What was the secret to the Cowboys' 90s dynasty? Troy Aikman has a simple answer: Jimmy Johnson. The legendary quarterback recently explained how his former coach's eye for talent and intolerance for 'bad character' built a champion.

Talking to Dale Brisby on his show, Aikman had a simple take: the Cowboys' success came from Johnson being the coach.

Aikman said, “We were so fortunate, and I think it started because of Jimmy. You know, Jimmy assembled those teams. He had a great eye for talent. But in addition to bringing in really talented players, you know, he didn’t put up and tolerate just a lot of bad people, bad character. We had a lot of personalities, a lot of big egos.” 

And we saw that when right after Johnson joined in 1989, the team traded Herschel Walker. At the time, the Cowboys' offense was built around Walker, but the team also had two young QBs. That's when Johnson made the call, primarily because the team needed draft picks. Walker ended up being traded, and in return, the team got draft capital. But that wasn't all.

Aikman further added, “I think there’s a certain amount of ego you have to deal with. But our guys, our best players, were ‌our hardest-working guys. So, it wasn’t a lot of managing it. It is because everyone wanted to do what was best for the team.” 

It boiled down to Johnson's approach to coaching. Johnson believes the job of a coach is to unlock the full potential of their players and to cultivate attributes they know are there.

In the end, that became the reason the pair won two Super Bowls together and went back-to-back: Super Bowl XXVII (1993) and Super Bowl XXVIII (1994). 

But Why Did The Dynasty End?

Following the successes of two back-to-back Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, on March 29, 1994, Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones mutually decided that Johnson would no longer be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. 

Johnson moved on and, in 1996, became the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, but never won a Super Bowl again. 

Troy Aikman went on and won another Super Bowl under Barry Switzer, the coach who replaced Jimmy Johnson at the Dallas Cowboys. The quarterback retired in 2000 and began his broadcasting career.

The Cowboys have never made it back to a Super Bowl since 1996, and the quest for one continues till today.

While Jimmy Johnson remains a beloved figure in Dallas, the power struggle with ownership ultimately ended the team's dynasty.

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Written by

Samvruth Raj

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar