Water Rails & Oil - Historic Mid & South Jefferson County

J IMMY
J OHNSON
❖
Jimmy Johnson, Port Arthur native
son and Dallas Cowboys coach,
watching the time click away during
their 41-10 win over the Phoenix
Cardinals in December 1990 in
Irving, Texas.
COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF THE GULF COAST,
PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS.
represented by traditional Anglo-Celtic stock,
African Americans, Netherlanders, Latinos, and
descendants of Old Acadia who came across the
Sabine hunting homes and employment in
familiar habitats, and later, Asians, fleeing
fear—all, from Stilwell’s day to Rita’s day,
seeking, and finding, opportunity on the west
side of the Rainbow. Where else would a
Brownie have searched?
The first coach to lead a college football
team to the national championship and a
professional team to a Super Bowl victory was
Jimmy Johnson, a graduate of Thomas Jefferson
High School in Port Arthur, Texas.
Johnson played offensive and defensive line
for the Yellow Jackets, and then from 1961 to
1964 for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks
coached by Frank Broyles. Johnson became a
coach as soon as he left the University of
Arkansas, staying a year or two at Louisiana
Tech, Picayune, Wichita State, Iowa State,
Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, and
finally the University of Miami. He served as
defensive coordinator and assistant head coach
at several institutions before becoming head
coach of the Miami Hurricanes.
In Miami, Johnson’s teams won 44 games
against two losses, and set an NCAA record by
winning 20 consecutive road games. They won
the national championship in 1988. In 1989,
Johnson became head coach of the Dallas
Cowboys after new owner and Johnson’s
Razorback teammate Jerry Jones fired Tom
Landry, the Cowboy’s coach since 1960. The
Cowboys won two back-to-back Super Bowls
before tension with Jones led to Johnson’s
resignation. He later coached the Miami
Dolphins, and worked as a commentator on
broadcasts of NFL games.
O. A. “BUM” PHILLIPS
O.A. Phillips’ little sister could not say “brother,” so she referred to him first as “bumble” and finally “bum,” the nickname by
which he became known in athletic circles from Texas high schools to the National Football League.
Bum Phillips, though he was born in Orange and attended high school in Beaumont, is part of the lore of Nederland and Port
Neches when old timers remember “that championship season.”
Phillips attended and played for Lamar College in Beaumont and Stephen F. Austin State College in Nacogdoches. His coaching career
began in Nederland, where he led the Bulldogs to state playoffs in 1955, and included positions in Port Neches, Amarillo, and Jacksonville.
Phillips earned college coaching experience at SMU, Texas A&M, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas, El Paso. He worked
as defensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers before moving to the Houston Oilers in the same capacity. Phillips became head coach
of the Oilers in 1975, and led the team to two consecutive American Football Conference championship games, where they lost to the
Pittsburgh Steelers. Later Phillips coached the New Orleans Saints, 1981-1985, before becoming a rancher and radio and television analyst.
Phillips son Wade, who was born in Jefferson County, became head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for the 2007 season.
Phillips says he has never minded his unusual nickname, “as long as you don’t put a ‘you’ in front of it.”
48 ✦ WATER, RAILS & OIL