Johnson grew up in Port Arthur, Texas and earned All-State football honors at Jefferson High School as a two-way lineman. At the University of Arkansas, Johnson became an All-Southwest Conference defensive lineman and helped lead the team to the 1964 National Championship. He was a three-year letterman and was later named to Arkansas' All-Decade Team of the 1960's.

Jimmy began his coaching career as a defensive line coach right out of college in 1965 for Louisiana Tech. In his first head coaching job at Oklahoma State in 1979, Johnson took over a losing program and brought it to national prominence with two bowl appearances in his five seasons there. In 1984, Johnson took over the program at the University of Miami and guided the Hurricanes to two Orange Bowl titles, a National Championship in 1987 and a 52-9 overall record.

After finishing his fifth season as the head coach of Hurricanes, Johnson moved to the NFL. He was named the Dallas Cowboys' head coach on February 25, 1989, the same day the franchise was purchased by collegiate teammate, Jerry Jones. Johnson inherited a once-mighty club that had fallen on hard times, but in just three seasons, he transformed Dallas into a title contender.

In 1993, when the Cowboys demolished the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII, Johnson became the first coach to win both a college National Championship and a Super Bowl. With Dallas' second consecutive Super Bowl championship in 1994, Johnson joined the elite company of Vince Lombardi, Don Shula and Chuck Noll as the only coaches to win back-to-back Super Bowls. During his tenure with the Cowboys, Johnson compiled an overall 44-36 regular-season record and a 7-1 postseason record. In three of his final four years with the Cowboys, he was named "NFL Coach of the Year"by at least one national media outlet.

Johnson retired as the Cowboys’ head coach after the 1993 season and published his autobiography, Turning the Thing Around: Pulling America's Team Out of the Dumps-And Myself Out of the Doghouse. That year, he also joined FOX Sports as an analyst for the NFL pre-game show, FOX NFL Sunday. He remained with the show for its first two seasons, helping to establish it as a fan favorite.

In January 1996, Jimmy signed a four-year contract to become the head coach and general manager of the Miami Dolphins, making the NFC Championship Game his final assignment for FOX NFL Sunday. He succeeded the legendary Don Shula at Miami, becoming the third head coach in Dolphins history. In his four seasons with the Dolphins, Johnson compiled a 36-28 regular-season record and a 2-3 postseason record. He officially retired his position with the Dolphins in January 2000 and rejoined the team at FOX NFL Sunday in 2002.

Jimmy draws on personal experiences to skillfully illustrate the values of leadership and team building. Known for his pursuit of personal excellence, he is an entertaining motivational speaker who has continually shown his talent for developing a winning environment.