Almost every offseason, various NFL coaches, general managers, and owners travel through the Everglades in search of knowledge at the end of a mundane 20-mile stretch of road into the Florida Keys.
In his new memoir, Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson discusses the life of an NFL coach, both on and off the field.
It’s the only way to meet Jimmy Johnson, a Pro Football Hall of Fame coach who won a national championship with the University of Miami and two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. Johnson’s proven talent for team building and talent evaluation is ultimately what the visitors desire, as if that information were the fountain of youth for a harsh league Jerry Glanville famously termed, “Not For Long.”
Bill Belichick, an NFL coach since 1975 and a six-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, has remained close to Johnson through the years and visits South Florida frequently in the offseason. According to Johnson, despite the obvious difference in their public personalities, Belichick is the coach whose philosophies most closely reflect his own. And Belichick’s visits are as planned as you’d expect.
In his new memoir, Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson discusses the life of an NFL coach, both on and off the field.
“He always has an agenda,” Johnson said last week via video chat from his native environment to NFL.com. “He wants to talk about contract negotiations, drafting players, judging talent, you name it. He always has a plan for what he wants to talk about.”
“At first, I wasn’t interested in writing a book,” Johnson admitted. “My attorney, Nick Christin, told me after the first Super Bowl, ‘You’ve got so many people, coaches, general managers, owners, come down to the Keys to talk about evaluating talent and developing a team.’ Then I speak to a lot of firms about the same thing: assessing talent and putting together a winning team. ‘You should write a book and tell about it,’ he urged.”