Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.

He attended the University of Texas at Austin as an industrial engineering major. The series Friday Night Lights features a character named Landry hinted to be named after Tom Landry given the town's obsession with football. Landry's father had suffered from rheumatism and relocated to the warmer climate of Texas.

He was named the NFL Coach of the Year in 1966 and the NFC Coach of the Year in 1975. He invented the now popular 4–3 defense and the "flex defense" system made famous by the "Doomsday Defense" squads he created during his 29 year tenure with the Dallas Cowboys. More impressive is the Cowboys' appearance in 10 NFC Championship games in the 13-year span from 1970 to 1982.