By Jon Machota
FOXSportsSouthwest.com Special Contributor
February 11, 2011
During a week when a wintry mix greeted the Lombardi trophy's voyage to North Texas, falling ice injured seven workers at Cowboys Stadium and 400 ticket holders attended the Super Bowl but were not allowed to sit in the seats they paid for.
Even with all of that, Jimmy Johnson viewed the event as a "great success."
The former Cowboys head coach spoke to media members Friday morning at Cowboys Stadium. Johnson was in town to help coach an adult flag football game called the inaugural Crown Royal Jimmy Bowl.
"I know there was some controversy on some different things, but those to me were very minor," Johnson said of Super Bowl XLV. "I know people are going to say the weather was bad, but the weather was bad throughout the country. It caused so many problems that you really couldn't control. I know myself, being a fan, I'd love to see the Super Bowl come back to Dallas."
Johnson spoke highly of his former boss, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, when answering questions about how the event was handled. Johnson said Jones has "always been great to me," adding: "Dallas should be proud of him. If it weren't for Jerry Jones you'd never have had a Super Bowl here."
During the 10-minute question and answer session, the current Fox NFL Sunday analyst discussed how he loves his current lifestyle and doesn't miss calling the shots on the sidelines. Johnson even mentioned turning down general managing and consulting opportunities in the NFL over the last couple years.
However, he still found time to provide some of his professional analysis about the current state of the Cowboys organization. Of all the problems that occurred during a 2010 campaign that saw his former team go 6-10, Johnson did not believe talent was one of the downfalls.
"I thought they were a sloppy team," he said. "They had too many penalties. They had too many crucial turnovers. And that's why they lost some of their close games. But I thought they had a talented team. I don't question the talent on this football team."
When talks turned to his thoughts on Jason Garrett as head coach, Johnson spoke highly of the former quarterback. Among other things, Johnson pointed out Garrett's passion, preparation and intelligence. He also applauded some of the recent moves he has made while compiling his coaching staff.
"I see where he is hiring Mike Woicik, who was my strength coach (with the Cowboys), and he's got six Super Bowl rings," Johnson said. "So Jason is doing it the right way. I think they'll be a drastically improved team over what they were a year ago."
Another coaching staff hire that Johnson liked was adding defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.
"I told Jerry (Jones) that I thought it was a great move," Johnson said. "I've been impressed with what he's done with the defensive teams with the Raiders and Cleveland. I think he's a good mix with Jason Garrett. Being the head coach and being involved with the offense, I think Ryan's going to do an outstanding job with the defense."
Hiring an offensive coordinator is the only aspect Johnson said he may do differently if it were his own staff. Johnson, who won a pair of Super Bowls with the Cowboys in the early 90s, prefers the head coach to have his hand on all three phases of the game.
"He can have his hand on all three phases and still be involved with one phase," Johnson said. "But I think if you're actually doing the game plan, the play calling, etc., I think it takes away from the other two phases. So I'd prefer a head coach to be a delegator. The reason I like that is because that's the way I did it."
