The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most storied NFL franchises, with a rich championship history. They have five Lombardi Trophies to speak of, and it has taken excellent players and coaches along the way to achieve it.
Throughout the franchise’s history, Dallas has been home to some of the most successful head coaches of all time. Which will land in the Cowboys’ all-time top five?
Ranking the Greatest Coaches in Dallas Cowboys’ History
There are several head coaches that Cowboys fans will likely want to forget ever coached in Dallas, with the great ones coming few and far between. Yet, the most successful HCs in franchise history are some of the biggest names to ever walk an NFL sideline.
Here are the all-time top five head coaches in Dallas’ history.
5) Mike McCarthy
Mike McCarthy is a Super Bowl-winning head coach heading into a lame-duck year with the Cowboys in 2024. Despite that, he deserves to be on this list.
McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas has brought regular-season stability that the team hasn’t seen since some of the other names were manning the sideline.
People have soured on McCarthy during his time in Dallas due to the playoffs being more of the same, but what he’s been able to do to make the Cowboys a consistent contender cannot be ignored.
McCarthy is 42-25 since becoming the man in Dallas, with a lost season due to Dak Prescott’s gruesome ankle injury sprinkled in. He has provided a sense of stability the Cowboys haven’t seen in decades and has a championship pedigree.
While the end of the season has been disappointing for McCarthy and the Cowboys, they’ve gone 12-5 three years in a row, once again affirming that he’s a good coach who will give his team chances to be successful.
4) Bill Parcells
Bill Parcells only spent four short seasons in Dallas, but his impact was a lasting one.
Parcells’ staff is the one that found undrafted quarterback Tony Romo and is credited with bringing a sense of respect and prominence to the Cowboys that had been lost during the early 2000s.
His record was nothing to write home about, finishing 34-30, but the legendary coach’s presence felt like a stopgap for a franchise that was going the wrong way fast after dominating the ’90s.
On this day in 2003, Bill Parcells was hired to become head coach of the Cowboys. One of his first mandates was to have the stars removed from the helmets of all incoming rookies until they had made the team, a tradition that stands today. pic.twitter.com/QzfIjoYJbe
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) January 2, 2020
Parcells always did things his way, unapologetically, and while it may have rubbed some people the wrong way sometimes, he always found a way to bring success to his teams. His tenure in Dallas will always be remembered as an important one in the franchise’s history.
3) Barry Switzer
Not everyone in Cowboys Nation gives Barry Switzer the credit he deserves for winning a Super Bowl with a team that Jimmy Johnson built. While there may be some merit to that disclaimer, what they can’t take away from Switzer is the fact that he did it.
Johnson’s core or not, it was Switzer’s team that he coached to another championship, setting him up to be No. 3 on our list.
Switzer was a longtime successful college coach before jumping the ranks to be the man in charge of America’s Team. A true players coach, Switzer always found a way to level with his players while commanding the respect needed to get the job done.
FREE: Subscribe to PFN’s NFL Newsletter
During his four seasons with Dallas, Switzer compiled a 40-24 record. He made the playoffs in three of four seasons there, including the aforementioned championship and an NFC Championship Game appearance.
Switzer’s four seasons in Dallas were the only years he spent as an NFL head coach. While his tenure was brief, it made a lasting impact that put him among the best coaches in team history.
2) Jimmy Johnson
It was well overdue, but Johnson finally saw his name put in the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2023. With an impressive coaching career that spanned college and the pros, there is no doubt that Johnson deserves all the accolades that have been given to him.
Johnson is the architect of the Cowboys teams of the ’90s, which won three Super Bowl titles and honed in on the ever-growing popularity that has helped them reach the global heights they have today.
He finished with a record of 44-36 during his tenure in Dallas and finished an eye-opening 7-1 in the playoffs. Johnson’s time with the Cowboys is as good of a run as any coach has had in NFL history, and if it wasn’t for butting heads between him and Jerry Jones, who knows just how far they could have gone together.
Instead, Johnson lives with his two titles and knows the impact he made on not only the Cowboys but the NFL, putting him squarely at No. 2 on our list.
1) Tom Landry
At No. 1, there’s only one correct answer, and it’s Tom Landry. Landry was selected as the Cowboys’ head coach when the franchise started their first season in 1960 and remained the head guy for 29 seasons.
Under Landry, from 1966 to 1986, Dallas never had a season below .500 — a truly impressive feat. Landry’s Cowboys won 13 divisional titles, five NFC titles, and two Super Bowls. He finished his career with a record of 270-178-6, including playoff appearances, putting only George Halas and Don Shula above him in the win column.
CBS camera capturing the Cowboys’ Landry Shift victory formation from above the line pic.twitter.com/QFqLIPvtC0
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 18, 2023
You cannot tell the history of the Dallas Cowboys without mentioning Landry and the tremendous impact he made on them and the rest of the NFL. For that, Landry is quite easily the greatest head coach in Cowboys history.