"Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If your in control, they're in control." -Tom Landry. No one in football epitomized this statement more than the man who said it himself. Tom Landry was the very image of a man in control and the success of the Dallas Cowboys under his leadership proved it.

Thomas Wade Landry was born on September 11,1924 in Mission, Texas. He attended the University of Texas in Austin, but had to put his education on hold to serve in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. He was assigned to the 493rd Bomb Group at RAF Debach, England where he completed over 30 missions and survived a crash over Belgium when his bomber ran out of fuel.

After the war, he returned to the university and played fullback and defensive back for the Texas Longhorns. In 1950 he became a defensive back for the NFL's New York Giants. He played for the Giants for five seasons, and became a player-assistant coach during the last two seasons. In 1956 he became the Giants Defensive Coordinator. Along with his counterpart, offensive coordinator Vince Lombardi, the two of them created an unbeatable team which went to 3 National Championship games in 4 years.

In 1960, Landry was chosen to become the Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and would continue as their coach for the next 29 years. Things did not start out well as the Cowboys would be winless during their first season, and would win only 5 games or less during the next 4 seasons. But owner Clint Murchison had a lot of confidence in Landry and signed him to a 10 year extension. Landry was finally able to start implementing his ideas, and was the architect of the famous "4-3 Defense" which would become a trademark of the Cowboys.

With his trademark hat and stoic personality, Landry portrayed confidence in everything he did, on and off the field. He was a deeply religious and quiet man, prefering to keep to himself. He did not get caught up in the hype surrounding the Cowboys, and it was often hard for anyone to tell what he was planning which only increased the Landry mystique.

Many people would argue that his exit from the Cowboys was not fitting of a man who had brought so much to the team, but in 1989, the Cowboys were sold to Jerry Jones, who replaced Landry with a young coach named Jimmy Johnson who had been a position coach at the University of Miami.

In February of 2000, Tom Landy died of leukemia. As a tribute to their former coach, the cowboys wore a patch of Landry's famous fedora on their jerseys during the 2000 season. Tom Landry would be given numerous honors both before and after his death, but many Texans as well as fans around the world would remember the man who quietly inspired his team to accomplish things that they never knew they could. It will always be said of him that he was a man who could inspire you, and instill confidence just by looking at him.

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