Legendary coach to be inducted into Cowboys Ring of Honor

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A legendary coach from yesteryears will have his name forever etched into AT&T Stadium this weekend.

Jimmy Johnson did what few coaches before or after him have ever done: find success at the college and professional levels.

Johnson will rightfully take his place in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor as his former team hosts the Detroit Lions at AT&T Stadium.

The 80-year-old, born in Port Arthur, Texas, guided America’s Team to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in the 1992 and 93 seasons.

The NFL on Fox analyst may have had it harder than most coaches in this franchise’s history, taking over from one of the most iconic visionaries the Cowboys and the NFL has ever seen, Tom Landry.

During his lengthy coaching career, Johnson did more than reach the pinnacle of pro football.

He’s one of the few to jump from college coaching to the NFL without any prior experience as an assistant or coordinator for a professional team.

Like Urban Meyer and Lou Holtz, Johnson came with an impressive college resume but, unlike those two, Jimmy replicated that success in the NFL.

“How ‘Bout Them Cowboys”

Unlike his time with the Hurricanes, though, Johnson’s success with the Cowboys didn’t happen overnight.

During his 1989 rookie season, Dallas finished with a 1-15 record, improving to 7-9 the following year with Johnson named the AP Coach of the Year.

With superstars Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin to name a few, they rose to prominence quickly, losing the NFC Divisional Game in 1991 versus Detroit before taking out the San Francisco 49ers in the 1992 and 93 NFC Championship Games.

That led to Johnson uttering perhaps the four most famous words that Dallas fans still shout to this day: “How ‘bout them Cowboys”.

Johnson is one of only six men in league history to capture consecutive Super Bowls, alongside Vince Lombardi, Chuck Noll, Mike Shanahan, Bill Belichick and Don Shula.

After working in television for a couple of years, Johnson returned to coaching, taking the place of Shula, guiding Miami for four seasons where he never suffered a losing campaign.

Patching Things Up

Earning a place in the Ring of Honor is long overdue for Johnson, and it’s something that was seemingly prolonged due to tensions between himself and owner, Jerry Jones.

Following the 1993 season, Johnson and Jones mutually parted ways due to their inability to work together.

In the summer of 2014, ESPN asked Jones why Johnson hadn’t been put into the Ring of Honor, with the Cowboys owner responding: “Disloyalty… I couldn’t handle the disloyalty.”

Their relationship is more harmonious nowadays, with Johnson congratulating Jones on his Hall of Fame induction in 2017, an honor bestowed on Johnson in 2020.

He will become the 24th Cowboy inducted into the Ring of Honor at halftime on Saturday.