Does Tim Walz have Coach Taylor energy? We asked the author of ‘Friday Night Lights’

When Kamala Harris introduced Tim Walz as her running mate in Philadelphia this week, it’s clear the campaign had a certain story in mind. Walz had many former titles, Harris said: husband, dad, sergeant major, congressman. But she was working the crowd up for the really big one.

“To his former high school football players, he was ‘Coach,’” she said, raising her eyebrows and grinning. “Coach,” she added, as if unable to believe the campaign’s luck. “Coach!”

She went on to paint the full, heartwarming picture: In a small town in Minnesota, Walz taught social studies at the local high school (his wife taught English) and he became the linebackers’ coach for the football team. He saw football as a way to teach kids about themselves — and, of course, about life itself. It sounded practically cinematic, and in case anyone didn’t get grasp what she was going for, she took the time to spell it out.

“Under those Friday night lights, Coach Walz motivated his players to believe they could achieve anything. Together they defied the odds — hear this out — going from a winless record to the school’s first-ever state championship,” Harris said, laughing exuberantly as the crowd cheered. A few days later, Walz visited the Harris campaign headquarters in Delaware, where he assured constituents: “We’re doing it. It’s on,” and, “It’s Friday night lights.”

You’d be forgiven for thinking we have the opportunity to elect Coach Eric Taylor of the Dillon Panthers this November. (”Tim Walz Was a Clear Eyes, Full Hearts Kind of Coach,” the New York Times reported.)

To understand what exactly was going on with all this football coach talk, we turned to Buzz Bissinger, author of the 1990 nonfiction book Friday Night Lights, which followed a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, as they fought to become state champions. The book became a cultural phenomenon, inspiring a 2004 movie starring Billy Bob Thornton and Tim McGraw, as well as a beloved television series that ran for five seasons.

Bissinger, who has written six other nonfiction books, splits his time between southwest Washington state and Center City Philadelphia. He is cowriting a memoir with Sen. John Fetterman and is a columnist for Air Mail. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

So what do you think about Tim Walz?

I don’t know really anything about him. I don’t know if any of us do. He seems, on the surface, like a good man, gregarious, passionate, says what he believes, and a great figure of the heartland, which is how they’re trying to portray him. Which is why you have all this high school football garbage.

What does ‘Friday Night Lights’ mean here?

Well, I’m flattered that it would be mentioned. The TV show Eric Taylor was perfect. He was absolutely perfect. He was great to the players. He put his career in the backseat next to his wife. He’s the gold standard. That’s the image we have of a high school coach in popular culture. Clearly, they’re using Friday Night Lights to try to apply it to Walz.

We look for icons, we look for nostalgia. It’s kind of like the college athlete, which is a disappearing icon. But we really hold on to that because it’s the perfect blend of intellect and athleticism — when, of course, it’s not, it’s completely out of control.

Does it fit?

Walz wasn’t the head coach. He was an assistant. It’s the head coach who takes the blame, who gets the heat, who has to deal with all these different constituencies, whether it’s parents, boosters, players, or faculty. So by all accounts, Walz was a good coach. He was passionate and compassionate.

But it’s captured the imagination in a way that I think is bizarre. Because he was in the Army National Guard for over 20 years. He was a congressman for 12 years. He’s been a teacher. For some reason, people are captivated that he was briefly a high school football coach, when I think that what he’s done elsewhere is a hell of a lot more impressive.

What does coaching bring to politics?

Probably nothing. You could argue, if you’re a head coach, dealing with different constituencies is a lot like dealing with Congress. But I think he got more experience being in the lunchroom in high school and dealing with brats.

There are good coaches who really do care about players. Winning isn’t the only thing they care about. But the problem is, particularly in the big programs, if you lose, you get fired. That’s just the way it goes. So I’m not sold on the myth of the majesty of the high school football coach as much as Kamala Harris.

Why does the idea of a high school football coach have such a powerful hold?

I just think in our society, football is the quintessential American game. And within that subset, high school football is the most popular. And there is something magical about it, particularly if you watch the television show. There was something magical about it when I was in Odessa, although it was taken to all sorts of excess.

It’s a position in life that people still respect. The coach is a great role model. The coach leads the town, everyone loves him — until he loses, and then they fire him.

Do sports figures often go far in politics?

The last football coach who’s gone to the Senate was Tommy Tuberville. Case closed. He came from Auburn, and he’s a horrible human being. The number of sports figures who have gone from coaching, or even playing, into politics is very small actually. The most successful was Gerald Ford, because he did become president. So it raises the issue, are these skills really transferable?

Now, dealing with kids, that’ll help, because many of the people in Congress are big kids. They’re spoiled, they get angry, they argue about all sorts of nonsense. They psychically throw food at each other.

Is it strange for you that people are still talking about ‘Friday Night Lights’?

It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely amazing. It’s like the pesticide-resilient cockroach, it just won’t go away.