According to Coach Herman Boone in an article published by ESPN, he really did integrate the buses before they left for football camp. Boone said "I forced them on each other; I forced them to learn each other's culture. I forced them to be a part of each other's lives."

There is one scene in the film where a brick is thrown through Coach Boone's window. In real life, it was an old toilet that was thrown, but filmmakers thought that would add humor to the serious situation.

After Boaz Yakin was hired to direct the movie, producer Jerry Bruckheimer learned that Yakin did not know anything about American football. He then arranged for Yakin to attend a football camp, where he picked up enough information in two weeks to resume full-speed work afterward.

In real life, Coach Bill Yoast has four daughters: Bonnie, Angela, Sheryl, and Deidre. Unlike in the film, all four daughters lived with their mother, Betty Yoast, after their parents divorced. Bonnie was in college, Angela went to a different high school, and Deidre was only three years old in 1971, but Sheryl attended most of the games and other events with her father, so the filmmakers thought it would be distracting to depict the other three girls. While Bill Yoast was not happy about that, the sisters were fine with it and rather enjoyed the movie.

The real Sheryl Yoast unfortunately led a relatively short life, passing away from an undetected heart condition in 1996 at the age of 34. Sheryl had been a major supporter of her father's coaching efforts, though by her father's own account she was not as rabid of a football fan as the film depicts. However, because of the relationship that she had with her father, her hearty interest in sports in general, and her untimely death before this film was produced, her three sisters had no problem with Sheryl being portrayed as an only child while they were omitted from the film.

Continuity

During a game sequence, an opposing running back runs a sweep. He fumbles the ball which is picked up by a Titan player, who runs it in for a touchdown, the wrong way.

When Sunshine first comes to the practice and throws the football at Gerry you can see Alan and Blue standing behind Gerry watching the football fly through the air. But when the football hits Gerry you see Alan and Blue in front of him turning to laugh.

In stadium, the people are dressed for cold weather. Afterwards in the downtown scene they are dressed like it is a warm summer night.

During an early Titan touchdown sequence. It appears that the Titan player gets an interception and then runs the wrong way for a touchdown. This may be due to camera angle.

Facemasks on helmets change from shot to shot in games.



Factual errors

T.C. Williams High School had actually been integrated since 1963. The successful 1971 football season was not credited to integration but to consolidation of two other high schools; the tripling of the class sizes gave them a larger talent pool to choose from. There was racial violence at that time in Alexandria but not over the football team; instead it was over an unrelated incident where a white convenience store clerk killed a black student in a struggle.

Gerry Bertier's funeral is depicted as taking place in the autumn, with changing leaves falling from the trees. In reality, he was killed in an accident on March 20th, 1981 at the age of 27.

The movie shows the Titans playing several night games at home. In the late 1960's, night sports were banned in the city of Alexandria and the Titans football team has consequently spent every year since then playing their home games on Saturday afternoon, not Friday night.

After football camp the players return. The subtitle states the first day of school as September 4th (1971). This was a Saturday and would not be the first day of school.

The movie depicts Gerry's accident happening before the championship game. Actually, his accident happened after he played in the state championship.



Revealing mistakes

A helmet can be seen on the driver of the car when it spins after being hit.

All "road" games for T.C. Williams obviously filmed on the same field, including the State Championship game.

During the locker room scene, a tattoo on the right shoulder of the actor who plays Petey can be seen, though it has been covered with make-up to make it less visible.

In the locker room scene where the players are talking about Gerry Bertier's mom, you can see a covered up Superman tattoo on the arm of the actor who plays Gerry.

Player uniforms throughout the film look unrealistically grass stained, as if they've been intentionally distressed.



Miscellaneous

All the players on the Titans came from three separate and distinct high schools other than newly-integrated T.C. Williams. Thus, during the fall, no athlete would yet have earned a T.C. Williams varsity letter -- yet Bertier, Ray and several others are seen wearing "TCW" letter jackets.



Anachronisms

High school football rules in 1971 did not allow a recovered fumble to be advance by the recovering team. This happens several times in crucial situations.

In the early 1970s, Igloo coolers were galvanized steel, not plastic as shown.

In the championship game, the team opposing the Titans starts using the shotgun offense. The Titans' assistant coach recognizes the play immediately and clearly knows it's a pro-type offense, saying, "Who do these guys think they are, the New York Jets?" However, in 1971, the shotgun formation had not been used in the NFL for over a decade (and then only by one team, the San Francisco 49ers) and was not a part of the pro playbook until Tom Landry reintroduced it with the Dallas Cowboys in 1975. If the coach had recognized the formation at all he would never have associated it with the Jets or the pros.

The helmets are of a late 1990s design, which are much more strongly designed and made than those actually worn in the early 1970s when this movie takes place.

The players High-Five in the gym. In 1971, they would have given "skin": palm up to palm down.



Crew or equipment visible

When Coach Boone goes to Coach Yost's house to apologize for accepting the head coaching job, the cameraman is reflected in the window just before Boone knocks on the door.



Character error

While at Gettysburg, Coach Boone says 50,000 men died there during the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. There were approximately 50,000 casualties (killed/wounded/missing), but the actual number killed was much lower.

When the Titans win their 2nd game 17-10, the scoreboard shows it as a road game. At the end of the game the PA Announcer very enthusiastically boasts "touchdown Titans, game Titans" - the home team PA man would not announce in that boastful manner for a win by the visitors.

In the locker room when the players are singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". The actor who plays Blue can be heard singing "No, No, darlin'" when the lyric is "Don't worry, baby".

At halftime of the championship game, Boone lists players that are going to play both ways. He includes Alan, who was already playing defense and was never part of the offense and should not have been named by Boone as a defensive change (when he immediately then benches himself in favor of Petey).