Former Razorback Jimmy Johnson to be Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame
By Ryan Wright
Former Arkansas Razorback defensive lineman Jimmy Johnson is one of 15 individuals to be inducted into the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame.
Johnson was an All-SEC defensive lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks and a member of Arkansas’ 1964 national championship team before becoming a college football assistant coach in 1965 at Louisiana Tech.
Johnson returned to University of Arkansas as a defensive coordinator in 1973 through the 1976 season before spending one year at University of Pittsburgh as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. Oklahoma State gave Johnson his first shot at becoming a head coach in 1979.
In 1984 the Miami Hurricanes hired Johnson as their new head coach. During the 1987 college football season Johnson guided the Hurricanes to a national championship (the program’s second championship) after finishing the regular season undefeated for the second straight year in a row. This time Johnson was able to beat Oklahoma in their bowl game after losing the national championship to Penn State the previous season.
The Dallas Cowboys hired Johnson to take over the reigns of their organization after former Razorback teammate Jerry Jones bought “America’s Team” in February of 1989.
It is never easy to follow in the footsteps of a legend but Johnson was able to turn the Cowboys around to a winner after the immediate dismissal of head coach Tom Landry. By Johnson’s fourth year at the helm, Dallas won the first of back-to-back Super Bowls (1992-1993) and set up future Super Bowl success when his predecessor, Barry Switzer, also an Arkansas Razorback alum, beat the Pittsburg Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX.
Johnson’s collegiate head coaching record was 81-34-3 (Oklahoma State and Miami) and posted an 89-68-0 record in the NFL between his time with the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins.
List of 2012 College Football Inductees:
RB Charles Alexander- LSU- First Team All-American 1977 and 1978
RB Otis Armstrong- Purdue- All-time leading rusher for Purdue
QB Steve Bartowski- Cal- 1974 All-American
TE Hal Bedsole- USC- Two-time First team All Pac-10 player
OT/TE Dave Capser- Notre Dame- 1973 All-American
QB Tommy Kramer- Rice- 1976 Senior Bowl MVP
SS Greg Myers- Colorado State- First team All-WAC 1992-1995, All-American 1994-95
OT Jonathan Ogden- UCLA 1995 Outland Trophy Winner and First Team All-American
DT GabeRivera- Texas Tech- 1983 First Team All-American
LB Mark Simoneau-Kansas State- First Team All-American 1999
DB Scott Thomas- Air Force- 1985 First Team All-American
OG John Wooten- Colorado- Nine year NFL veteran
Coaches:
Phil Fulmer- Tennessee- 152-52 career coaching record, 1998 National Championship
R.C. Slocum- Texas A&M- 123-47-2 career coaching record, 3 SWC Championships