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Jimmy Johnson
File:Jimmy Johnson (American football coach) 2009.jpg
Johnson in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1943-07-16) July 16, 1943 (age 80)
Place of birth Port Arthur, Texas
Career information
Position(s) Defensive lineman / Head coach
College Arkansas
Head coaching record
Career record NFL:
80–64–0 (Regular season)
9–4 (Postseason)
89–68–0 (Overall)
NCAA: 81–34–3
Super Bowl wins 1993 Super Bowl XXVIII
1992 Super Bowl XXVII
Championships won 1993 NFC Championship
1992 NFC Championship
1987 NCAA Championship
Stats
Coaching stats Pro Football Reference
Coaching stats DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1965

1966

1967

1968–1969

1970–1972

1973–1976

1977–1978


1979–1983

1984–1988

1989–1993

1996–1999
Louisiana Tech
(assistant coach)
Picayune Memorial HS
(assistant coach)
Wichita State
(assistant coach)
Iowa State
(assistant coach)
Oklahoma
(defensive line coach)
Arkansas
(defensive coordinator)
Pittsburgh
(assistant head coach/defensive coordinator)
Oklahoma State
(head coach)
Miami
(head coach)
Dallas Cowboys
(head coach)
Miami Dolphins
(head coach)

James William "Jimmy" Johnson (born July 16, 1943) is an American football broadcaster and former player, coach, and executive. He served as the head football coach at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater from 1979 to 1983 and the University of Miami from 1984 to 1988. Johnson then moved to the National Football League (NFL), serving as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 1989 to 1993 and the Miami Dolphins from 1996 to 1999. As of 2010, he is an analyst for Fox NFL Sunday, the Fox network's NFL pregame show.

Johnson was the first and one of only two football coaches to lead teams to both a major college football championship and a Super Bowl. The other is Barry Switzer, who also played college football at Arkansas, prior to Johnson, and was a rival head coach during their college coaching careers. Switzer was Johnson's successor as head coach of the Cowboys.[1] Johnson's coaching tree includes a number of future head coaches such as Butch Davis, Norv Turner, Tommy Tuberville, Dave Campo and Dave Wannstedt. In 1993, Johnson wrote Turning The Thing Around: My Life in Football, ghostwritten by Ed Hinton. Johnson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2012.

Early life and playing career[]

Born in Port Arthur, Texas, Johnson graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School—renamed Memorial High School—where two of his classmates were singer Janis Joplin and actor G. W. Bailey.[2]

Johnson attended college at the University of Arkansas and played on the Arkansas Razorbacks football team, where he was an all-Southwest Conference defensive lineman for coach Frank Broyles and a teammate of future Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Other teammates included Ken Hatfield, Jim Lindsey, Ronnie Caveness, and Loyd Phillips. Several future head coaches were assistant coaches for Broyles and the Razorbacks during Johnson's career in Fayetteville: Hayden Fry, Johnny Majors and Barry Switzer. The 1964 Razorbacks squad went undefeated and was recognized as a national champion by the Football Writers Association of America. Johnson was nicknamed "Jimmy Jumpup" because he never stayed down on the ground for long during football practices or games as it was said his determination was boundless.[3]

Early football coaching career[]

Johnson began as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech University in 1965 and Picayune Memorial High School in Picayune, Mississippi in 1966. In 1967 he was an assistant at Wichita State University, then in 1968 and 1969 he served under Johnny Majors at Iowa State University in Ames. In 1970 he moved on to another Big Eight Conference school to become a defensive line coach at the University of Oklahoma, working under head coach Chuck Fairbanks and alongside future rival Barry Switzer.

In 1973, he returned to Arkansas, where he served as defensive coordinator through the 1976 season. There he coached such players as Brison Manor and Dirt Winston. Johnson had hopes of being named head coach when Broyles retired, but was passed over for Lou Holtz. Holtz offered to retain Johnson on his staff, but Johnson decided it would be better to move on and amicably parted company with his alma mater.

Johnson became assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh under Jackie Sherrill in 1977 and 1978. There he coached Randy Holloway, David Logan, Al Chesley, J. C. Wilson and was introduced to a Pitt alumnus and assistant coach Dave Wannstedt, who later teamed up with Johnson again at the University of Miami, the Cowboys and the Dolphins.

Johnson coached for five seasons at Oklahoma State University from 1979 to 1983 before taking the head coaching job at the University of Miami. Johnson interviewed for the head coaching job at Arkansas when Lou Holtz left following the 1983 season, then later found out that Ken Hatfield had already been hired. Upset that Frank Broyles (who was still the Arkansas athletic director) made no mention of this during the interview, Jimmy distanced himself from his alma mater. As payback for the snub, a home-and-home series was scheduled with Arkansas. In 1987 Miami gave Arkansas its worst home loss ever by a point margin of 51-7.

Oklahoma State[]

Johnson's tenure at Oklahoma State University is noteworthy for his successful rebuilding of an inconsistent program. In his final season he led the Cowboys to an 8–4 record and a 24–14 victory over 20th ranked Baylor in the Bluebonnet Bowl.

University of Miami[]

In 1984, Johnson was hired by the University of Miami to replace former coach Howard Schnellenberger, who had won Miami's first national championship in 1983 and departed for the recently formed United States Football League. Johnson's hiring was met with an initial response of "Jimmy Who?" by the fans and media. Johnson started with a shaky 8–5 record his first season, which included a game in which Johnson's Hurricanes blew a 31–0 halftime lead in a loss to Maryland with Frank Reich as its QB and also included a 47–45 loss to Boston College immortalized by Doug Flutie's "Hail Mary" touchdown pass on the game's final play. But Johnson developed the Hurricanes into a football program that came to be known as "The Decade of Dominance." In his five years at Miami, Johnson compiled a 52–9 record, appeared in five New Year's Day bowl games, winning one national championship (1987) and losing one to the Penn State Nittany Lions (1986).

Johnson created a free-wheeling atmosphere where he allowed, and at times encouraged, his players to showboat, trash-talk, and run up the score. The criticism they received from other teams caused the media to deem them the "Bad Boys of College Football," a moniker Johnson openly accepted.

Johnson's Hurricanes posted the school's first undefeated regular season in 1986, only to lose the Fiesta Bowl and the national championship to #2-ranked Penn State. The loss, along with losses in Miami's prior two bowl games, began to raise questions about whether Johnson was capable of winning major games. In the ensuing 1987 season, however, the Hurricanes went undefeated in the regular season yet again, and won the school's second national title by defeating Oklahoma for the third season in a row.

Johnson also created controversy by allowing the University of Miami to retire Vinny Testaverde's football jersey number #14, but refusing to retire Bernie Kosar's number #20, even though Kosar played one season for Johnson and led the Hurricanes to the national title (though that didn't come under Johnson). Testaverde played four seasons for Johnson and entered Miami as a redshirt freshman, but lost when the Hurricanes played for the title in the 1986 Sugar Bowl and 14–10 to Penn State . Johnson's reason for not retiring Kosar's number was, "Bernie didn't finish the program here (at Miami)." Kosar graduated with honors a year ahead of his freshman class in 1985 with a dual major in finance and economics (and subsequently entered the NFL's supplemental draft). Testaverde won the school's first Heisman Trophy award in December 1986, and was the first player selected in the 1987 NFL Draft. However, Johnson reached out and signed Bernie Kosar, who was thrown out by the NFL Browns during the 1993 NFL season, to be the Cowboys back up to Troy Aikman playing during the Cowboys 1993 Super Bowl run and clinched the NFC Championship game earning a Super Bowl ring with Jimmy Johnson.

Johnson was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. In May 2012, Johnson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[4]

Dallas Cowboys[]

In 1989, Jerry Jones, the new owner of the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys, a long-time friend and former University of Arkansas teammate of Johnson's, asked him to be the new head coach, replacing Tom Landry, who had coached the team since its beginning in 1960. Johnson was reunited with former Miami standout Michael Irvin, and in Johnson's first season as coach, the 1989 Cowboys went 1–15. Johnson, however, did not take long to develop the Cowboys into a championship-quality team. Johnson had an ability to find talent in the draft, make savvy trades (namely, the trade of Herschel Walker, which yielded six high draft picks and a number of players from the Minnesota Vikings), and by signing quality players as free agents in the age before the NFL had imposed a salary cap, such as Jay Novacek.

Johnson served as head coach of the Cowboys from 1989 through 1993. He is one of only six men in NFL history—(including Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Mike Shanahan, and Bill Belichick)—to coach consecutive Super Bowl winners, winning Super Bowl XXVII in 1992 and Super Bowl XXVIII in 1993. Although no head coach has won three consecutive Super Bowls, only one head coach has led his teams to three consecutive NFL championships on the field (Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers 1965–1967). Johnson led the Cowboys to a record of 10-1 in the regular season during the month of December from 1991 to 1993, also leading to a playoff record of 7-1 in those years. Johnson also had a record of 24-1 when Running Back Emmitt Smith ran for 100 yards or more in a regular season game, and 5-0 in the post season, setting the culture for winning and keeping the lead in those years from 1990 to 1993 winning two Super Bowls. Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones mutually agreed to split due largely to their inability to work together. After Lombardi retired from coaching the Packers, Shula, Noll (twice), Shanahan, and Belichick all tried and failed to pull off the "three-peat".

Jones then hired another former teammate at Arkansas, former University of Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer and the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX two seasons after Johnson's departure. Notable members on the team included Johnson holdovers, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, and Super Bowl XXX MVP Larry Brown. Although Johnson still received a significant amount of credit for that third Super Bowl victory, 33 of his players from the 1993 Super Bowl team were not on the roster in 1995, including 30% of the starting line-ups.

Miami Dolphins[]

After working as a TV analyst with Fox Sports for two years and briefly flirting with an offer for the head coaching job of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994,[5] Johnson joined the Miami Dolphins in 1996, replacing legendary head coach Don Shula, who retired at the end of the 1995 season. After a below-expectations year for the Dolphins in 1995, capped off by a blowout loss in the playoffs versus the Buffalo Bills, there was a groundswell among Dolphins fans who wanted Shula to step aside in favor of Johnson.[6]

Johnson's tenure in Miami did not live up to expectations. Johnson won fewer games in his first season than Shula had in his final season (8–8 vs. 9–7). Johnson's overall winning percentage at Miami was 55.3% vs. 65.8% for Shula.[7]

Johnson inherited one of the NFL's best offenses, led by Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino; the defense was considered mediocre, though it was ranked 10th in fewest points allowed in 1995. As a defensive specialist, Johnson expected to put together a championship defense. With complete control over personnel decisions, Johnson and his staff signed several excellent defensive players, drafting future pro bowlers Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Sam Madison, and Patrick Surtain. But Johnson's brilliant draft record was blemished by several disappointments, including fifth-round pick running back Cecil Collins, and two first-round picks, running back John Avery and wide receiver Yatil Green. The Dolphins finished 8-8 in 1996 and then 9-7 in 1997, losing to the New England Patriots in the Wildcard playoff round. In 1998 the Dolphins finished 10-6 with the league's best defense, defeated the Buffalo Bills in the Wildcard playoffs, then were crushed 38-3 by the Denver Broncos in the divisional round.

In January 1999 Johnson resigned as Dolphins head coach, citing burnout. He reversed his decision in one day, after Dan Marino—with whom Johnson had a strained relationship[8]—pleaded with Johnson to come back. Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga also hired the recently-fired Chicago Bears head coach Dave Wannstedt, a former assistant under Johnson both at the University of Miami and in Dallas, as Defensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach.

In the face of Super Bowl–level expectations, Miami faded down the stretch, and Johnson's relationship with Marino dissolved completely. The Dolphins' final game of the season was an embarrassing 62–7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional Playoff Round. Johnson resigned the day after the game and Marino soon thereafter announced his retirement. Johnson was succeeded by Dave Wannstedt.

Television and commercial career[]

File:FOX NFL Pregame Show Kicks Off From Afghanistan.jpg

Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, and Jimmy Johnson in Afghanistan during a taping of the FOX NFL Sunday pregame show, 2009

After leaving the Dolphins, Johnson became a TV studio analyst again for Fox Sports, and is currently and on on-air staff member on Fox NFL Sunday. He has been assigned as a studio analyst for Fox's coverage of the Bowl Championship Series in January with Chris Rose as the host, and also pens a column on Foxsports.com. In addition he has made several guest or cameo appearances in film and television: as a bearded prisoner in lockup on the television series The Shield, as a guest star in the episode, "Johnsonwreckers" on Coach in 1994, and in the movie The Waterboy next to Bill Cowher.

Johnson endorsements include appearances in an infomercial for BetterTrades in 2007 and his affiliation with Procter & Gamble.[9] In 2010, Johnson agreed to appear in a series of commercials for the male enhancement pill ExtenZe.[10]

Survivor: Nicaragua[]

Johnson was one of twenty castaways competing in Survivor: Nicaragua, the twenty-first edition of Survivor, in late 2010. Jimmy is a long-time fan of the show, and had been cast for Survivor: Gabon, but had to withdraw after failing a physical.[11] Johnson, the oldest contestant of the season, was part of the Espada tribe, made up entirely of people aged 40 and older.[12] He was voted out 8-1 on Day 8 of the competition; he was the third person voted out of the game and placed 18th overall. He commented as he left the show saying: "One of you, win your million bucks, okay?" to the old tribe of the show. He also said, "I had fun, but I was miserable the whole time. I still love the game, it's been a great adventure, but this is the most stressful time I've ever gone through in my life. And that includes Super Bowls and collegiate national championships. I initially said, 'Keep your strongest members.' I obviously wasn't one of them."[13]

Personal life[]

Johnson was married to Linda Kay Cooper on July 12, 1963, with whom he has two sons. They divorced in January 1990. On July 18, 1999, Johnson married Rhonda Rookmaaker. As of 2010, he lives in Islamorada in the Florida Keys.

Johnson owns a restaurant named Three Rings after the three championships he's won on collegiate and professional levels, located in Miami, Florida. He previously owned a second restaurant under the same name in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; however, it has since closed. Johnson's fishing boat, which is docked behind his oceanfront home in Islamorada, Florida, is also called "Three Rings". He also owns a bar and restaurant in Key Largo, Florida called "JJ's Big Chill" located at mile marker 104.

Head coaching record[]

College[]

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs Coaches# AP°
Oklahoma State Cowboys (Big Eight Conference) (1979–1983)
1979 Oklahoma State 7–4 5–2 3rd
1980 Oklahoma State 3–7–1 2–4–1 5th
1981 Oklahoma State 7–5 4–3 T–3rd L Independence
1982 Oklahoma State 4–5–2 3–2–2 3rd
1983 Oklahoma State 8–4 3–4 4th W Bluebonnet 18
Oklahoma State: 29–25–3 17–15–3
Miami Hurricanes (NCAA Division I-A Independent) (1984–1988)
1984 Miami 8–5 L Fiesta 18
1985 Miami 10–2 L Sugar 8 9
1986 Miami 11–1 L Fiesta 2 2
1987 Miami 12–0 W Orange 1 1
1988 Miami 11–1 W Orange 2 2
Miami: 52–9
Total: 81–34–3
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title
#Rankings from final Coaches' Poll.
°Rankings from final AP Poll.

NFL[]

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
DAL 1989 1 15 0 6.3 5th in NFC East - - - -
DAL 1990 7 9 0 43.8 4th in NFC East - - - -
DAL 1991 11 5 0 68.8 2nd in NFC East 1 1 50 Lost to Detroit Lions in NFC Divisional Game.
DAL 1992 13 3 0 81.3 1st in NFC East 3 0 100 Super Bowl XXVII Champions.
DAL 1993 12 4 0 75.0 1st in NFC East 3 0 100 Super Bowl XXVIII Champions.
DAL Total 44 36 0 55 7 1 87.5
MIA 1996 8 8 0 50 4th in AFC East - - -
MIA 1997 9 7 0 56.3 2nd in AFC East 0 1 0 Lost to New England Patriots in AFC Wild-Card Game.
MIA 1998 10 6 0 62.5 2nd in AFC East 1 1 50 Lost to Denver Broncos in AFC Divisional Game.
MIA 1999 9 7 0 62.5 3rd in AFC East 1 1 50 Lost to Jacksonville Jaguars in AFC Divisional Game.
MIA Total 36 28 0 56.3 2 3 40
Total[14] 80 64 0 55.6 9 4 69.2

References[]

  1. "Barry Switzer". The Arkansas Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved April 17, 2007.
  2. "Yahoo Sports Interview"
  3. CNNSI.com - SI Online Q&A - Q & A with Jimmy Johnson - Wednesday September 25, 2002 05:51 PM
  4. Former A&M Coach R. C. Slocum Named To Hall Of Fame kwtx.com Retrieved 15 May 2012
  5. "Johnson Staying in TV". The New York Times. December 17, 1994. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E3DE1238F934A25751C1A962958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fJ%2fJohnson%2c%20Jimmy. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  6. "UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS". The Times. January 15, 1996. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983957,00.html. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  7. "HALL OF FAMERS DON SHULA". http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=194. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  8. "Uneasy rests the alliance of Johnson, Marino". The Sporting News. December 22, 1997. http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/marino/marino-jj.html. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  9. Five Questions With Jimmy Johnson
  10. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/05/jimmy-johnson-extenze-spo_n_450571.html
  11. "Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson to be a contestant on 'Survivor: Nicaragua'". The Dallas Morning News. July 21, 2010. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/cowboys/stories/072110dnosposurvivor.2da4df1.html. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  12. "Survivor: Nicaragua's Old vs. Young Cast Revealed!". Yahoo!. August 9, 2010. http://tv.yahoo.com/survivor-nicaragua/show/45887/news/tv.tvguide.com/tv.tvguide.com-survivor-nicaraguas-old-vs-young-cast-revealed?nc. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
  13. "Survivor: Nicaragua - Episode 3". CBS. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/video/?pid=nXk_n4MT_XtVELposmRjIaoWpNvSoVGp.
  14. Jimmy Johnson Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks - Pro-Football-Reference.com

External links[]

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