Which coach in their prime? Tom Landry or Jimmy Johnson?

[blueblood70]

Tough tough decision. I'd have to go with Jimmy but Landry was great too.

Landry

JJ was overrated, short stay type..Ill take innovation and longevity. Jimmy is like Parcells both great but also get bored and need new challenges far too often, ants in the pants coaches.ill never forgive that NY traitor who bailed onus early and most like the reason we didn't get Payton , he quit beofre he was done basically no notice or a plan to transitioning to SP could have happened. ughh

 

[BourbonBalz]

Landry was much more of a football expert. He knew everything about every single aspect of the game. He was a great innovator. Johnson’s strengths were being a great motivator and talent evaluator. They were both great in their own way, but I’d say Landry was the better overall coach.

 

[maryquality]

I like things for the long-haul. Landry had 20 consecutive winning seasons and five Super Bowl appearances with two Lombardi trophies sprinkled in for good measure. Of course it was easier for him to stay for a long period of time compared to Jimmie Johnson, because Tom did not work for a narcissistic moron.

Totally agree with this!! Landry got our teams to the most consecutive appearances in the playoffs!! I'm not sure if another team has beat this record!!

 

[fredp22]

Landry was iconic...Jimmy a good coach
Landry was constantly scheming during the game. He ran the offense and was a defensive genius. Jimmy depended on his OC and DC. Jimmy struggled when his coordinators werent strong-remember our offense with Shula as OC?
Landry was consistent- we were very strong over 20 years and in almost every game. Jimmy had 3 good years and sucked with Miami when his coordinators were weak.

they really arent even close.

 

[John813]

Johnson for me. He wouldn't be a long term decade long type of coach. But if you had the talent, but just needed that extra discipline from the coach then I think Johnson is ideal to get the team over the hump. He'll wear out quickly like Parcells, but if you had the talent at QB, line etc then I think I would go with him.

If it was a long term rebuild and no guarantee you had the QB on the roster give me Landry.

 

[jaybird]

Tough tough decision. I'd have to go with Jimmy but Landry was great too.

i appreciate what Jimmy accomblished, but he couldnt carry Landry luggage.

 

[jnday]

Jerry mentioned he fired Chan Gailey too early wished he never hired Campo in all probability but I can’t pick between Coach Landry or Jimmy .

And Barry did have a couple stellar yrs . Won himself a SB before getting back on the couch .

Switzer was a smart coach in many ways. He knew that what Jimmy left him was a great team and it would be stupid for him to change anything. He was smart enough to leave things alone. Why change a winning formula?

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Tough tough decision. I'd have to go with Jimmy but Landry was great too.

that's a tough tough choice....Landry had this team in the playoffs 18 straight years. not sure if that feat was ever duplicated....that's tough to draft that low and keep a team competitive specially when there was no FA.

I may choose one and 2 seconds later I may change my mind.

 

[dckid]

Jerry mentioned he fired Chan Gailey too early wished he never hired Campo in all probability but I can’t pick between Coach Landry or Jimmy .

And Barry did have a couple stellar yrs . Won himself a SB before getting back on the couch .

Lol. Barry did nothing. He wouldn’t even wear a headset. Are a hotdog on the sideline.
Missed every Saturday walkthrough to watch his son play.
What did I miss?

 

[Mannix]

Tom was a better dresser no question about that .

Tap the brakes on that....watch the video where he was packing up his office...plaid shirt and plaid slacks.....yikes!!!

As a coach....Jimmy....hands down!!!

 

[dckid]

Tough tough decision. I'd have to go with Jimmy but Landry was great too.

I would go with Jimmy but 29 years is unimaginable now days.
I said Jimmy because I saw him do it with my two own eyes. Took that sad franchise from zero talent to SB champs in 4 years. Everyone says don’t rebuild… he did it before free agency. He put the league on its head.

 

[KJJ]

No disrespect to Tom Landry he was a great coach but for me it’s Jimmy hands down! Landry was always way too laid-back for me and the Cowboys reflected his personality. Landry was all business and coached a finesse style of football with a lot of shifting which I didn’t like. His teams made a lot of mental mistakes. This is why I believe the Steelers always got the best of them in Super Bowls. They were more physical and didn’t make mistakes. Jimmy was everything I had always dreamed of in a Cowboys head coach. He was fiery with a temper. He built physical Cowboys teams that had no mercy on their opponents. Landry would have his teams take the foot off the pedal in some games they were winning handily but not Jimmy. You can’t argue with the results Jimmy built greater Cowboys teams than Landry and he did it in a very short period of time.

 

[Doomsday101]

Johnson for me. He wouldn't be a long term decade long type of coach. But if you had the talent, but just needed that extra discipline from the coach then I think Johnson is ideal to get the team over the hump. He'll wear out quickly like Parcells, but if you had the talent at QB, line etc then I think I would go with him.

If it was a long term rebuild and no guarantee you had the QB on the roster give me Landry.

Tom was a pretty big disciplinarian himself.

 

[tyke1doe]

I don't think so....Jimmy couldn't handle not being able to cut players to prove a point because of today's salary cap. Tom would be able to work with players because he had a heart. He looked stone cold on the sidelines, but he never threw a player away without trying to help him. That'd him I see it....but, we'll never know.

Jimmy would never cut a high-priced player who was a difference maker.

He usually cut the expendable players. The mastery of his psychology was that he made the high-priced players THINK that by cutting the Curvin Richards of the team, he would cut the Michael Irvins.

 

[KJJ]

It was so much different back in Landry's day. Could we imagine Johnson back in the 60s and 70s?

Jimmy would have flourished back then. With no free agency he would’ve been able to keep his teams together and he would’ve been making trades all the time. Back in the 70s pretty much the same teams were winning every year because you could keep your teams together. Jimmy would’ve built teams with amazing depth. Free agency and the salary cap is what started tearing our 90s teams apart.

 

[LucaBrasi]

Great question, very difficult to answer.

Landry was an innovator, he was ahead of his time. Had his hands in EVERYTHING, they did. Shifting, multiple offense, the Flex, he routinely had dynamic special teams. No free agency, but he placed his team in contention for 20 straight years.

Jimny, with his psychology degree, may have understood his players and what made them tick, better than any modern coach. I think he was very astute at personnel and the draft, probably the biggest component of which, was acquiring a ton of draft capital because he knew you weren’t going to hit on every personnel decision.

I’d probably take Landry for his consistent and longer body of work. Jimmy was like a comet. Very fortunate to have been able to watch both do their thing.

 

[tyke1doe]

No disrespect to Tom Landry he was a great coach but for me it’s Jimmy hands down! Landry was always way too laid-back for me and the Cowboys reflected his personality. Landry was all business andcoached a finesse style of football with a lot of shifting which I didn’t like. His teams made a lot of mental mistakes. This is why I believe the Steelers always got the best of them in Super Bowls. They were more physical and didn’t make mistakes. Jimmy was everything I had always dreamed of in a Cowboys head coach. He was fiery with a temper. He built physical Cowboys teams that had no mercy on their opponents. Landry would have his teams take the foot off the pedal in some games they were winning handily but not Jimmy. You can’t argue with the results Jimmy built greater Cowboys teams than Landry and he did it in a very short period of time.

Great post.

I've had the privilege of experiencing both the Landry and the Johnson eras. And while I appreciate the legacy Landry left (and his witness as a man of Christian integrity), I think the Cowboys should have won more than 2 Super Bowls under Landry. They were by far the most dominant team of the 60s, 70s and the 80s, and walked away with only 2 Super Bowls.
And as great as they were, I always had the feeling they would get upset to a far-less-talented team.

But the Johnson years were magical because you saw him build a team from the worst to the best in four short years. And then to infuse them with this "We'll talk smack and we'll STILL beat you badly" and to have your coach say it too ,,, "Put it in bold headlines. We WILL WIN THE GAME!"

Even though that's not my personality, I LOVE IT that he said it.

He even unhinged the ultra-composed Jerry Rice who wanted to fight Cowboys players before the 93-94 NFC Championship Game.

That feeling that your team WILL win is something only a few special fan bases get to experience. When you saw Johnson's Cowboys play, you knew at every position - defense, offense, special teams, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, head coach and, yes, at that time, even owner - they were better than the other team's positions.

I doubted we would beat the Steelers in those Super Bowls under Landry.
I had NO DOUBTS we would beat the Bills in both Super Bowls under Johnson, even when we were trailing at halftime.

I feel sorry for those fans of teams who can't claim such special memories with their teams.

And I doubt I'll ever experience it again with the present-day Cowboys even if we do get to the Super Bowl.

 

[BourbonBalz]

No disrespect to Tom Landry he was a great coach but for me it’s Jimmy hands down! Landry was always way too laid-back for me and the Cowboys reflected his personality. Landry was all business and coached a finesse style of football with a lot of shifting which I didn’t like. His teams made a lot of mental mistakes. This is why I believe the Steelers always got the best of them in Super Bowls. They were more physical and didn’t make mistakes. Jimmy was everything I had always dreamed of in a Cowboys head coach. He was fiery with a temper. He built physical Cowboys teams that had no mercy on their opponents. Landry would have his teams take the foot off the pedal in some games they were winning handily but not Jimmy. You can’t argue with the results Jimmy built greater Cowboys teams than Landry and he did it in a very short period of time.

Landry was too laid back? Absolutely not. He was just the opposite, but you didn’t see it on the sideline. He was a strict disciplinarian if ever there was one. You either did it his way or you did it somewhere else. He didn’t go ape**** on the sideline, but you could tell when he was seething inside.

 

[KJJ]

Landry was too laid back? Absolutely not. He was just the opposite, but you didn’t see it on the sideline. He was a strict disciplinarian if ever there was one. You either did it his way or you did it somewhere else. He didn’t go ape**** on the sideline, but you could tell when he was seething inside.

He was a strict disciplinarian but showed no emotion on the sidelines. You had no idea whether the Cowboys were winning or losing by the expression on his face. He had the Landry stare that got the attention of players. His demeanor was much different than Jimmy’s. Landry always looked calm, cool and collected. He wasn’t a rah-rah in your face type of coach.

 

[Ranching]

Jimmy would never cut a high-priced player who was a difference maker.

He usually cut the expendable players. The mastery of his psychology was that he made the high-priced players THINK that by cutting the Curvin Richards of the team, he would cut the Michael Irvins.

Still no salary cap ramifications back then, he'd have to thread a bit lightly until he checked with Stephen about the cap... can you imagine that meeting? Lol!