Tom Landry: A Story from “America’s Coach”

Our American Stories

iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.3 • 737 Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this episode of Our American Stories, before he ever wore his trademark hat on the sidelines, Tom Landry was a young man trying to build a future during the hard years of the Depression. He joined the University of Texas football team, flew combat missions in World War Two, and returned home to begin a professional career that brought both recognition and pressure.

But even as the wins piled up, he felt a quiet emptiness he could not ignore. When a friend invited him to a Bible study, he went reluctantly—and left with a sense of clarity he had been searching for since childhood. Here’s Tom Landry’s story of faith and football in his own words.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:02.5	Guaranteed Human.
0:14.4	This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories,
0:18.3	the show where America is the star and the American people.
0:22.4	He was one of the greatest coaches of the 20th century.
0:25.5	Behind a stone face and beneath his trademark pedora was a brilliant football mind.
0:31.3	As head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for 29 years,
0:34.9	Tom Landry compiled an impressive record of 13 division titles, five Super Bowl
0:40.0	appearances, and two championships.
0:43.7	The Cowboys would eventually be dubbed America's team.
0:47.3	Here he is with his own story.
0:50.3	I was raised at Mission, Texas, which is right up from Brownsville there, about 60 miles.
0:55.0	And I was raised during the Depression years in the 30s.
1:00.0	My dad was an automobile mechanic. He owned his own garage.
1:04.0	He was fire chief of Mission Volunteer Fire Department for about 40 years.
1:10.0	Great civic leader.
1:11.4	And we had six in our family, and my family really,
1:16.1	they taught me values.
1:17.7	We were just about a half a block from the Methodist Church.
1:20.1	My dad was superintendent of Sunday schools,
1:22.4	so I had to go to Sunday school every Sunday.
1:24.4	I didn't care to go.
	...

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