Former Dallas Cowboys Star Daryl Johnston Is New USFL President

Daryl Johnston is the only NFL announcer on a national network who is also an executive in a sports league.

And for Year Two of the USFL, which kicks off its 10-week season on April 15, Johnston was promoted to the league’s president of football operations Thursday. It’s the USFL’s highest-ranking title, considering the league does not have a commissioner.

Johnston uniquely juggles his jobs with both the NFL and USFL.

“He is a really smart guy, always been well-organized,” said Kenny Albert, who was his NFL on FOX broadcasting partner for 10 years. “It’s no surprise that success has followed Daryl around.”

Originally the league’s vice president, Johnson assumed the USFL presidency after Brian Wood left the role to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors. He oversees everything from scouting to video, equipment and field conditions.

FOX Sports CEO and executive producer Eric Shanks saw his announcer as a good fit in the upstart league’s office because of Johnston’s experience as general manager of the San Antonio Commanders of the Alliance of American Football (beginning in 2018) and director of player personnel for the XFL’s Dallas Renegades (beginning in 2019).

Those leagues ran into problems because of the timing of starting during the Covid-19 pandemic (the XFL) and lack of the necessary financial backing (the Alliance).

But with FOX having a major financial ownership stake — a reported $150 million over three years — the USFL is on better footing.

FOX’s involvement, of course, made its NFL announcer an obvious candidate, but working in the league office or broadcast booth wasn’t always a given for Johnston.

After retiring from a decorated career in which he was the lead blocker for Emmitt Smith on three Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl championship teams, the fullback nicknamed “Moose” considered going into coaching.

He, though, had just started a family and knew the hours demanded from that job. So he opted for a football broadcasting career, which started in NFL Europe.

That has kept him to close to the game he loves.

“I wanted to still be involved in it,” Johnston exclusively shared. “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.”

As much as he enjoyed broadcasting, Johnston still missed the competition from his playing days.

That led to front-office roles with the Alliance and the XFL.

Given that background, could Johnston become the next John Lynch, who went directly from a FOX announcer to the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers?

“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.”

When asked about that possibility, the 57 year old said he takes things day by day, contrasting himself to his former teammate, Smith, a noted a goal-setter who jots down his personal objectives.

Johnston then answered in a more spiritual way.

“I don’t know what path God has in store for me to walk,” he said.

Currently, he relishes how the USFL positively impacts the lives of players — like USFL player-turned-Cowboys return specialist KaVontae Turpin — by giving them another opportunity to play professional football.

“What I got excited about,” Johnston said, “was changing the trajectory of a young man’s life.”

Playing on the Cowboys dynasty teams of the early 1990s helped set Johnston’s trajectory.

The team was under such an intense spotlight that Johnston became used to dealing with the media, and broadcasting became a natural segue.

“It was kind of like on-the-job training,” he said.

Johnston graduated from Syracuse, and its Newhouse School has produced many sports broadcasters, including his former partner Dick Stockton.

Although Johnston did not take any broadcast journalism classes there — he jokes about what a missed opportunity that was — he did earn an economics degree, which is proving helpful in his role overseeing the USFL as it tries to bolster attendance.

It is about to become the first major professional spring football league in nearly 40 years to complete a successful inaugural season and return for a second season. (The last was the USFL in the 1980s.)

After the USFL played all its games in Birmingham in Year One, three additional cities — Detroit, Canton and Memphis — will host contests this year.

Year Two of the USFL also will feature rule changes. Inspired by the NFC Championship Game, which left the 49ers down to quarterback Josh Johnson and running back Christian McCaffrey running the offense, the USFL will allow No. 3 quarterbacks to dress.

The league is also pushing back kickoffs from the 25-yard-line to the 20-yard-line. Last year the league had 80% of its kickoffs returned, but Johnston hopes this change will make it closer to 90%.

“I know it’s a play that the NFL is concerned about with the safety elements,” Johnston said. “Our data didn’t show in uptick in concussions or injuries in general on our kickoff returns, but it did make our game much more exciting.”

It also showcased Turpin’s abilities on the New Jersey Generals, which he parlayed into a job as the Cowboys’ main kickoff and punt returner in 2022.

Playing for that same star on the helmet also paved the way for Johnston’s unique journey from player to broadcaster to top league executive.