Unlike the previous two seasons, only eight of ten major roles received star billing in the opening credits: Kyle Chandler portrayed Eric Taylor, head coach of the Dillon Panthers.
The new characters first introduced this season include: The McCoy Family (D.W. Moffett as father Joe, Janine Turner as mother Katie, and Jeremy Sumpter as son J.D., a quarterback for the Panthers) and Shelby Garrett (Kim Dickens), Matt Saracen's estranged mother.