Jimmy Johnson ( American football 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 coach ing 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 . 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 , 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 . 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 . 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 — 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 . 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 . In 2010 , Johnson agreed to appear in a series of commercials for the male enhancement pill ExtenZe . " Survivor : Nicaragua " . Johnson was one of twenty castaways competing in " " , the twenty - first edition of " Survivor " , in late 2010 . Jimmy is a long - time fan of the show , and had been cast for , but had to withdraw after failing a physical . Johnson , the oldest contestant of the season , was part of the Espada tribe , made up entirely of people aged 40 and older . 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 . " 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 .