The coach with the fedora hat, Tom Landry was the epitome of the cool, calm, collective, and professional attired coach. If he ever smiled, the television camera never showed it unless it was during one of his two Super Bowl championship celebrations.

Landry was a stoic coach. He rarely smiled, or lost his temper. He was too busy paying attention to what was taking place on the field. He always appeared to be calculating the next move or the next play. Whether he was standing in an ice storm in Minnesota, or a heat wave in Los Angeles, Landry never showed his thoughts. He was the ultimate poker face coach. No one could read him

During the heydays of the Cowboys during the 1970s, Landry became the most recognized one on the field .His mystic was huge like his winning ways. In 1976, it was even mentioned in the media that folks wanted him to run for US President. He was that popular, especially in Texas, his home state.

In the start of his coaching career, Landry was a defensive specialist. Yet when he took over the Dallas Cowboys in the early 1960s, he added zest to the offense. His mission to upgrade his offense finally came true when the Cowboys drafted star quarterback Roger Staubach. Landry went on to win two Super Bowls with his star player, who had the same cool, calm, and collective demeanor as Landry.

Nevertheless a Landry team was a well-built defensive team. The Cowboys had stars on offense including then the world's fastest human Bob Hayes, and later on running back Tony Dorsett. It was, however, the Cowboys' defense that made the team a Super Bowl Champions. Having two stars, Cliff Harris, and Charley Waters, in the secondary, and Randy White and Harvey Martin, up front, it seems year after year the Cowboys under Landry were the premiere defense in football.

As an offense tactician, Landry relied not much on razzle-dazzle plays but on tried and true plays. He was within himself, and concentrated on the details rather than on the spectacular. He knew football games were fought and won in the trenches, so he made sure his teams excelled there.

In the end, his philosophy of being cool under fire won out with championships. He players respected him. I found it out to image players dumping a container filled with liquid and ice on him. Not Tom Landry, he was even calculating about the next season if he had just won the Super Bowl.

Learn more about this author, Frank Lavoine.
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