NFL: Each team’s greatest head coach in franchise history

Dallas Cowboys: Tom Landry (1960-88)

Had things not fallen apart between former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson and team owner Jerry Jones, there could have been a name other than Tom Landry on this list. Johnson was the successor to Landry after Jones unceremoniously let Landry go once he bought the team. After a rough start, Johnson had a lot of success and won two Super Bowls.

After he left, the team won a third, which really should be attributed to Johnson, as Barry Switzer managed to get it done with the team his predecessor put together. As good as Johnson was for the franchise in the early 1990s, he simply didn’t stay long enough to unseat the legend that is Tom Landry.

Back in 1960, Landry took over the expansion Cowboys. The 36-year-old had an awful record of 0-11-1. In fact, it took him until his sixth season to finish at .500. It was the year after that when he finally had a winning record, as Dallas was 10-3-1 in 1966. It may have taken a while, but once they broke through and had that taste of winning, the Cowboys didn’t have another losing season under Landry until 1986.

In all, the head coach was in charge of the team for 29 seasons and had a remarkable record of 250-162-6. He won two Super Bowls for America’s Team while appearing in five total during his tenure.

To this day, there are NFL fans who no longer support the Cowboys after Jerry Jones purchased the team and fired Landry, as they believed he would have been able to turn the team around and should have remained with them for longer.