Thomas Wade Landry was an American professional football coach, player, and World War II veteran. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. During his coaching career, he created many new formations and methods, such as the now default 4–3 defense that is used by a majority of teams in the NFL, and the "flex defense" system made famous by the "Doomsday Defense" squads he built during his tenure with the Cowboys. His 29 consecutive years from 1960 to 1988 as the coach of one team is an NFL record, along with his 20 consecutive winning seasons, which is considered to be his most impressive professional accomplishment.
Landry in January 1997
Landry on a 1955 Bowman football card
A sculpture of Landry
Texas State Cemetery
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and has played its home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, since its opening in 2009. The stadium took its current name prior to the 2013 season, following the team's decision to sell the stadium's naming rights to telecommunications company AT&T. In January 2020, Mike McCarthy was hired as head coach of the Cowboys. He is the ninth in the team's history. McCarthy follows Jason Garrett, who coached the team from 2010 to 2019.
A statue of Tom Landry, who coached the team from 1960 to 1988 and led the Cowboys to five Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl victories in 1971 and 1977
Don Meredith was the first franchise quarterback of the Cowboys. NFL Films cited Meredith as the first "star" of the franchise, leading them to back-to-back NFL Championship Game appearances during the 1966 and 1967 seasons, both times falling one game shy of the Super Bowl
The Cowboys playing against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII in 1977
The five-time world champions mural