Swagger Super Bowls, Brass Balls, and Footballs

Jimmy Johnson’s home isn’t on the way to anywhere. Yet, his private Florida Keys sanctuary is a destination to which coaches and team executives trek to seek his advice on how to build a confident culture, assemble elite rosters, coach under the brightest of lights, and lead a team to win it all. Why? Because Johnson has experienced it all—taking the University of Miami Hurricanes to a national championship, winning consecutive Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, and dealing with personal adversity. Now, in Swagger, written with veteran sports journalist Dave Hyde, Johnson offers an unvarnished account of a life that has transformed him into a sports leadership legend. After chronicling his rise, Swagger reveals how his philosophies and strategies were on full display at Miami, where he and his ‘Canes waged hard-fought battles on and off the field against rivals like Oklahoma and Penn State, tossing out the old-school playbook while seeking every edge to win. A year after winning the national championship for the 1987 season, Johnson was hired as head coach of the floundering Dallas Cowboys by his former Arkansas teammate Jerry Jones, who had recently purchased “America’s Team.” Jimmy Johnson’s unrivaled ability to construct teams and create a vision for victory and his hard-driving style turned the Cowboys around to win back-to-back Super Bowls. But the wins came at a high cost. In Swagger, Johnson openly describes the scenes with Jones that contributed to Johnson’s leaving Dallas and the toil that coaching at this high-octane level—the only level he knew—took on him and his family. Swagger follows Johnson to the Miami Dolphins, where he was tasked with building a winning team around an aging Dan Marino. It offers a heartbreaking account of Johnson’s attempts to rescue his son from addiction and the personal devastation after his mother’s death. Insightful, frankly told, and always entertaining, Swagger recounts Johnson’s remarkable coaching life and reveals the lessons others have been seeking for decades.