Jimmy Johnson To Coach Dolphins His Mother Confirms Former Cowboys Coach Will Succeed Don Shula With Miami
Don Shula’s old office won’t stay vacant long. Jimmy Johnson moves in today.
Johnson is the new coach of the Miami Dolphins, his mother told the Associated Press on Wednesday night.
Allene Johnson, speaking by telephone from her home in Port Arthur, Texas, said the announcement will be made at 4 p.m. EST today.
“Jimmy is very happy,” she said. “He just loves coaching and he’s very happy to be getting back in it.
“I was scared he might do that - get back in it. But I told him if that’s what he wants, that’s what I want.”
Johnson replaced another legend, Tom Landry, when he became coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. He decided to accept the Dolphins job after meeting just once with team owner Wayne Huizenga about the vacancy.
They talked for 4 hours Wednesday at the team’s training complex.
Two forces hastened the negotiations: The job was the one Johnson wanted, and Johnson was the coach Huizenga wanted.
Johnson has long coveted the job held by Shula for 26 years before he retired last week as the NFL’s winningest coach. Shula had been widely criticized by fans for the team’s 9-7 record in what he said was his most troubling season after 33 years as coach in the league.
A Dolphins representative and a source close to Huizenga would not confirm the hiring and said they knew of no news conference for today.
Johnson, 52, is expected to sign a four- or five-year deal that will average almost $3 million per season in salary and other inducements but still make him the highest paid coach in the NFL, the Miami Herald reported.
Coaching the Dolphins will allow Johnson to work near his home in the Florida Keys. And by inheriting a team that many, including Johnson, picked to reach the Super Bowl this season, he becomes an immediate threat to capture another NFL title.
“This makes the Dolphins a very dangerous team,” said Dallas running back Emmitt Smith. “It’s also going to make them a very lean team. Jimmy’s going to go in there and trim out all the fat - the guys just sitting around collecting checks. If I were some of those guys, I’d be a little worried.”
Johnson won the Super Bowl with the Cowboys in 1992 and 1993, then left coaching to become a TV analyst.
“The only way I’d ever go back into coaching was if I looked into the future and saw a Super Bowl,” Johnson said following his meeting with Huizenga. “There’s no question the opportunity is here. When you have an owner like Wayne Huizenga, who is going to go out and do whatever it takes to be the very best, that gives you the opportunity as a coach.”
MEMO: Changed from the Idaho edition.