Jimmy Johnson
Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 3-4
1981Independence BowlL 16-33BAY1983Astro-Bluebonnet BowlW 24-14Miami
1984Fiesta BowlL 37-39
1985Sugar BowlL 7-35
1986Fiesta BowlL 10-14
1987Orange BowlW 20-14
1988Orange BowlW 23-3
Stats
Big games
Pick a job to see its years on their own.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
0-5 against his rivals at Oklahoma State. Winless in 5 tries against Barry Switzer.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
5-1 against his rivals at Miami. Nobody he faced three or more times there has a winning record against him.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
5-6 against his rivals. Just 1-5 against Tom Osborne.
Building the roster
Three numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Followed him here
Oklahoma State→
Miami1984Players who transferred from his old program to his new one through the portal in the same year he made the move. Name-matching across data sources misses some, so every count is a floor, not an exact number.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1984-1988) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.
“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.
The NFL pipeline
The NFL pipeline
players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 6 went in the first round.
At least 16 — the draft class following his 1987 season is missing from this table entirely; and his 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 seasons predate the modern 7-round draft, so this table’s pre-1994 pick counts are a floor, not a full count, for those seasons.
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | R1.21 | Bill Hawkins | Defensive End |  Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1989 | R1.26 | Cleveland Gary | Running Back | Los Angeles Rams | Estimated |
| 1989 | R3.21 | Bubba McDowell | Defensive Back |  Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1989 | R7.13 | Melvin Bratton | Running Back |  Denver Broncos | Estimated |
| 1987 | R1.01 | Vinny Testaverde | Quarterback |  Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 1987 | R1.03 | Alonzo Highsmith | Running Back | Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1987 | R1.09 | Jerome Brown | Defensive Tackle |  Philadelphia Eagles | Estimated |
| 1987 | R2.04 | Gregg Rakoczy | Center |  Cleveland Browns | Estimated |
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | R2.22 | Winston Moss | Linebacker | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Estimated |
| 1987 | R5.28 | Paul O'Connor | Offensive Guard |  New York Giants | Estimated |
| 1986 | R4.20 | Kevin Fagan | Defensive Tackle |  San Francisco 49ers | Estimated |
| 1986 | R5.05 | Reggie Sutton | Defensive Back |  New Orleans Saints | Estimated |
| 1985 | R1.13 | Eddie Brown | Wide Receiver |  Cincinnati Bengals | Estimated |
| 1985 | R4.04 | Willie Broughton | Defensive End |  Indianapolis Colts | Estimated |
| 1985 | R7.15 | Dave Heffernan | Offensive Guard |  Kansas City Chiefs | Estimated |
| 1985 | R7.26 | Dallas Cameron | Defensive Tackle | Denver Broncos | Estimated |
A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.
Career
Coaching career
The arc of his career is on Now.
Transformer raised the program into the sport's top tier, or higher within it · Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
5th-best Miami tenure of 20 by the numbers.
Followed Howard Schnellenberger (1979–1983) · succeeded by Dennis Erickson (1989–1994).
| Season | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||
| Record | 8-5 | 10-2 | 11-1 | 12-0 | 11-1 | |
| Postseason | L bowl | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | ||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | |
4th-best Oklahoma State tenure of 15 by the numbers.
Followed Jim Stanley (1973–1978) · succeeded by Pat Jones (1984–1994).
| Season | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||
| Record | 7-4 | 3-7-1 | 7-5 | 4-5-2 | 8-4 | |
| Postseason | — | — | L bowl | — | W bowl | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | ||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | |
7 NFL Draft picks: John Corker (1980), Roger Taylor (1981), Dexter Manley (1981), Greg Hill (1983), Gary Lewis (1983), Chris Rockins (1984), Ernest Anderson (1984)
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+16.5 pts at Miami · #98 of 1290 · top quarter