Getty Former Dallas Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston walks onto the field before an AAF game.
The Dallas Cowboys are seeing one of their most beloved alumni take on a top rrole with the USFL before the football league’s 2023 season begins.
The USFL is returning on April 15, as the league’s eight squads will begin squaring off. Now leading the way in terms of football operations is former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston.
According to Forbes reporter Jeff Fedotin, Johnston has become the USFL’s president of football operations just a week before the season.
“Originally the league’s vice president, Johnson assumed the USFL presidency after Brian Woods left the role to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors. He oversees everything from scouting to video, equipment and field conditions,” Fedotin writes.
Johnston had been balancing being an announcer for FOX Sports’ NFL coverage as well as the vice president role during the 2022 season but is now taking another step up with this promotion.
According to Fedotin, the USFL does not have a commissioner, meaning that the president of football operations is the league’s highest-ranking title.
‘Moose’ Cleared Paths for Cowboys
The fullback may be a rarely used position in the modern NFL, but when Dallas was dominating the league in the 1990s Johnston was a key component of the Cowboys’ offense.
“Moose” spent all 11 seasons of his NFL career with Dallas as the team’s leading bruiser, who contributed by clearing holes but also being a surprise weapon to use against opposing defenses.
Pro Football Reference shows that Johnston averaged a whopping 7.6 yards per rush over his career, primarily due to former Dallas coaches Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer utilization of him. Opposing defenses would expect him to block, and instead he would receive a quick handoff and hit the whole.
Johnston was named to the Pro Bowl in consecutive seasons in 1993 and 1994, while also winning three Super Bowls with Dallas. Unfortunately, a neck injury signaled the end of his career in 1997 as the Syracuse alum retired by 1999.
Johnston Could Make GM Jump to NFL
Johnston is a jack of all trades in the football world. After an impressive playing career, the former Cowboy became a broadcaster in 2003 and has been with FOX for nearly 20 years. But besides playing and broadcasting, he also has front-office experience.
He was the general manager for the AAF’s San Antonio Commanders in 2018 before becoming the Director of Player Personnel for the XFL’s Dallas Renegades in 2019. A similar position in the NFL could be in his future.
In Fedotin’s story, Johnston’s longtime broadcast partner Kenny Albert explained that he thinks the former fullback is on that track.
“I could definitely see him becoming an NFL general manager in the very near future,” Albert said. “He’s gotten so much great experience… as one of the top executives in the USFL, putting the entire league together.”
It’s clear that Johnston simply loves football. Working for all of the different professional leagues that have risen in the past few years after a playing career with Dallas is a product of that.
“I wanted to still be involved in it,” Johnston said. “I love the game of football. It’s given me more than I could’ve ever imagined, and I always feel like I need to be an ambassador for the game.”