by Barry Horn, The Dallas Morning News , The Dallas Morning News

Jason Garrett was a one-year wonder. Jim Johnson (no relation to Fox's Jimmy Johnson or NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson) has been a network darling for years.

Earlier this week, I broached the subject with Aikman, who finished up the regular season heaping praise on Johnson in the Eagles' laugher over the Cowboys and followed that up last week with the Eagles' first-round playoff victory over the Vikings.

"So," I said to Aikman, "If I post the over-under on the number of Jim Johnson mentions in Sunday's game at 20, which one would you take?"

"The over," Aikman said without missing a beat.

I wouldn't bet against it. That would be like betting against the house in Vegas. And you can be sure that when the mischievous Mr. Buck gets wind of this proposition, he will pile on the mentions of Johnson. Trust me.

Actually, 20 was way too low for another reason. Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo prepped under Johnson as the Eagles linebackers coach. Hence any mention of Spagnuolo opens the door for a gratuitous mention of Johnson.

So what makes Johnson so special?

"The Eagles have had two constants over the last decade," Aikman said. "They've had a good defense, and Jim Johnson has been the coach leading it."

Indeed, just last week Buck gushed on the air that the best Eagles signings in the era of head coach Andy Reid was getting Johnson from the Seattle Seahawks and keeping him on the staff.

Aikman said Johnson is one of a handful of NFL assistant coaches who deserve as much recognition as they can get. He mentioned Steelers defensive guru Dick LeBeau will get plenty of notice when CBS follows Fox's Eagles-Giants with the Charger-Steelers.

"I believe it is time the Hall of Fame considers assistant coaches," said Aikman, himself a Hall of Famer. "Jim Johnson, Dick LeBeau and Ernie Zampese should be in Canton." Zampese, of course, was one of Aikman's mentors when he ran the Cowboys offense in the mid-1990s.

So what makes Johnson so special?

"Great defensive coaches have one thing in common," Aikman said. "They know how to break down protection on third down. They know how many people to bring and where to bring them from without getting burned. They know how to mix it up and be creative."

So just how many times would Aikman guess he and Buck will mention Johnson on Sunday?

"Watch and see," said Aikman, who obviously understands the art of promotion.

Aikman: Coach must command locker room

I tried to bait Troy Aikman into talking specifically about the Cowboys coaching situation. He wouldn't bite. He never mentioned Wade Phillips by name.

But Fox's lead NFL analyst did offer his ideal profile of a coach. So if Aikman ever steps out of the booth and into a front office of a NFL team, this would top his checklist before hiring his first coach.

"The first criteria would be that he would have to be able to stand in front of 53 guys and command the room," Aikman said. "If he couldn't, I wouldn't hire him. It wouldn't matter if he was the greatest defensive coordinator or offensive coordinator of all time. If he couldn't command the room, he couldn't be my coach."

So who does Aikman like?

"I'm a Bill Parcells guy. I like Mike Holmgren. I like Mike Shanahan. I like Jimmy Johnson. ... It's like at home. I don't ask my daughters to clean their room. I tell them."

Here's Aikman on the unemployed Mikes:

"I have as much respect for them as any coaches in the league," he said. "I think they are incredible. I think my only question for each would be, 'Does he still have a passion for the game?' That would be more so for Holmgren than Shanahan. He was just fired. He has something to prove. If I was satisfied with the answer, I'd hire them in a New York minute."

Fox scores with BCS ratings

Florida 24, Oklahoma 14 in Thursday's BCS title game scored well for Fox in the ratings.

The final national numbers were a 15.8 rating and 26.8 million viewers for a broadcast whose production was second rate. But after all, the game is the thing.

The 15.8 made it the highest rated Thursday night for the network since the Yankees-Red Sox turned in a 15.8 rating for Game 5 of the 2003 ALCS. It was the third-most-watched program of the 2008-09 TV season, which starts in September. Sunday's Eagles-Vikings game (30 million) and Saturday's Colts-Chargers OT game (27.8 million) are Nos. 1-2.

The four BCS games on Fox this month averaged a 9.9 rating and 16.8 million viewers. Those are the best numbers in the three years that the BCS and Fox have been together.

Dallas-Fort Worth scored a 22.5 rating for the game. That's 560,250 homes, or about the same number as a late Sunday afternoon NFL game.

If it's any solace to Sooners fans, Oklahoma markets fared better in the ratings than Florida markets. Oklahoma City (52.6) and Tulsa (47.8) were Nos. 1 and 2. D-FW was 19th.

Welcome back, Dave Barnett

The Rangers announced Friday that Dave Barnett is their choice to replace Victor Rojas and work alongside Eric Nadel in the radio booth. That's the same Dave Barnett who remains the standard for Mavericks play-by-play voices.

Denton-born-and-raised Barnett has been off in the ESPN wilderness since 1996. Barnett has done college football, basketball and plenty of Major League Baseball for ESPN.

"We got about 100 tapes for this job," said John Blake, the Rangers executive vice president for communications. "When Dave called and said he was available, it was a natural choice."

Barnett will assume all of Rojas' duties, including replacing Josh Lewin on the TV side when necessary. Rojas has moved on to national duty at MLB Network. Barnett worked Rangers games in 1990 for HSE.

Barnett applied after reading about Rojas' departure. Nadel, the dean of Rangers broadcasters, was quick to give his blessing to the potential hire.

Barnett will continue to work college football and basketball for ESPN when the Rangers season end.

"Hopefully, I won't be starting that until Novembers," he said.

Barnett, who graduated from the North Texas in 1979 and still lives just up I-35, said he has been looking to get back into local broadcasting for some time.

"I missed being with one team and working with the same people every night and establishing relationships," he said.

Barnett, 50, worked three years at KRLD-AM (1080) before joining Mavericks broadcasts in 1981. He replaced Mark Holtz, who left the Mavs after their rookie season for the Rangers. Barnett left the Mavs for the San Antonio Spurs in 1988 and joined ESPN in 1996.

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