Tom Landry

 One of the greatest football coaches of all time in my humble opinion is the man in the hat, Tom Landry who coached the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League from 1960 to 1988.

What I have found interesting about coach Landry when I was watching some documentaries on him, was that he was a B-17 Pilot during World War II and some of the things that he went through.

Of course many people wouldn't have known that because Landry seem so emotionless while standing on the sidelines.

After his time fighting in WWII, Landry was drafted by the New York Football Giants during the 1947 NFL Draft in the 20th round. Yes I said 20th round lol. But decided to play for the AAFC for a short while before joining the Giants in 1950.

But it was during his time with the Giants that Landry got to showcase his skills as an innovator starting with creating a defense that has become a standard in the game of football called the 4-3 defense. With the 4-3 defense and help from the offense led by another all time great coach in offensive coordinator Vince Lombardi, the Giants went to three NFL Championship games in four years which included a victory over the Chicago Bears in 1956.

Then in 1960, Landry was named the head coach of the expansion team called the Dallas Cowboys which that was a story in itself. But that will be a story for another time.

To say that it took a while for Landry to get things going in Dallas is a very big understatement. Now to be fair, trying to build a team from scratch in any sport is extremely difficult. But for Landry it took till 1965 to have his first non losing season where the Cowboys went (7-7). Landry got his first winning season the following year but unfortunately started the trend of getting so close but to fall short of their goals.

Give the Landry and the Cowboys credit though, they managed to keep moving forward and eventually it paid off as in 1971, 11 seasons after the Cowboys came into the NFL, they defeated the Miami Dolphins in the Super Bowl.

But the best was yet to come. Landry compiled an NFL record that may never be broken and that was a streak of 20 years where the Cowboys had a winning record. With Landry at the helm. the Cowboys played in five Super Bowls and won two with the second Super Bowl came against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 12 during the 1977 season.

 What I was also really impressed with was how incredibly intelligent Landry was. I mean the guy had a major in engineering and I was so amazed with how creative he was in using that gift for his football teams.

One such example was how he improved on the 4-3 defense and used his education to create the flex defense. Much like how the 4-3 defense is still used today, Landry also created another standard that is still being used in football on the offensive side of the ball with the shotgun formation. In fact today most NFL teams use the shotgun formation for over 50 percent of the time.

I also liked how he was a man of class and wanted it to be about the game of football and wasn't cocky and showed respect to his opponent. In fact, I was quite surprised with how much he did not like being called America's Team. Landry was not an attention seeker and I respect that!

Not only has he made an impact on players on the field with all of his amazing creativity, but what he has done for players off the field as well.

Reading and listening to stories by players and other people who knew Landry, it is amazing how he has affected their lives personally. Helping people get closer to God and trying to help other people be the best versions of themselves in this crazy world is truly inspiring!

I hope and pray that I could make an impact like that on other people because we all could use some love and caring in this world and I truly believe God wants us all to inspire and help create something wonderful and bring us closer together with not only each other but more importantly, be closer with God.

God Bless ya coach Landry!