting a whole new team again....

I was kind of stunned to see that they made Aikman (?) -J.D's coach- HC of the team. But you could see trouble on the horizon, when ET was ejected en Aikman led the game winning drive.
I expected Buddy to stand up for coach Tyler, and see the McCoy family on the move again, to realize daddy's dream through J.D.
Aikman will run a pass heavily offense. And it would be fun to see Matt as the QB Coach at EDHS together with coach Tyler and I hope Tyler brings the Offensive Coordinator with him, he probably wont come since he has been a Panther all his life and wanted the HC position at Dillon.

My hometown (Warner Robins, Ga) was very similar to this. Two high schools boundaries split right down the middle by the main road made for an incredible rivalry that is as good as any in the country. I like the direction the show is moving in.

Ron Tarpley
Prep News Report

Hey Prep News Report! I do know about Warner Robbins High! They have given the Newnan Cougars a run for the money for many a year! Did that split in Warner Robbins come about when they opened Houston County High School? If they decide to make the Panthers and East Dillon High rival each other how will it happen? They would not be in the same conference would they? Usually, the "new" school will end up being smaller than the "feeder" school.

I know that the established school will do anything to keep the numbers so that they can stay in the top conference. I have noticed in Georgia that the conferences are constantly changing now that there are so many high schools in the state. It is so hard to foster enough "disgust" with a new school to get a real rivalry going.

I hope that we can actually see some crossover from the split. I think it will be a great way to add more characters to the show. We will also have a chance to see the "other" side of Dillon. That is something that several posters have wanted to see.

The addition of East Dillon High will be a good addition to the show. I am still not sure that Coach Taylor will end up at East Dillon. I am just wondering if JD's coach would be qualified to actually be a high school football coach! Is he a teacher? You can't have a community coach in charge of a football team. Just a thought.

What was the name of the high school that had to share the field with Dillon High after the explosion forced that school to close and all the problems involving the school rivalrys?

Id like to know why Coach Taylors friend cough cough buddy Garity didnt speak up for eric at the meeting the fool was there.Since when do the boosters do the hiring at a high school even if they do give alot of money.He will abuse that boy again and everyone will see coach Taylor was right about him.

You are very right. A coach is first a teacher. You should have a valid teaching certificate to coach at team. The coach is hired by the school board. Here is the problem, we didn't have 22 episodes. They just didn't have enough time to go through the whole process of hiring a new coach.

I think they wanted us to see just how much influence the boosters actually have in Dillon. The boosters are not very strong people. When Joe McCoy came in there and started waving around all of that money, what else could they do? Money talks and Joe had a lot of it to throw around.

I don't think that Joe will win this battle. I think that his pick will not work out. I hope that those lines that were drawn before they transferred the coach will end up giving the coach the best players. JD is not ready to lead a team. JD is too young and he is way to stressed. He has not proven himself under pressure. Matt did it but Matt was a totally different kid. We will have to see what happens with them but I'll bet the Coach is going to win the first game. By the way, they were so wrong giving that job to Adkins. I can bet one thing, the school board and the boosters of East Dillon, will regret their ugly ways.

Hey. . .SkyCop. . .That was Laribee, a town that was down the road from Dillon. And it was a Texas Tornado that hit Laribee harder than Dillon and Dillon High offered to help Laribee out and let the Laribee students attend Dillon high for a short while. And During the football game between Dillon and Laribee, Coach Dickie of Laribee attacked Tim Riggins while he was running in for the touchdown during season two.

In season one toxic fumes from a train explosion cause the creation of the Famous Mud Bowl Field, a field the team built on a pasture. I think the team was call the Vikings sumpin' or another. I can't remember. But the head coach was the same guy or actor as for the Laribee team. I remember him tellin' Coach Taylor to "Butch up Sally cuz, you gotta game."

NO WORRIES; I saw it posted on MSN last week that FNL was picked up for 2 more seasons.
My guess for a plot line is that Coach Taylor will build up one awesome East Dillon football team that will annihlate the Panthers!!! Watch he will go to state with his new team & That will totally make them regret ever changing coaches!! Thats my idea & I say its a good plot line Now we will have to just wait & see what happens.

I too was blind sided by the whole CT firing but in retrospect, undercurrents were visible in the last few episodes of s3. I believe Matt is making a big mistake not going to Chicago but I'm hopeful that he'll at least attend school near Dillon so he can continue to follow his heart (take care of Grandma) and his education. Even if he's offered a job a Asst Coach with CT at EDH, he won't be able to advance in that field without getting a teaching cert.

I'm grateful that the show has been picked up for two more seasons but it will be a long wait till it resumes on cable!!! These characters have become friends of the family; each week I get "caught up" on what's going on in their lives...

The newest twists & turns, however, do provide endless possibilites for the writers. I'd love to see CT go to EDH...he's a character driven personality that will manage to draw the best out of players no matter where he's coaching. Can't wait to see what happens!!

Matt will either go to Dillon Tech or Dillon Community College. If he's that close, could he help out Coach at EDHS?

OKay. . . .First of all I must apoloize to Sharina. Cuz, it seems the last time I posted. I must have been "under the influence" of a certain beverage. Cuz, my posts were full of bad grammar and run on sentences. Thank Goodness Sharina was able to see me Home and Clean up my mess. Just like Tami Taylor. Thank ya, ma'am.
But, in all fairness I told y'all I had a box of Kleenex and a bottle of Andre' finest. Yep, I was celebratin' Riggins Style.

Anyhoo, I am soo excited about Coach at East Dillon. I think the possiblities are endless. A story of the haves and the have nots. It reminds me of couple of stories that happened at my High School. But right now I'll just bore you with one of them. I went a small high school in Texas. But we didn't know how small we were. My school always had a strong girls athletic program. We had a coach who could inspire the girls play with such intensity. It was amazing to watch.
Anyways, it was track season. And someone's daddy brought his bulldozer to town to cut and oval in the dirt back behind the school. To be used as as track for the school. And thats all it was dirt. And then it rain it filled with water and we had to wait for it to dry out. So, we ran on the back roads behind the school. Which were black top and rock. And when the track dried out it would have potholes in it and the county would grate it. But, the girls kept running and winning. And ran all the way to State Track Meet in Austin.

And let me say that when these girls got on that "state of the art track" at Texas Memorial Field in Austin, Texas. They could Fly. . .Flat Out Fly around it. It was amazing to watch. They set records that day in Austin. And a Relay Record that still stands. Two of the girls have past on. One to breast cancer and the other one in a car crash. But, that day in Austin sittin' in those stands and watchin'. And knowing what they over came to get there. Now, that's stuff of greatness. Puts a lump in my throat every time. I'll never forget it. And I'm sure East Dillon will have it's own moments of Greatness. I can't wait to see Coach Taylor "pull'em up by their boot straps." It's gonna be great.

Texas, you see how this show has something for everyone? It takes you back and you can relate to it. Of course you relate to it because you are from Texas.
Everyone has a story. Everyone has that one time the team won. The team with nothing. The team that was on the outs won the big game or the big state final.
East Dillon, if the coach is there, could be that team. It could be the team that puts Joe in his place and makes all of us happy and proud that the coach had the ability to do what needed to be done.
I am thinking that East Dillon is on the other side of the tracks. Perhaps, before integration, East Dillon was the Black school. It is funny because in the deep south, most people thought the Black schools were awful but in reality, the schools represented the town. If the town was doing well all of the schools were pretty good. East Dillon is going to have to bring up traditions that are new and totally East Dillon. I can't wait until we see what happens with the coach and this school.
Of course, with all of the "crooking" of the lines, things may get too hot and we may see some Panthers at East Dillon.

There really are a lot of exciting possibilities for the next 2 seasons! Too bad they're going to be 13 episodes only.

I agree about the possibilities, but what about the graduating seniors? How can we follow Tyra or any of the other graduates if they're off to college?

Wow, I was watching the newest video by Brooks and Dunn. And it got me to thinkin' that maybe Dillon vs East Dillon might not be just about football. There might be a little romance like Romeo and Juliet. In the video the two teams have the same colors. The Blue and Gold vs the Orange/Red and White. I could see a storyline like this on the show fer sure. It could even fit Tim and Lyla. Since she's going away to Vanderbilt. Lyla could return with her very own Riglet. Anyhoo, I really the song and video.



Brooks and Dunn

There is and John Tyler and Robert E. Lee H.S.'s.

I agree with you. If Coach can build a football field from scratch, he can build a team from scratch.

I, too, wonder about Buddie. The economy probably has not been kind to his dealership ... and he's not longer "big man in boosters" since the arrival of the King of Suds which has done very well in this economy.

Can't wait to see how the writers write this!!