By 2010, Survivor was no stranger to stunt casting. It had never gone out and gotten the mega stars of the day; you were never going to see Justin Timberlake or Lady Gaga on Survivor, but it had gotten some fairly famous people. Of note, Gary Hogeboom had been the one to blaze a trail with his appearance in Survivor: Guatemala as Gary Hawkins, professional landscaper.

Football? All I know about is landscaping.

After Gary, they had cast some other noteworthy people. A professional wrestler, Ashley Massaro in Survivor: China, an Olympian and a fairly well-reputed gamer in Gabon with Crystal Cox and Kenny Hoang respectively, Taj Johnson-George in Tocantins, wife of former NFL player Eddie George and a fairly big pop star in her own right back in the 90s. Even Candace Smith from that season, known as the other Candace/Candice by most Survivor fans, had had a fairly successful career, acting in movies like Beerfest and making appearances in shows like Method and Red, Entourage, and Joey.

Photographic evidence of said role in Beerfest.

By Survivor: Nicaragua, the show had already established that they would cast people from the public eye if they fit their theme or idea for the season. When the opportunity came up to cast Jimmy Johnson, the show felt like they definitely had no choice but to give him a spot on a season. Originally, Jimmy came to the producers in time for the Survivor: Gabon cycle. He was set to be on the season until his physical revealed some blocked arteries that held him back. Jimmy ended up being replaced by Bob Crowley and the rest of that season’s history was altered forever.

Come the time for Nicaragua, Jimmy had gotten his health in check and was ready to go again. This time he passed his physical and was sent out on-location to compete on Survivor. This was without a doubt the most famous person to ever be cast on the show. Despite later players like Lisa Welchel and a handful of professional athletes, I would argue that Jimmy remains the most famous person to be on the show. Gaining prominence as a coach at the college football level, Jimmy made the University of Miami a household name in the 80s and won a national championship with the team in 1987. He led America’s team, and also America’s most hated team, the Dallas Cowboys, to two consecutive Super Bowls in 1992 and 1993.

After his coaching career took him to a stint in Miami, Jimmy decided to retire from the NFL. He then took his talents to the broadcasting world where he continued the work he had started in between coaching jobs as an analyst on the Fox network. A job Jimmy continues to this day where he is seen across the United States every Sunday.

Had Jimmy simply been a big name the producers were using to say they had a big name in the cast, it might have played badly. Thankfully, Jimmy happened to be a huge Survivor fan, having seen every single episode the show had produced. This wasn’t a situation where a deserving player was cut in favor of a big name who was going to end up quitting, Jimmy went on Survivor because he wanted to be on the show.

Safe to say that with his resume, hiding his identity was going to be basically impossible. From day one, multiple contestants I.D.’ed him as Jimmy Johnson, the Super Bowl winning coach. They probably knew it as soon as they saw him hanging around Ponderosa during sequester. You don’t go on TV every Sunday for decades and then get the chance to slip away in anonymity at a moment’s notice.

Thankfully, Jimmy recognized that people were going to know who he was. He knew that he would have to steer into the curve rather than try to avoid it. There was going to be no landscaping gigs in Jimmy’s Survivor life. Going into the game, Jimmy had decided his strategy to minimize his celebrity would be that he was the perfect person to take to the end.

The biggest thing is I can tell them I’m not a threat — the jury’s not gonna award me a million bucks. I’m really the safest guy out there as far as an alliance.

You have to believe that the season’s Young vs Old twist also ended up being a blessing of sorts for the former coach. Jimmy was thrown into a tribe with a bunch of 40-something-year olds who were in their early 20s when Jimmy was one of the biggest names in the NFL. They had grown up watching him win at the highest level in his sport and recognized that probably meant that Jimmy had a lot of merit as a leader. Thankfully there was also no one from Philadelphia on the cast or Jimmy might have been the first boot.

Jimmy’s expertise in leadership was immediately recognized, at least early on. Jimmy came in and the tribe allowed him to take the reins. They would get excited when Jimmy gave the team pep talks and strategized for the competitions. They were getting to compete alongside Jimmy Johnson! A real sporting legend!

Being put on the older tribe definitely had its benefits but it also came with a few curses named Jimmy Tarantino and Marty Piombo. They were the two players on the tribe who chafed at Jimmy’s position as the leader, for different reasons.