Dallas Cowboys: Ranking the Coaches of ‘America’s Team’
4. Barry Switzer
(1994-97)
Wins: 40, Lossss: 24 (64 games)
From his first press conference when introduced as the head coach of the Cowboys until his departure, the Cowboys really become more of a circus than usual, but they did win football games.
With Switzer, the Cowboys had the ultimate success with the Super Bowl XXX win, but the season before – in his first year with the Cowboys – they lost the NFC Championship Game to the San Francisco 49ers, ending the Cowboys’ bid of winning a third-straight Super Bowl with a team that was built to win right now.
Switzer and the Cowboys did win the following season, but the team, like the previous season, was already built to win the championship, with players like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin leading the path to greatness.
The Cowboys had a .625 winning percentage during the regular season and a .714 winning percentage in the playoffs, but to be honest, his 5-2 record in the playoffs should have been 6-1 with that NFC Championship game loss always looming over the success he had.
After winning the Super Bowl, the Cowboys were never never the same team under Switzer. Yes, they did win 10 games in 1996, but lost in the Divisional Round of the playoffs to the Carolina Panthers (26-17), then in his final season, the shoe finally dropped with a 6-10 record, a fourth-place finish in the NFC East.
I can’t take away from what Switzer accomplished as the Cowboys head coach, but this team he coached should have won more than one Super Bowl championship in his tenure, but they didn’t.
One thing all of us will remember of Switzer is this:
Next: No. 3: HOF coach brought life to Cowboys