Let us read it for you. Listen now.
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Long before he became the first head coach to win a collegiate national championship and a Super Bowl, Jimmy Johnson was a standout defensive end at his high school in Port Arthur, Texas.
Johnson, now 82, recalled his upbringing during a roughly 50-minute appearance Tuesday speaking to the Little Rock Touchdown Club at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, moved from the club's normal post at the DoubleTree Hotel in anticipation of a larger-than-normal crowd.
Johnson remains just one of three coaches to win a collegiate title and a Super Bowl. Barry Switzer, a former University of Arkansas player and assistant, and Pete Carroll also hold the distinction. Johnson, though, is the only one of the three to win a title as a player, doing so with the University of Arkansas in 1964.
Before taking questions from LRTDC founder David Bazzel, a fellow former Razorback, the emcee asked Johnson if he could call the Hogs with the crowd.
"Can you help me with the words?" he quipped.
Johnson said his parents moved to Texas from Lamar, a small town in Johnson County, Ark. Johnson's father worked seven days a week at an ice cream factory and his mother was a cashier at a grocery story. No one in his family had been to college, he said.
He recalled numerous schools showing up to Port Arthur, including the Air Force Academy, Alabama and Texas A&M.
"So Arkansas came down. (Assistant coach) Jim Mackenzie, he looked at my tape and offered me a scholarship right there," Johnson said. "I'd never been to Fayetteville before in my life, and I said, 'Well, let me talk to Mama and Daddy.' And Mom looked at me and said, 'You can go wherever you want to go, but if you want us to watch you play, you're going to Arkansas.' "
Johnson committed on the spot and canceled other visits he had scheduled.
He brought up reminiscing on his playing days with Fred Marshall before the event started. He said Marshall, the quarterback of Arkansas' title-winning team, took issue with his assessment of the Razorbacks' talent level that season, giving most of the credit to the staff Coach Frank Broyles had assembled.
Johnson started his coaching career at Louisiana Tech as an assistant in 1965 and had stops at Wichita State, Iowa State and Oklahoma before landing back at Arkansas as defensive coordinator in 1973. When Broyles retired as coach in 1976, Johnson was considered for the job.
He said after a rough 1976 season, Broyles, who had already taken over as athletic director, had to broaden the search. Lou Holtz took the job and coached the Razorbacks to a 60-21-2 record in seven season.
"It was the right decision," Johnson said. "Lou Holtz was better qualified than I was. I wasn't as prepared to be a head coach as Lou was."
After a stint at Pittsburgh as defensive coordinator from 1977-78, Johnson got his first head coaching gig at Oklahoma State. He felt his experience leading the Cowboys had prepared him to lead the Razorbacks and was "upset" when he passed over the next time the job came open after the 1983 season.
"Playing at Arkansas, having love for Arkansas, I wanted to be the Arkansas head football coach," Johnson said.
The heartache didn't last long for Johnson as that same offseason he became the University of Miami's head coach. He led the Hurricanes to a 52-9 record over five seasons and the national championship in 1987, beating top-ranked Oklahoma 20-14 in the Orange Bowl to claim the title.
The Hurricanes went 8-5 in Year 1 under Johnson, but they went 10-2 the next year then sandwiched 11-1 marks around the undefeated, 12-0 national title season in 1987 -- which included a 51-7 thrashing of Arkansas at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
While Johnson was wrapping up his final season at Miami, which ended with another Orange Bowl victory, an old teammate was preparing for a big purchase.
Jerry Jones, an offensive lineman on Arkansas' title team in 1964, bought the Dallas Cowboys from H.R. "Bum" Bright for $140 million in February 1989. He replaced Tom Landry, who was the Cowboys' first head coach and held the position for 29 seasons, with Johnson the day after he bought the team.
Landry had led the Cowboys to their first two of their five Super Bowl wins after the 1971 and 1977 seasons, but the team finished no better than 7-8 in his last three seasons.
"Tom Landry was a great, great coach -- he had three straight losing seasons. They were the worst team in the NFL, 3-13 before we got there," Johnson said. "I tell people, 'It wasn't because of coaching it was because they just didn't have enough talent. We've got to bring more talent in.' And that's what we did."
To celebrate his acquisition of the team, Jones invited Johnson to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate before it had been announced he would take over as coach. They went despite Johnson's concerns over being recognized, and he said Ivan Maisel of the Dallas Morning News was there and called to get a photographer to the restaurant.
"Jones said, 'It's a little old place, no one's going to notice us in there,' " Johnson said. "Come to find out it's Tom Landry's favorite restaurant."
Johnson also recalled the rough early days in his tenure with the Cowboys alongside Jones. Dallas went 1-15 in his first season, increasing the scrutiny on both men. Johnson said the early struggles brought them closer together and drove them both to work harder.
"Every day we would talk back and forth, we'd communicate, and Jerry had borrowed all that money. He was trying to pay off that loan and they were losing money with the Cowboys," Johnson said. "We didn't have a whole hell of a lot of friends, so the two of us we were each other's friend."
That communication brought steady improvement in Dallas and culminated in two Super Bowl wins, though eventually the success caused issues between the duo. The Cowboys won their second Super Bowl under Johnson after the 1993; Switzer was their head coach to open the 1994 season.
Jones and Johnson agreed to mutually part ways following the Super Bowl win, and Switzer led the Cowboys to their most recent title in 1995. Johnson blamed lack of communication for his long-term, but since-resolved, issues with Jones.
"We're really good now, we talk now," he said. "We see each other like we're best friends, so it's all good."
Johnson began his broadcasting career with Fox in 1994 before returning to the sidelines as coach of the Miami Dolphins in 1996. He led them to a 36-28 record in four seasons, reaching the playoffs three times before retiring from coaching for good.
He returned to broadcasting then retired from Fox in March. Johnson entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020 and the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2023 after patching his relationship with Jones.
To close the program, Bazzel asked Johnson if he's had time to reflect on his career. Johnson retired to the Florida Keys and said "my guys come down" each year, giving them time to reflect on the grind in Dallas. Earlier in the talk, Johnson praised the star offensive players of those Dallas teams, better known as the "Triplets" -- quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and receiver Michael Irvin.
Johnson was in charge of player personnel during his time with the Cowboys, so even after the season there was little time to rest and spend time with his players. He said it's great they're now able to hug each other and share a cold beer.
"But hey, it paid dividends. It worked out for us, but yeah I'm doing that now. My guys come down, we spend time together -- I got out of coaching because of family, and I've got the greatest family in the world," Johnson said, pausing as he began to tear up. "I've got great memories of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Thank you."