Tom Landry came to Dallas from the New York Giants, to be their first head coach. He had been the defensive coordinator of the Giants. He was on the same staff as a offensive coach, named Lombardi.
Landry was a native Texan ( Mission Texas) and had attended The University of Texas in Austin. He served in World War 2 as a co pilot in B-17 bombers and had even survived being shot down during the war. Landry then began his NFL career as a defensive back with both the New York Yankees, then the Giants. He played from 1949 to 1955 and intercepted 32 passes in his career. He was defensive coordinator from 56 until he took the job as the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
Coach Landry actually invented the 4-3 defense which is used by the majority of football teams to this day. His 4-3 with the Giants helped make Sam Huff the hall of famer he is. While in Dallas he perfected his 4-3 calling it the “Flex Defense”.
The Flex defense did away with a roving player at linebacker favored by most defenses of the time. Each player had a specific responsibility on each play. It was called the Flex due to it’s flexibility to counter whatever an offense may try against it.
Not being content with just the defensive side of the ball, Landry turned his attention to offense as well. To my knowledge he is the only head coach (of any note anyway) who was considered an offensive AND defensive genius. Some credit him with inventing the “Shotgun Offense” but in truth he pulled it into modern football. Old school Cowboy fans will remember the offensive lineman would stand up and get back down before a play. Landry had them do this to hide what motion his receivers and backs were doing. He used lots of offensive shifts to overcome a lack of talent on the team’s offense.
He also came up (temporarily) with a unique two quarterback system. When either Roger Staubach or Craig Morton could win the top qb job, he used them both. On alternating plays they would come into the game. Neither one liked it and said it messed up the flow of the game. Landry always contended it was a perfect system, but he dropped it.
According to Answers.com, Tom Landry coached 29 seasons and had a record 271-180 and 6 ties. He took the Dallas Cowboys to 5 Super Bowls and won 2 of them. Landry also coached 20 winning seasons in a row and had 19 playoff appearances The Cowboys also won 13 Division Titles under him. Tom Landry passed away on February 12th, 2000.
