Just Finished Jimmy Johnson's Book - A few interesting facts

[cern]

Jerry was/is very smart. Jimmy actually is a genius. Those who are geniuses aften have their own reality.

 

[fivetwos]

In my next life, I'm going to make hundreds of millions in some sort of business, then buy an NFL team and run it myself.

Decades upon decades of failure will not be bigger than my own ego and I will hang around and mismanage it until I'm dead.

I will never win, or even reach a conference title game, but I will die trying. I'm that stubborn, and I don't at all care about the millions of fans that have to suffer because of my insistence that I am qualified to do something I'm not.

 

[Blast From The Past]

In preparation for Johnson's upcoming HOF enshrinement, I finally got around to reading a book that he and Ed Hinton wrote over 25 years ago, Turning the Thing Around. I was too young to remember Johnson as the Dallas coach and vaguely remember him and his time at the Dolphins, so it was refreshing for me at least to get an abbreviated overview of his life, both personally and professionally. It's a great book for Cowboys fans and those who have followed Johnson all over his coaching career, but feel that people not associated with the Cowboys or Johnson will find this book to be Johnson's own hero worship of himself (I think the man has earned the right to gloat, personally). Jimmy is arrogant and cocky, but fascinating and victorious.

Obviously, a lot has changed since the time this book was written, such as both of his parents passing away, as well as his abrupt departure from Dallas and eventual strained relationship with Jerry Jones.

Here are a few interesting facts about him that I learned and wanted to share, for those unaware:

1. Born and raised in the Carolinas, and, knowing that Jimmy Johnson never stayed employed at the same place too long, I was fascinated to learn that Johnson was briefly employed by the Clemson Tigers in the late 1960s. It was his shortest stint to date, as he only lasted with the program about 6 weeks. There, he served as DL Coach under the legendary Clemson Coach Frank Howard, whom Johnson did not know at all. Howard had a routine that he showered immediately after practice and then met with the coaches, and Jimmy thought it'd be odd to introduce himself while they were both naked in the shower. So Jimmy went about his business, only to find that Howard was urinating on Jimmy in the shower and shouted: "Hey little buddy!" Over 25 years later after Jimmy had been crowned the champion of Super Bowl 27, Howard sent him a card in the mail that congratulated him on the big win. At the bottom of the card he wrote: "PS - I promise never to pee on your leg again."

**Jimmy only lasted 6 weeks in Clemson because Iowa State paid him a higher salary than the DC to be a DL coach. Jimmy said Johnny Majors paid him a chunk of his salary under the table, so as to not ruffle any feathers since their salaries were public record at the university at the time.

2. Dining with Jimmy sounded bizarre, especially during his coaching days. Jimmy rarely ate when he went out to dinner. He used it as an opportunity to order several beers, "cut-up" with his company, and then take 15-20 orders to go. He would take them all home and freeze them, then eat basically the same thing for a week or two at a time. Mexican one week, Cajun next week, etc. Now - there were occasions where he would eat, but he would frequent On the Border and other restaurants and do this often. He once instructed a poor waitress at On the Border to stack entree to-go boxes as high as she could while he destroyed numerous Heinekens. I'm not sure if this is something that a lot of coaches do, because I can't imagine there is much time to cook during the season, but I got a kick out of it.

3. Jimmy marches to the beat of his own drum, and celebrates holidays how he chooses to celebrate them. Take Christmas for example. It wasn't uncommon for Jimmy to call his family and wish them a Merry Christmas on December 28th or 29th, and sometimes later. He would was generous and gave gifts as well, but they were often delivered well after Christmas Day. He also respected the religious aspect of it, but wasn't interested in celebrating a holiday how society dictated him to do so. Jimmy did however, throw famed Halloween parties dating back all the way to the 1960s with his first wife, Linda Kay Cooper. It was something he looked forward to every year. There were plenty of occasions where he would have his coaching staff over to get wasted with him, but he was never up too late. Jimmy was a happy hour enthusiast and was always in bed early, even during the off-season.

4. Jimmy had, at this point in his life (age 50), written off 3 men in his entire lifetime. His college coach at Arkansas, Frank Broyles, was one of them. In the early 1980s, Jimmy was given an interview by Frank for a vacant Head Coaching job down in Fayetteville. Jerry Jones had been looking out for his coaching career long before he hired him in Dallas, and implored Broyles to consider Jimmy for the coaching vacancy. Broyles, more or less, was trying to appease the wealthy alumni and donor Jerry, and did just that, but failed to mention that he had already offered the job to Ken Hatfield, who had already accepted it. Jimmy caught wind of this from a local beat writer, while he was in town and being courted by Broyles, which the media was able to sniff on. The ordeal humiliated and embarrassed Jimmy, and every time he was able to whip the hell out of the Razorbacks from there on out felt really good to him. He also had written off the President of the University of Miami, Thad Foote, for reneging on a contract extension that was promised to him, as well as Gary Stevens, a man who had agreed to be his OC in Dallas, but backed out at the last minute to stay with Coach Shula in Miami. Jimmy despised people that didn't honor their word. In regard to his confrontation with Stevens, he was able to poach a WR Coach from the Rams named Norv Turner, and the rest as they say is history.

5. I may never understand why Jimmy impulsively divorced his first wife. They were in love, he cared for her deeply, they had a good life together, and raised two great kids together. After Jimmy was hired in Dallas, he went on a jog alone one afternoon and decided that he wanted to live alone and wanted to be alone. I think, in his mind, he resented all of the travel desires that Linda Kay had and her desire to live in mansions and live a lavish, indulgent lifestyle. All Jimmy was interested in was coaching football, and having beers on the beach. I truly and emphatically believe that his family was second on his list of priorities, which he would lament later in life. Jimmy told her after his jog that he wanted a divorce, quietly left their residence, and didn't see her again until three years later, at his oldest son's wedding. He still took care of her though. He gave her everything he owned in the divorce settlement except for his cabin in coastal Texas. Since her life had revolved around his coaching career, he felt an obligation to make sure she never had to work again, and that made me respect Jimmy the man a lot. I'm certain that there is a lot more to that story than he had published in the book, however.

6. It's common knowledge that Jimmy shared a hometown with music legend, Janis Joplin, in Port Arthur, Texas, but I'm sure many would be surprised to learn that they were classmates. Janis was a grade ahead of Jimmy, but they took a history course together his Junior year and her Senior year. She sat directly behind him (alphabetical order), and Jimmy and his jock buddies used to tease her and call her "beat-weeds." "Beat" was a shortened play on the word "beatnik", and "weeds" was an adjective that Jimmy himself had coined that described her stringy, unkempt appearance. Every day in class he would greet her by saying, "Hey beat-weeds." Years later, when she died of a heroin overdose, Jimmy went out and bought several of her records out of respect. He listened to them, but ultimately decided that he didn't like her music at all.

7. Final fact - and I found this to be the most interesting. Jimmy notes in the book that he and Jerry have (at the time) a complicated, but cordial relationship, but exclaimed even in 1993 that they are not friends. They were never friends, and he didn't have the job in Dallas because they were friends. They were simply two men that had a great respect for one another in their respective fields and what they were able to accomplish. Jimmy had Jerry over at his house in 1982 and they were having drinks at his bar downstairs. He told Jerry that he admired the amount of money he was able to make in oil and insurance and asked Jerry just how he could go about doing the same thing. Jerry told him that, the way Jimmy thinks of football 24/7, that's how he thinks about making money and that's how they're both so successful. So I guess, kudos to Jerry for realizing how good Jimmy was as a coach well before he even was, and going to bat for him 20 years before ever even hiring him. But at the same time, damn Jerry for not letting these two minds peacefully coexist and trying to take on both roles.

Wow - I wrote a lot. Anyone else read this book? It was one of the finer Cowboys bios I've read. Landry wasn't nearly as interesting as Jimmy haha.

Thanks for writing all that you did. It was interesting to me to read here. Landry came from a totally different era.

 

[dckid]

1) You really think the hard salary cap didn't have anything to do with it? Really?
2) While Jimmy Johnson was a fantastic coach, he could not duplicate his success at Miami. Which means what?
3) Switzer did win a SB with the team he inherited. Switzer and the Cowboys were robbed by a no-call PI against SF. What does that say about coaching and talent?
4) Jimmy inherited Michael Irvin (and Ken Norton and Chad Hennings) from the 1988 draft. Jimmy was gifted Aikman in the 1989 draft (pretty hard to screw that one up, don't you think?). Jimmy wanted to draft a LB instead of Emmitt but some team beat him to the punch for the LB and he settled for Emmitt.
5) I have no idea what to make of Johnson drafting Steve Walsh. Psyop games with Aikman? He was able to rebound by trading the pick.

Jimmy Johnson was a fine coach here. I was a big fan of his and was ecstatic when Jerry hired him and was upset when Jerry fired him. But, I am not going to worship him as a coach. In my opinion, he lucked into the Triplets (Belichik lucked into Brady, SF lucked into Montana, who doesn't need some luck) and built a solid foundation and was a psychological master of the game of football.

It all worked ... for a while. Just like the Beatles. And I wish it would have went on much longer. Just like the Beatles and many other things in life Fame changes people. Success changes people. Sad to hear Keith Richards talk about having to throw Bryan Jones out of the band since he became a big meanie. Lennon and McCartney just could coexist anymore. Yes, we fans pay the price but put yourself in their shoes for a minute and we probably would have done the same thing.

Sorry but I disagree. I think you are not acknowledging the genius of Jimmy Johnson. 1-15 to 13-3 SB champs in 4 years. Took the least talented roster and converted it to the most talented. Of course some luck is involved. Nothing happens at an vacuum.
Building a culture around the team was the most important thing he did, followed closely y his eye for talent, his motivational skills. The team would run through a brick wall for him. He was an innovator from 1989 to when he left.
He preached speed on defense Vs size. Give me play makers.
He used to throw from the end zone, go for it in 4th down. He was everything we fawn over Shanahan, Reid, McVay for although he did it 30 years ago. He was hated around the league when he came in because of his confidence and his insistence that he will win a SB.
He hated losing more than he enjoyed winning. He was the MJ of coaching.
His draft acumen was off the charts, he developed the draft value chart.
He would have figured out the salary cap.
Barry Switzer was the worst possible hire after Jimmy. The man did not know how to run an NFL practice. Eating hotdogs on the sideline. Missing Saturday walkthroughs to go watch his son play.
The man did nothing but steal a SB ring. He cost us another title in 94.
This team wins team wins 4 in a row no doubt. It’s not that large of a leap we were one game away.
Jimmy couldn’t win in Miami because the owner would. It allow him to get rid of Marino. The number one thing Jimmy wanted was a new Qb from the jump. Without total control he could. It make it happen. Imagine if Jerry said we can’t trade Herschel. I am. It saying Marino gives you the Herschel bounty but you could get a first round pick.

 

[dckid]

Dallas defense was so strong under Jimmy Johnson they actually had TWO sets of defensive front fours, so the starters were fresh later in the game. Even the Super Bowl coached by Switzer was All Jimmy's players. Notice there have been none since.

Agree. Jimmy’s 5 year run is the GOAT status.

 

[dckid]

]Dallas defense was so strong under Jimmy Johnson they actually had TWO sets of defensive front fours, so the starters were fresh later in the game. Even the Super Bowl coached by Switzer was All Jimmy's players. Notice there have been none since.

Now, this year, there will be waves of quality players on the DL just like in Jmmy's days.

The biggest reason for the decline was they Jimmy was no longer running the draft. Jimmy would have kept bringing in talent, just like the Packers, Broncos, Niners, Steelers and Pats.
As talented as Dallas was in the early 90s the run ended too quickly we all know it did. Those triplets had 3 more championship games and a couple of more SB wins. I could have seen Jimmy even lose a SB. He would have kept these guys hungry brought in competition. It’s the culture that went out the window all because Jerry wanted ultimate credit. One would have to be blind to not see. 25 years since we even made a championship game!!!!! The discussion ends with that sentence.

 

[DuncanIso]

In preparation for Johnson's upcoming HOF enshrinement, I finally got around to reading a book that he and Ed Hinton wrote over 25 years ago, Turning the Thing Around. I was too young to remember Johnson as the Dallas coach and vaguely remember him and his time at the Dolphins, so it was refreshing for me at least to get an abbreviated overview of his life, both personally and professionally. It's a great book for Cowboys fans and those who have followed Johnson all over his coaching career, but feel that people not associated with the Cowboys or Johnson will find this book to be Johnson's own hero worship of himself (I think the man has earned the right to gloat, personally). Jimmy is arrogant and cocky, but fascinating and victorious.

Obviously, a lot has changed since the time this book was written, such as both of his parents passing away, as well as his abrupt departure from Dallas and eventual strained relationship with Jerry Jones.

Here are a few interesting facts about him that I learned and wanted to share, for those unaware:

1. Born and raised in the Carolinas, and, knowing that Jimmy Johnson never stayed employed at the same place too long, I was fascinated to learn that Johnson was briefly employed by the Clemson Tigers in the late 1960s. It was his shortest stint to date, as he only lasted with the program about 6 weeks. There, he served as DL Coach under the legendary Clemson Coach Frank Howard, whom Johnson did not know at all. Howard had a routine that he showered immediately after practice and then met with the coaches, and Jimmy thought it'd be odd to introduce himself while they were both naked in the shower. So Jimmy went about his business, only to find that Howard was urinating on Jimmy in the shower and shouted: "Hey little buddy!" Over 25 years later after Jimmy had been crowned the champion of Super Bowl 27, Howard sent him a card in the mail that congratulated him on the big win. At the bottom of the card he wrote: "PS - I promise never to pee on your leg again."

**Jimmy only lasted 6 weeks in Clemson because Iowa State paid him a higher salary than the DC to be a DL coach. Jimmy said Johnny Majors paid him a chunk of his salary under the table, so as to not ruffle any feathers since their salaries were public record at the university at the time.

2. Dining with Jimmy sounded bizarre, especially during his coaching days. Jimmy rarely ate when he went out to dinner. He used it as an opportunity to order several beers, "cut-up" with his company, and then take 15-20 orders to go. He would take them all home and freeze them, then eat basically the same thing for a week or two at a time. Mexican one week, Cajun next week, etc. Now - there were occasions where he would eat, but he would frequent On the Border and other restaurants and do this often. He once instructed a poor waitress at On the Border to stack entree to-go boxes as high as she could while he destroyed numerous Heinekens. I'm not sure if this is something that a lot of coaches do, because I can't imagine there is much time to cook during the season, but I got a kick out of it.

3. Jimmy marches to the beat of his own drum, and celebrates holidays how he chooses to celebrate them. Take Christmas for example. It wasn't uncommon for Jimmy to call his family and wish them a Merry Christmas on December 28th or 29th, and sometimes later. He would was generous and gave gifts as well, but they were often delivered well after Christmas Day. He also respected the religious aspect of it, but wasn't interested in celebrating a holiday how society dictated him to do so. Jimmy did however, throw famed Halloween parties dating back all the way to the 1960s with his first wife, Linda Kay Cooper. It was something he looked forward to every year. There were plenty of occasions where he would have his coaching staff over to get wasted with him, but he was never up too late. Jimmy was a happy hour enthusiast and was always in bed early, even during the off-season.

4. Jimmy had, at this point in his life (age 50), written off 3 men in his entire lifetime. His college coach at Arkansas, Frank Broyles, was one of them. In the early 1980s, Jimmy was given an interview by Frank for a vacant Head Coaching job down in Fayetteville. Jerry Jones had been looking out for his coaching career long before he hired him in Dallas, and implored Broyles to consider Jimmy for the coaching vacancy. Broyles, more or less, was trying to appease the wealthy alumni and donor Jerry, and did just that, but failed to mention that he had already offered the job to Ken Hatfield, who had already accepted it. Jimmy caught wind of this from a local beat writer, while he was in town and being courted by Broyles, which the media was able to sniff on. The ordeal humiliated and embarrassed Jimmy, and every time he was able to whip the hell out of the Razorbacks from there on out felt really good to him. He also had written off the President of the University of Miami, Thad Foote, for reneging on a contract extension that was promised to him, as well as Gary Stevens, a man who had agreed to be his OC in Dallas, but backed out at the last minute to stay with Coach Shula in Miami. Jimmy despised people that didn't honor their word. In regard to his confrontation with Stevens, he was able to poach a WR Coach from the Rams named Norv Turner, and the rest as they say is history.

5. I may never understand why Jimmy impulsively divorced his first wife. They were in love, he cared for her deeply, they had a good life together, and raised two great kids together. After Jimmy was hired in Dallas, he went on a jog alone one afternoon and decided that he wanted to live alone and wanted to be alone. I think, in his mind, he resented all of the travel desires that Linda Kay had and her desire to live in mansions and live a lavish, indulgent lifestyle. All Jimmy was interested in was coaching football, and having beers on the beach. I truly and emphatically believe that his family was second on his list of priorities, which he would lament later in life. Jimmy told her after his jog that he wanted a divorce, quietly left their residence, and didn't see her again until three years later, at his oldest son's wedding. He still took care of her though. He gave her everything he owned in the divorce settlement except for his cabin in coastal Texas. Since her life had revolved around his coaching career, he felt an obligation to make sure she never had to work again, and that made me respect Jimmy the man a lot. I'm certain that there is a lot more to that story than he had published in the book, however.

6. It's common knowledge that Jimmy shared a hometown with music legend, Janis Joplin, in Port Arthur, Texas, but I'm sure many would be surprised to learn that they were classmates. Janis was a grade ahead of Jimmy, but they took a history course together his Junior year and her Senior year. She sat directly behind him (alphabetical order), and Jimmy and his jock buddies used to tease her and call her "beat-weeds." "Beat" was a shortened play on the word "beatnik", and "weeds" was an adjective that Jimmy himself had coined that described her stringy, unkempt appearance. Every day in class he would greet her by saying, "Hey beat-weeds." Years later, when she died of a heroin overdose, Jimmy went out and bought several of her records out of respect. He listened to them, but ultimately decided that he didn't like her music at all.

7. Final fact - and I found this to be the most interesting. Jimmy notes in the book that he and Jerry have (at the time) a complicated, but cordial relationship, but exclaimed even in 1993 that they are not friends. They were never friends, and he didn't have the job in Dallas because they were friends. They were simply two men that had a great respect for one another in their respective fields and what they were able to accomplish. Jimmy had Jerry over at his house in 1982 and they were having drinks at his bar downstairs. He told Jerry that he admired the amount of money he was able to make in oil and insurance and asked Jerry just how he could go about doing the same thing. Jerry told him that, the way Jimmy thinks of football 24/7, that's how he thinks about making money and that's how they're both so successful. So I guess, kudos to Jerry for realizing how good Jimmy was as a coach well before he even was, and going to bat for him 20 years before ever even hiring him. But at the same time, damn Jerry for not letting these two minds peacefully coexist and trying to take on both roles.

Wow - I wrote a lot. Anyone else read this book? It was one of the finer Cowboys bios I've read. Landry wasn't nearly as interesting as Jimmy haha.

good post!

 

[ClappingCarrot]

Sorry but I disagree. I think you are not acknowledging the genius of Jimmy Johnson. 1-15 to 13-3 SB champs in 4 years. Took the least talented roster and converted it to the most talented. Of course some luck is involved. Nothing happens at an vacuum.
Building a culture around the team was the most important thing he did, followed closely y his eye for talent, his motivational skills. The team would run through a brick wall for him. He was an innovator from 1989 to when he left.
He preached speed on defense Vs size. Give me play makers.
He used to throw from the end zone, go for it in 4th down. He was everything we fawn over Shanahan, Reid, McVay for although he did it 30 years ago. He was hated around the league when he came in because of his confidence and his insistence that he will win a SB.
He hated losing more than he enjoyed winning. He was the MJ of coaching.
His draft acumen was off the charts, he developed the draft value chart.
He would have figured out the salary cap.
Barry Switzer was the worst possible hire after Jimmy. The man did not know how to run an NFL practice. Eating hotdogs on the sideline. Missing Saturday walkthroughs to go watch his son play.
The man did nothing but steal a SB ring. He cost us another title in 94.
This team wins team wins 4 in a row no doubt. It’s not that large of a leap we were one game away.
Jimmy couldn’t win in Miami because the owner would. It allow him to get rid of Marino. The number one thing Jimmy wanted was a new Qb from the jump. Without total control he could. It make it happen. Imagine if Jerry said we can’t trade Herschel. I am. It saying Marino gives you the Herschel bounty but you could get a first round pick.

Jimmy's success in the draft and talent acquisition was really just a product of very hard work rather than him being some draft guru.

Although Larry Lacewell ran scouting, Dallas had one of the smallest scouting departments in the league during Jimmy's tenure (he notes the Bengals scouting department was the smallest though). Since there isn't a scouting department in college, and he and almost all of his staff came from the college ranks, they were used to the grind of habitually attending college games to scout as well. So when the time came to draft they had a more intimate view of the players.

Jimmy was tough on his coaches but never demanded that they put in any more work than he was willing to put in himself.

 

[DuncanIso]

Jimmy's success in the draft and talent acquisition was really just a product of very hard work rather than him being some draft guru.

Although Larry Lacewell ran scouting, Dallas had one of the smallest scouting departments in the league during Jimmy's tenure (he notes the Bengals scouting department was the smallest though). Since there isn't a scouting department in college, and he and almost all of his staff came from the college ranks, they were used to the grind of habitually attending college games to scout as well. So when the time came to draft they had a more intimate view of the players.

Jimmy was tough on his coaches but never demanded that they put in any more work than he was willing to put in himself.

hard work / perseverance leads to success.

 

[DuncanIso]

The biggest reason for the decline was they Jimmy was no longer running the draft. Jimmy would have kept bringing in talent, just like the Packers, Broncos, Niners, Steelers and Pats.
As talented as Dallas was in the early 90s the run ended too quickly we all know it did. Those triplets had 3 more championship games and a couple of more SB wins. I could have seen Jimmy even lose a SB. He would have kept these guys hungry brought in competition. It’s the culture that went out the window all because Jerry wanted ultimate credit. One would have to be blind to not see. 25 years since we even made a championship game!!!!! The discussion ends with that sentence.

there were extremely talented.

they were able to extend the dynasty to 1999, but it was pretty much a shell by then.

The mini collapse in 97 was a sign of things to come.

 

[tyke1doe]

In preparation for Johnson's upcoming HOF enshrinement, I finally got around to reading a book that he and Ed Hinton wrote over 25 years ago, Turning the Thing Around. I was too young to remember Johnson as the Dallas coach and vaguely remember him and his time at the Dolphins, so it was refreshing for me at least to get an abbreviated overview of his life, both personally and professionally. It's a great book for Cowboys fans and those who have followed Johnson all over his coaching career, but feel that people not associated with the Cowboys or Johnson will find this book to be Johnson's own hero worship of himself (I think the man has earned the right to gloat, personally). Jimmy is arrogant and cocky, but fascinating and victorious.

Obviously, a lot has changed since the time this book was written, such as both of his parents passing away, as well as his abrupt departure from Dallas and eventual strained relationship with Jerry Jones.

Here are a few interesting facts about him that I learned and wanted to share, for those unaware:

1. Born and raised in the Carolinas, and, knowing that Jimmy Johnson never stayed employed at the same place too long, I was fascinated to learn that Johnson was briefly employed by the Clemson Tigers in the late 1960s. It was his shortest stint to date, as he only lasted with the program about 6 weeks. There, he served as DL Coach under the legendary Clemson Coach Frank Howard, whom Johnson did not know at all. Howard had a routine that he showered immediately after practice and then met with the coaches, and Jimmy thought it'd be odd to introduce himself while they were both naked in the shower. So Jimmy went about his business, only to find that Howard was urinating on Jimmy in the shower and shouted: "Hey little buddy!" Over 25 years later after Jimmy had been crowned the champion of Super Bowl 27, Howard sent him a card in the mail that congratulated him on the big win. At the bottom of the card he wrote: "PS - I promise never to pee on your leg again."

**Jimmy only lasted 6 weeks in Clemson because Iowa State paid him a higher salary than the DC to be a DL coach. Jimmy said Johnny Majors paid him a chunk of his salary under the table, so as to not ruffle any feathers since their salaries were public record at the university at the time.

2. Dining with Jimmy sounded bizarre, especially during his coaching days. Jimmy rarely ate when he went out to dinner. He used it as an opportunity to order several beers, "cut-up" with his company, and then take 15-20 orders to go. He would take them all home and freeze them, then eat basically the same thing for a week or two at a time. Mexican one week, Cajun next week, etc. Now - there were occasions where he would eat, but he would frequent On the Border and other restaurants and do this often. He once instructed a poor waitress at On the Border to stack entree to-go boxes as high as she could while he destroyed numerous Heinekens. I'm not sure if this is something that a lot of coaches do, because I can't imagine there is much time to cook during the season, but I got a kick out of it.

3. Jimmy marches to the beat of his own drum, and celebrates holidays how he chooses to celebrate them. Take Christmas for example. It wasn't uncommon for Jimmy to call his family and wish them a Merry Christmas on December 28th or 29th, and sometimes later. He would was generous and gave gifts as well, but they were often delivered well after Christmas Day. He also respected the religious aspect of it, but wasn't interested in celebrating a holiday how society dictated him to do so. Jimmy did however, throw famed Halloween parties dating back all the way to the 1960s with his first wife, Linda Kay Cooper. It was something he looked forward to every year. There were plenty of occasions where he would have his coaching staff over to get wasted with him, but he was never up too late. Jimmy was a happy hour enthusiast and was always in bed early, even during the off-season.

4. Jimmy had, at this point in his life (age 50), written off 3 men in his entire lifetime. His college coach at Arkansas, Frank Broyles, was one of them. In the early 1980s, Jimmy was given an interview by Frank for a vacant Head Coaching job down in Fayetteville. Jerry Jones had been looking out for his coaching career long before he hired him in Dallas, and implored Broyles to consider Jimmy for the coaching vacancy. Broyles, more or less, was trying to appease the wealthy alumni and donor Jerry, and did just that, but failed to mention that he had already offered the job to Ken Hatfield, who had already accepted it. Jimmy caught wind of this from a local beat writer, while he was in town and being courted by Broyles, which the media was able to sniff on. The ordeal humiliated and embarrassed Jimmy, and every time he was able to whip the hell out of the Razorbacks from there on out felt really good to him. He also had written off the President of the University of Miami, Thad Foote, for reneging on a contract extension that was promised to him, as well as Gary Stevens, a man who had agreed to be his OC in Dallas, but backed out at the last minute to stay with Coach Shula in Miami. Jimmy despised people that didn't honor their word. In regard to his confrontation with Stevens, he was able to poach a WR Coach from the Rams named Norv Turner, and the rest as they say is history.

5. I may never understand why Jimmy impulsively divorced his first wife. They were in love, he cared for her deeply, they had a good life together, and raised two great kids together. After Jimmy was hired in Dallas, he went on a jog alone one afternoon and decided that he wanted to live alone and wanted to be alone. I think, in his mind, he resented all of the travel desires that Linda Kay had and her desire to live in mansions and live a lavish, indulgent lifestyle. All Jimmy was interested in was coaching football, and having beers on the beach. I truly and emphatically believe that his family was second on his list of priorities, which he would lament later in life. Jimmy told her after his jog that he wanted a divorce, quietly left their residence, and didn't see her again until three years later, at his oldest son's wedding. He still took care of her though. He gave her everything he owned in the divorce settlement except for his cabin in coastal Texas. Since her life had revolved around his coaching career, he felt an obligation to make sure she never had to work again, and that made me respect Jimmy the man a lot. I'm certain that there is a lot more to that story than he had published in the book, however.

6. It's common knowledge that Jimmy shared a hometown with music legend, Janis Joplin, in Port Arthur, Texas, but I'm sure many would be surprised to learn that they were classmates. Janis was a grade ahead of Jimmy, but they took a history course together his Junior year and her Senior year. She sat directly behind him (alphabetical order), and Jimmy and his jock buddies used to tease her and call her "beat-weeds." "Beat" was a shortened play on the word "beatnik", and "weeds" was an adjective that Jimmy himself had coined that described her stringy, unkempt appearance. Every day in class he would greet her by saying, "Hey beat-weeds." Years later, when she died of a heroin overdose, Jimmy went out and bought several of her records out of respect. He listened to them, but ultimately decided that he didn't like her music at all.

7. Final fact - and I found this to be the most interesting. Jimmy notes in the book that he and Jerry have (at the time) a complicated, but cordial relationship, but exclaimed even in 1993 that they are not friends. They were never friends, and he didn't have the job in Dallas because they were friends. They were simply two men that had a great respect for one another in their respective fields and what they were able to accomplish. Jimmy had Jerry over at his house in 1982 and they were having drinks at his bar downstairs. He told Jerry that he admired the amount of money he was able to make in oil and insurance and asked Jerry just how he could go about doing the same thing. Jerry told him that, the way Jimmy thinks of football 24/7, that's how he thinks about making money and that's how they're both so successful. So I guess, kudos to Jerry for realizing how good Jimmy was as a coach well before he even was, and going to bat for him 20 years before ever even hiring him. But at the same time, damn Jerry for not letting these two minds peacefully coexist and trying to take on both roles.

Wow - I wrote a lot. Anyone else read this book? It was one of the finer Cowboys bios I've read. Landry wasn't nearly as interesting as Jimmy haha.

Thanks for the recap. As for point 6, it was pretty well known that Jimmy went to school with Janis Joplin, even used to tug on her hair in class. The media reported that so much as a backdrop of Jimmy's history even I started to say, "Enough already." Also, the revelation that Jimmy and Jerry weren't close friend also was one that was well reported by Dallas media. The national media wanted to make it a story, i.e., Jerry Jones hired his college football teammate Jimmy Johnson as a way to play up the "yokle local, these two are way out of their league" storyline, especially when the Cowboys traded Hershel Walker to the Vikings. Yes, there were many in the media, including in Dallas, who thought the Cowboys were crazy to do so. League owners and league officials mocked the Jerry-Jimmy combination and played the "friendship angle" to justify their belief in the two men's naivete to the ways of professional football. Look who got the last laugh.

 

[tyke1doe]

The thought of this still makes me sick. I would have been happy with 3 straight. No one has done that.

The Packers and 49ers couldn't beat us … UNTIL Jimmy left.

 

[tyke1doe]

Man that book is old! I read it 25 years ago. I liked it. It amazes me what it takes to become a champion. It's hard to phantom that Belichick has six SB victories!

fathom

 

[tyke1doe]

I think it was Shanahan who said if not for the salary cap, that team would have won 5 SBs. I think it was the cap and not coaching change that kept that team from achieving even more SBs.

No, it was the coaching change. The Cowboys were different. They had an aura of invincibility that started with the coach. Irvin, Aikman and Emmitt have all alluded to it. In the 92-93, 93-94 run, the Cowboys offense hardly ever turned over the ball. The first year under Switzer, they had three consecutive turnovers in the 94-95 NFC Championship Game. That was uncharacteristic of the Cowboys. Without those turnovers, with Johnson and even with Deion on the Niners, the Cowboys would have won that game and would have easily destroyed the Chargers in the Super Bowl.

Furthermore, the Cowboys under Johnson would have buried the Steelers in Super Bowl 30. There's no way that game should have been as close as it was. We jumped out to a lead and became comfortable. Jimmy never played comfortable ball. He was all about crushing the opponent.

 

[Diehardblues]

In preparation for Johnson's upcoming HOF enshrinement, I finally got around to reading a book that he and Ed Hinton wrote over 25 years ago, Turning the Thing Around. I was too young to remember Johnson as the Dallas coach and vaguely remember him and his time at the Dolphins, so it was refreshing for me at least to get an abbreviated overview of his life, both personally and professionally. It's a great book for Cowboys fans and those who have followed Johnson all over his coaching career, but feel that people not associated with the Cowboys or Johnson will find this book to be Johnson's own hero worship of himself (I think the man has earned the right to gloat, personally). Jimmy is arrogant and cocky, but fascinating and victorious.

Obviously, a lot has changed since the time this book was written, such as both of his parents passing away, as well as his abrupt departure from Dallas and eventual strained relationship with Jerry Jones.

Here are a few interesting facts about him that I learned and wanted to share, for those unaware:

1. Born and raised in the Carolinas, and, knowing that Jimmy Johnson never stayed employed at the same place too long, I was fascinated to learn that Johnson was briefly employed by the Clemson Tigers in the late 1960s. It was his shortest stint to date, as he only lasted with the program about 6 weeks. There, he served as DL Coach under the legendary Clemson Coach Frank Howard, whom Johnson did not know at all. Howard had a routine that he showered immediately after practice and then met with the coaches, and Jimmy thought it'd be odd to introduce himself while they were both naked in the shower. So Jimmy went about his business, only to find that Howard was urinating on Jimmy in the shower and shouted: "Hey little buddy!" Over 25 years later after Jimmy had been crowned the champion of Super Bowl 27, Howard sent him a card in the mail that congratulated him on the big win. At the bottom of the card he wrote: "PS - I promise never to pee on your leg again."

**Jimmy only lasted 6 weeks in Clemson because Iowa State paid him a higher salary than the DC to be a DL coach. Jimmy said Johnny Majors paid him a chunk of his salary under the table, so as to not ruffle any feathers since their salaries were public record at the university at the time.

2. Dining with Jimmy sounded bizarre, especially during his coaching days. Jimmy rarely ate when he went out to dinner. He used it as an opportunity to order several beers, "cut-up" with his company, and then take 15-20 orders to go. He would take them all home and freeze them, then eat basically the same thing for a week or two at a time. Mexican one week, Cajun next week, etc. Now - there were occasions where he would eat, but he would frequent On the Border and other restaurants and do this often. He once instructed a poor waitress at On the Border to stack entree to-go boxes as high as she could while he destroyed numerous Heinekens. I'm not sure if this is something that a lot of coaches do, because I can't imagine there is much time to cook during the season, but I got a kick out of it.

3. Jimmy marches to the beat of his own drum, and celebrates holidays how he chooses to celebrate them. Take Christmas for example. It wasn't uncommon for Jimmy to call his family and wish them a Merry Christmas on December 28th or 29th, and sometimes later. He would was generous and gave gifts as well, but they were often delivered well after Christmas Day. He also respected the religious aspect of it, but wasn't interested in celebrating a holiday how society dictated him to do so. Jimmy did however, throw famed Halloween parties dating back all the way to the 1960s with his first wife, Linda Kay Cooper. It was something he looked forward to every year. There were plenty of occasions where he would have his coaching staff over to get wasted with him, but he was never up too late. Jimmy was a happy hour enthusiast and was always in bed early, even during the off-season.

4. Jimmy had, at this point in his life (age 50), written off 3 men in his entire lifetime. His college coach at Arkansas, Frank Broyles, was one of them. In the early 1980s, Jimmy was given an interview by Frank for a vacant Head Coaching job down in Fayetteville. Jerry Jones had been looking out for his coaching career long before he hired him in Dallas, and implored Broyles to consider Jimmy for the coaching vacancy. Broyles, more or less, was trying to appease the wealthy alumni and donor Jerry, and did just that, but failed to mention that he had already offered the job to Ken Hatfield, who had already accepted it. Jimmy caught wind of this from a local beat writer, while he was in town and being courted by Broyles, which the media was able to sniff on. The ordeal humiliated and embarrassed Jimmy, and every time he was able to whip the hell out of the Razorbacks from there on out felt really good to him. He also had written off the President of the University of Miami, Thad Foote, for reneging on a contract extension that was promised to him, as well as Gary Stevens, a man who had agreed to be his OC in Dallas, but backed out at the last minute to stay with Coach Shula in Miami. Jimmy despised people that didn't honor their word. In regard to his confrontation with Stevens, he was able to poach a WR Coach from the Rams named Norv Turner, and the rest as they say is history.

5. I may never understand why Jimmy impulsively divorced his first wife. They were in love, he cared for her deeply, they had a good life together, and raised two great kids together. After Jimmy was hired in Dallas, he went on a jog alone one afternoon and decided that he wanted to live alone and wanted to be alone. I think, in his mind, he resented all of the travel desires that Linda Kay had and her desire to live in mansions and live a lavish, indulgent lifestyle. All Jimmy was interested in was coaching football, and having beers on the beach. I truly and emphatically believe that his family was second on his list of priorities, which he would lament later in life. Jimmy told her after his jog that he wanted a divorce, quietly left their residence, and didn't see her again until three years later, at his oldest son's wedding. He still took care of her though. He gave her everything he owned in the divorce settlement except for his cabin in coastal Texas. Since her life had revolved around his coaching career, he felt an obligation to make sure she never had to work again, and that made me respect Jimmy the man a lot. I'm certain that there is a lot more to that story than he had published in the book, however.

6. It's common knowledge that Jimmy shared a hometown with music legend, Janis Joplin, in Port Arthur, Texas, but I'm sure many would be surprised to learn that they were classmates. Janis was a grade ahead of Jimmy, but they took a history course together his Junior year and her Senior year. She sat directly behind him (alphabetical order), and Jimmy and his jock buddies used to tease her and call her "beat-weeds." "Beat" was a shortened play on the word "beatnik", and "weeds" was an adjective that Jimmy himself had coined that described her stringy, unkempt appearance. Every day in class he would greet her by saying, "Hey beat-weeds." Years later, when she died of a heroin overdose, Jimmy went out and bought several of her records out of respect. He listened to them, but ultimately decided that he didn't like her music at all.

7. Final fact - and I found this to be the most interesting. Jimmy notes in the book that he and Jerry have (at the time) a complicated, but cordial relationship, but exclaimed even in 1993 that they are not friends. They were never friends, and he didn't have the job in Dallas because they were friends. They were simply two men that had a great respect for one another in their respective fields and what they were able to accomplish. Jimmy had Jerry over at his house in 1982 and they were having drinks at his bar downstairs. He told Jerry that he admired the amount of money he was able to make in oil and insurance and asked Jerry just how he could go about doing the same thing. Jerry told him that, the way Jimmy thinks of football 24/7, that's how he thinks about making money and that's how they're both so successful. So I guess, kudos to Jerry for realizing how good Jimmy was as a coach well before he even was, and going to bat for him 20 years before ever even hiring him. But at the same time, damn Jerry for not letting these two minds peacefully coexist and trying to take on both roles.

Wow - I wrote a lot. Anyone else read this book? It was one of the finer Cowboys bios I've read. Landry wasn't nearly as interesting as Jimmy haha.

Yes, read it about 25 years ago although I wouldn’t necessarily agree with Landry assessment who’s history and impact is much more interesting to me.

And Jerry lucked out with Jimmy or he’d of been run out of town or had to move the franchise with the level of performance he’s had since Jimmys built team dismantled.

 

[eromeopolk]

In preparation for Johnson's upcoming HOF enshrinement, I finally got around to reading a book that he and Ed Hinton wrote over 25 years ago, Turning the Thing Around. I was too young to remember Johnson as the Dallas coach and vaguely remember him and his time at the Dolphins, so it was refreshing for me at least to get an abbreviated overview of his life, both personally and professionally. It's a great book for Cowboys fans and those who have followed Johnson all over his coaching career, but feel that people not associated with the Cowboys or Johnson will find this book to be Johnson's own hero worship of himself (I think the man has earned the right to gloat, personally). Jimmy is arrogant and cocky, but fascinating and victorious.

Obviously, a lot has changed since the time this book was written, such as both of his parents passing away, as well as his abrupt departure from Dallas and eventual strained relationship with Jerry Jones.

Here are a few interesting facts about him that I learned and wanted to share, for those unaware:

1. Born and raised in the Carolinas, and, knowing that Jimmy Johnson never stayed employed at the same place too long, I was fascinated to learn that Johnson was briefly employed by the Clemson Tigers in the late 1960s. It was his shortest stint to date, as he only lasted with the program about 6 weeks. There, he served as DL Coach under the legendary Clemson Coach Frank Howard, whom Johnson did not know at all. Howard had a routine that he showered immediately after practice and then met with the coaches, and Jimmy thought it'd be odd to introduce himself while they were both naked in the shower. So Jimmy went about his business, only to find that Howard was urinating on Jimmy in the shower and shouted: "Hey little buddy!" Over 25 years later after Jimmy had been crowned the champion of Super Bowl 27, Howard sent him a card in the mail that congratulated him on the big win. At the bottom of the card he wrote: "PS - I promise never to pee on your leg again."

**Jimmy only lasted 6 weeks in Clemson because Iowa State paid him a higher salary than the DC to be a DL coach. Jimmy said Johnny Majors paid him a chunk of his salary under the table, so as to not ruffle any feathers since their salaries were public record at the university at the time.

2. Dining with Jimmy sounded bizarre, especially during his coaching days. Jimmy rarely ate when he went out to dinner. He used it as an opportunity to order several beers, "cut-up" with his company, and then take 15-20 orders to go. He would take them all home and freeze them, then eat basically the same thing for a week or two at a time. Mexican one week, Cajun next week, etc. Now - there were occasions where he would eat, but he would frequent On the Border and other restaurants and do this often. He once instructed a poor waitress at On the Border to stack entree to-go boxes as high as she could while he destroyed numerous Heinekens. I'm not sure if this is something that a lot of coaches do, because I can't imagine there is much time to cook during the season, but I got a kick out of it.

3. Jimmy marches to the beat of his own drum, and celebrates holidays how he chooses to celebrate them. Take Christmas for example. It wasn't uncommon for Jimmy to call his family and wish them a Merry Christmas on December 28th or 29th, and sometimes later. He would was generous and gave gifts as well, but they were often delivered well after Christmas Day. He also respected the religious aspect of it, but wasn't interested in celebrating a holiday how society dictated him to do so. Jimmy did however, throw famed Halloween parties dating back all the way to the 1960s with his first wife, Linda Kay Cooper. It was something he looked forward to every year. There were plenty of occasions where he would have his coaching staff over to get wasted with him, but he was never up too late. Jimmy was a happy hour enthusiast and was always in bed early, even during the off-season.

4. Jimmy had, at this point in his life (age 50), written off 3 men in his entire lifetime. His college coach at Arkansas, Frank Broyles, was one of them. In the early 1980s, Jimmy was given an interview by Frank for a vacant Head Coaching job down in Fayetteville. Jerry Jones had been looking out for his coaching career long before he hired him in Dallas, and implored Broyles to consider Jimmy for the coaching vacancy. Broyles, more or less, was trying to appease the wealthy alumni and donor Jerry, and did just that, but failed to mention that he had already offered the job to Ken Hatfield, who had already accepted it. Jimmy caught wind of this from a local beat writer, while he was in town and being courted by Broyles, which the media was able to sniff on. The ordeal humiliated and embarrassed Jimmy, and every time he was able to whip the hell out of the Razorbacks from there on out felt really good to him. He also had written off the President of the University of Miami, Thad Foote, for reneging on a contract extension that was promised to him, as well as Gary Stevens, a man who had agreed to be his OC in Dallas, but backed out at the last minute to stay with Coach Shula in Miami. Jimmy despised people that didn't honor their word. In regard to his confrontation with Stevens, he was able to poach a WR Coach from the Rams named Norv Turner, and the rest as they say is history.

5. I may never understand why Jimmy impulsively divorced his first wife. They were in love, he cared for her deeply, they had a good life together, and raised two great kids together. After Jimmy was hired in Dallas, he went on a jog alone one afternoon and decided that he wanted to live alone and wanted to be alone. I think, in his mind, he resented all of the travel desires that Linda Kay had and her desire to live in mansions and live a lavish, indulgent lifestyle. All Jimmy was interested in was coaching football, and having beers on the beach. I truly and emphatically believe that his family was second on his list of priorities, which he would lament later in life. Jimmy told her after his jog that he wanted a divorce, quietly left their residence, and didn't see her again until three years later, at his oldest son's wedding. He still took care of her though. He gave her everything he owned in the divorce settlement except for his cabin in coastal Texas. Since her life had revolved around his coaching career, he felt an obligation to make sure she never had to work again, and that made me respect Jimmy the man a lot. I'm certain that there is a lot more to that story than he had published in the book, however.

6. It's common knowledge that Jimmy shared a hometown with music legend, Janis Joplin, in Port Arthur, Texas, but I'm sure many would be surprised to learn that they were classmates. Janis was a grade ahead of Jimmy, but they took a history course together his Junior year and her Senior year. She sat directly behind him (alphabetical order), and Jimmy and his jock buddies used to tease her and call her "beat-weeds." "Beat" was a shortened play on the word "beatnik", and "weeds" was an adjective that Jimmy himself had coined that described her stringy, unkempt appearance. Every day in class he would greet her by saying, "Hey beat-weeds." Years later, when she died of a heroin overdose, Jimmy went out and bought several of her records out of respect. He listened to them, but ultimately decided that he didn't like her music at all.

7. Final fact - and I found this to be the most interesting. Jimmy notes in the book that he and Jerry have (at the time) a complicated, but cordial relationship, but exclaimed even in 1993 that they are not friends. They were never friends, and he didn't have the job in Dallas because they were friends. They were simply two men that had a great respect for one another in their respective fields and what they were able to accomplish. Jimmy had Jerry over at his house in 1982 and they were having drinks at his bar downstairs. He told Jerry that he admired the amount of money he was able to make in oil and insurance and asked Jerry just how he could go about doing the same thing. Jerry told him that, the way Jimmy thinks of football 24/7, that's how he thinks about making money and that's how they're both so successful. So I guess, kudos to Jerry for realizing how good Jimmy was as a coach well before he even was, and going to bat for him 20 years before ever even hiring him. But at the same time, damn Jerry for not letting these two minds peacefully coexist and trying to take on both roles.

Wow - I wrote a lot. Anyone else read this book? It was one of the finer Cowboys bios I've read. Landry wasn't nearly as interesting as Jimmy haha.

Did the book state that Gil Brandt and Tex Schramm had approached Jimmy Johnson to replace Tom Landry before the April 1989 Cowboy Massacre a year earlier (when scouting and drafting Michael Irvin)? So no matter who was going to own the Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson was the choices to replace Tom Landry. Also, SF owner had approached Johnson about the SF job to replace Walsh eventually given to Siefert? However, Jimmy Johnson knew of Jerry Jones negotiations with Bum Bright and was assured the Cowboys job, the job he always wanted.

I did not read the book. But, I remember a lot of back stories to firing of Landry and hiring of Jimmy Johnson.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

Did the book state that Gil Brandt and Tex Schramm had approached Jimmy Johnson to replace Tom Landry before the April 1989 Cowboy Massacre a year earlier (when scouting and drafting Michael Irvin)? So no matter who was going to own the Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson was the choices to replace Tom Landry. Also, SF owner had approached Johnson about the SF job to replace Walsh eventually given to Siefert? However, Jimmy Johnson knew of Jerry Jones negotiations with Bum Bright and was assured the Cowboys job, the job he always wanted.

I did not read the book. But, I remember a lot of back stories to firing of Landry and hiring of Jimmy Johnson.

Yes the book touches on both, but the details are slightly different than how you have them laid out.

In Dallas, Gil tried to recruit Johnson to come out of the college ranks and into the NFL as a Defensive Coordinator, with the understanding that he'd become head coach after Landry put in place a plan for his retirement. Obviously that offer wasn't attractive to Jimmy.

In SF, DeBartolo wanted him to come bad, but it was Bill Walsh's insistence that they make an internal hire which ultimately culminated in the Siefert hire.

 

[Ranching]

Would have been the first and only NFL team to win 4 straight Superbowls. Maybe five.

If he wasn't such an egoist. Couldn't handle having a boss. He was a great coach with a great owner that got him whatever he wanted. He didn't know his place and wanted the attention when he should have just focused on football. Miami humbled him. Lost his last game 67-7. Sad.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

If he wasn't such an egoist. Couldn't handle having a boss. He was a great coach with a great owner that got him whatever he wanted. He didn't know his place and wanted the attention when he should have just focused on football. Miami humbled him. Lost his last game 67-7. Sad.

It was 62-7, but yeah. The Jags handed Marino and Johnson a not so graceful exit from the NFL. That team was 14-2 in the regular season and lost both games to Tennessee, who also beat them in the AFC championship a third time.

Jimmy notes in his book that his first season at the University of Miami and his first season in Dallas were the worst years of his life. I have to imagine 1999 was up there as well when the dominoes fell and he realized it was all over.

 

[rags747]

Wrong. Sorry to be so blunt.
It’s the culture that changed when Jimmy left. The NFL expertise. Just for a moment imagine. Jimmy the best coach in the league, back to back champ being replaced by a guy who had never coached a pro team and was run out of Oklahoma. Top talent evaluator in league, his draft grading chart is still alive to this day.
It was like going from Michael Jordan (92) to a 12th man on Appalachian State.

I believe Jimmys draft grading guide has since been far surpassed.