Jimmy Johnson Named to College Football Hall of Fame
May 15, 2012
NEW YORK–Former University of Miami head coach Jimmy Johnson has been named one of 17 former players and coaches that will be inducted in the 2012 class of the College Football Hall of Fame, as announced Tuesday by the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame.
Johnson becomes the third coach from the Hurricanes to earn such an honor, joining Jack Harding (1980) and Andy Gustafson (1985).
In his five seasons at UM (1984-88), Johnson compiled a 52-9 record and guided the Canes to the 1987 National Championship. That season, Miami went a perfect 12-0 and defeated six nationally ranked teams, including a 20-14 victory over then-No. 1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.
After his team’s win over OU, Johnson stated, “We played our way to this championship. We have the best record versus anybody in the country . . . We beat Oklahoma three in a row, Florida State and Notre Dame three in a row, Florida a couple . . . What is sweetest is that we did it as a team. We lost starters and had other guys come in and played magnificently.”
Including his five seasons as the head coach of Oklahoma State, Johnson’s career collegiate record stands at 81-34-3.
Johnson left Miami after the 1988 season to replace the legendary Tom Landry as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. His five-year stay in Dallas culminated with back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 1992 and 1993. Johnson is one of just six men to coach consecutive Super Bowl champions.
Johnson becomes the ninth man with ties to UM to be selected into the College Football Hall of Fame, including players Don Bosseler (1990), Ted Hendricks (1987), Gino Torretta (2009), Arnold Tucker (2008), and Bennie Blades (2006) and Russell Maryland (2011) – who both were coached by Johnson.
