By Jordan Long
Former Head Coach and current broadcaster for the Fox NFL pregame show Jimmy Johnson will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame speaking on Saturday. Now Johnson is going to be part of the Cowboys’ Ring of Fame for the Dallas Cowboys to show he was one of the top coaches in Dallas’ history.
Johnson was hired prior to the 1989 season. The Cowboys had just let go of legendary coach Tom Landry who spent 29 years as the Head Coach of the Cowboys. He was very successful with a record of 250-162-6, a winning percentage of .607 with 5 Super Bowl appearances and 2 victories. Owner Jerry Jones wanted new blood on the sidelines after the 1988 season when Landry finished 3-13.
The Cowboys decided to hire Johnson who spent 10 years in college football going 81-34-3 for both Oklahoma State University and the University of Miami . This was an interesting hire only because Johnson had never been a coach in the NFL. Not many coaches can make the jump from college to the NFL and have success.
Johnson coached well for the Dallas Cowboys with a record of 44-36, a winning percentage of .550 spanning from 1989 to 1993. The 44 wins are 3rd in Dallas history, only Jason Garrett and Landry have more. Dallas earned a playoff spot 3 times and 2 Super Bowl victories. Johnson was let go after the 1993 season.
Johnson knew he was one of the top coaches to ever coach the franchise. He always hoped he would be in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Fame. He didn’t expect it to be now. That all changed before last night’s first preseason game that featured the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
According to ESPN.com, Owner Jerry Jones said, “Well, I just think of those great times. And Jimmy’s a great coach. Ridiculous, my role — it was my job was to keep it together. It was my job. Should have had deference to something that was working good. Those are the things that come to my mind. We had a great run of it. He’s a great coach, and I’m proud to have him as a friend, and proud to have had the times that we had. We just had a great experience.”
This was long overdue. Johnson proved in his time coaching the Dallas Cowboys he deserves a spot in the Ring of Fame. Not many teams take a chance on a college coach and have as much success for as long as the Cowboys did including two Super Bowl rings. Johnson needs to be placed in the Ring of Fame, even though it should have occurred a long time ago. At least now it is going to happen. His name will be placed there to show how important he was.
Leave a Reply