Legendary NFL coach and broadcaster Jimmy Johnson has announced his retirement from Fox Sports after 25 years of NFL coverage.
The 81-year-old Pro Football Hall of Famer made the announcement during an appearance on “The Herd With Colin Cowherd” on Monday.
Johnson, who led the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories and the University of Miami to a college national championship, said his decision wasn’t made lightly.
“The most fun I ever had in my career, that’s counting Super Bowls and national championships, was at Fox Sports,” Johnson said.
“But I’ve made an extremely difficult decision. I’ve been thinking about it for the last four or five years, and I’ve decided to retire from Fox. I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss all the guys. I'll see them occasionally. It’s been a great run starting 31 years ago.”
Johnson’s journey with Fox Sports began in 1994 when he was hired for the pregame show. In 1996, he briefly left to become the general manager and head coach of the Miami Dolphins, which he held for five seasons before returning to Fox in 2002.
“Jimmy Johnson was there when Fox NFL Sunday came on-air for the first time 31 years ago, and since then has been a cherished member of our Fox Sports family, which makes today’s retirement news bittersweet,” Shanks said.
According to his longtime colleague Howie Long, Johnson’s presence on the Fox NFL Sunday team had a profound impact. Long said he and Johnson had an instant connection since the day the two met.
“We caught lightning in a bottle. Chemistry is hard to forecast and duplicate. We came out of the gate at number one, and it’s been that way for 31 years,” Long said.
Curt Menefee, another colleague at Fox, said Johnson had told him of his decision last week. He said this time, unlike a previous instance two years ago when he had considered stepping away, he seemed fully confident in his choice to retire.
“I think we all hope we get to go out into the sunset the way that we want, and he certainly has been able to do that,” he said.
Super Bowl Wins
Before Fox, Johnson led the Dallas Cowboys to Super Bowl victories in the 1992 and 1993 seasons and took the University of Miami to a college football national championship in 1987.He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.
Menefee called Johnson’s induction into the Hall of Fame one of the most memorable moments in Fox Sports coverage history.
“I don’t think there’s anything that we have done in the 31 years of Fox Sports has been remotely close to that, because I think not only did it mean so much to Jimmy, you saw how much it meant to the people who care about Jimmy,” he said.
Johnson began his coaching career in 1965 as an assistant at Louisiana Tech, later becoming a head coach for the first time in 1979 at Oklahoma State.
In December 2023, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones inducted Johnson into the team’s ring of honor for his brief stint as head coach with two Super Bowl appearances, joining Tom Landry as the only coaches among the 19 players and two executives in the group.
