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The Dallas Cowboys continue hoping for a true franchise turnaround. It has now been over three decades since they last reached a Super Bowl. Jerry Jones is still leading the way, but he hasn’t been able to capture that 1990s magic.
Aside from not being able to build the same type of roster as before, Jones is also missing an elite head coach like he had in Jimmy Johnson. Jones hired Johnson away from the Miami Hurricanes, where he won a National Championship.
With the Cowboys, Johnson was named Coach of the Year in 1990 then won back-to-back Super Bowls a few years later. After some tension between Jones and Johnson, the two mutually parted ways in 1994. That's when the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cowboys' division rivals, tried to swoop in to sign Johnson.
Jerry Jones has a warning for the Cowboys
Jimmy Johnson nearly was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles right after leaving the Dallas Cowboys
As Johnson recently revealed, the reason he gave the Eagles the light of day is because he's secretly a fan of the franchise. That fandom stems from a close friendship with Jeffrey Lurie, who has been the owner of the Eagles since 1994.
Apparently, if that had happened, Jones would have had no hard feelings about Johnson heading to a fierce rival. Jones was quoted in 1994 by The Oklahoman as saying: "That'd be good. From my perspective, I think it would be good to play him a couple times a year. I bet he'd like it, too."
By the sound of it, Johnson very much would have liked joining the Eagles. Johnson chose a different path, though, opting to give a TV analyst gig a shot. But he soon got the coaching itch again, leading to him joining the Miami Dolphins in 1996.
Ray Rhodes was coming off of a Coach of the Year season in 1995 with the Eagles the offseason that Johnson became available. There was no way Lurie would let Rhodes go after such a stellar season to pursue Johnson. Rhodes didn't last much longer, but neither did Johnson in Miami - and the Eagles ended up hiring Andy Reid not long after anyway.