Coaches

IRVING – Barry Switzer's tumultuous four-year tenure as Dallas Cowboys coach, which included a Super Bowl victory and an August arrest, officially ended Friday.

Owner Jerry Jones announced Mr. Switzer's resignation at a news conference at the team's Valley Ranch training complex.

In a prepared statement, Mr. Switzer said he gave Mr. Jones his resignation earlier this week. Mr. Jones said he and Mr. Switzer, friends for 37 years, have reached a financial settlement for the final two years of Mr. Switzer's contract, which is believed to pay him between $750,000 and $1 million per season.

Mr. Jones declined to give the terms of the agreement but said Mr. Switzer would not have a position with the team.

Later Friday, Mr. Switzer told The Daily Oklahoman that he would maintain a relationship with Mr. Jones.

"I will continue to work with Jerry privately, outside of this organization," Mr. Switzer said. "I don't want to interfere because I don't know who the next head coach will be. I wouldn't feel comfortable being there, and the next head coach might feel uncomfortable having me around."

Mr. Jones has announced the departures of all three head coaches in Cowboys history. And like Tom Landry in 1989, Mr. Switzer opted to skip the climactic news conference.

Mr. Jones also said he would not discuss the selection process for a new coach.

"My discussions will at all times be kept to me," he said. "I will never divulge my process and how we arrive at this coach."

The Cowboys had a 45-26 record during Mr. Switzer's tenure, winning Super Bowl XXX and three NFC East titles.

"We have come to the realization that we must chart a fresh new path toward returning this team toward the level of success that our fans demand," said Mr. Jones. "We have to return to the level of being a Super Bowl team.

"Since 1989, we have hired two coaches that have won Super Bowls, and I fully expect to do the same this time around."

Mr. Switzer, 60, left the team's headquarters through a side door about 10 minutes before the news conference began and returned to his Coppell home about two miles away. He declined several interview requests from The Dallas Morning News.

"I arrived at this decision because I believe this is in the best interest of this football team," Mr. Switzer said in his statement. "My desire to see this team have success is my only priority and at this time. I believe a fresh start in this position will give the Cowboys their greatest opportunity to return to the top."

Mr. Switzer told The Daily Oklahoman he made the decision during the season.

"I made this decision months ago. ... I went in and sat down a couple weeks before we finished the season, told him Mr. Jones if we couldn't win these last couple games, I felt like the best thing to do is have a change," he said. "We started discussing it at that time and followed through with it."

Speculation had been rampant that this past season was going to be Mr. Switzer's last as Cowboys coach. It intensified in August when he was arrested for carrying a loaded gun through Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Mr. Jones fined Mr. Switzer an NFL-record $75,000 for that offense. He also refused to endorse Mr. Switzer as his coach beyond the 1997 season.

Mr. Jones said he waited three weeks after the end of the season to make a change because he wanted his staff to enjoy the holiday season. He also said he wanted to use the time to reflect on the team's direction.

Former San Francisco 49ers coach George Seifert is considered the most attractive candidate by NFL general managers and owners. He has the highest winning percentage (.759) in NFL history.

Philadelphia offensive coordinator Jon Gruden is considered one of the top young coaching prospects, and college coaches Rick Neuheisel (Colorado), Gerry DiNardo (Louisiana State) and Steve Spurrier (Florida) frequently have been mentioned as NFL candidates.

More than a dozen other names have been mentioned in media and in NFL circles, ranging from former UCLA coach Terry Donahue, who coached quarterback Troy Aikman in college; to Lou Holtz, who resigned as Notre Dame coach after the 1996 season; to almost any head coach with a Cowboys connection.

Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Campo and special teams coach Joe Avezzano also have been mentioned as candidates.

Mr. Jones said the new coach will inherit several of the current assistant coaches.

Mr. Avezzano, offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese and offensive line coach Hudson Houck are the only assistants who have contracts that run through the 1998 season.

Although Mr. Jones has not said he will retain those specific assistants, he has said several assistants will have their contracts extended. He declined to name them.

"The new coach will not be asked to reinvent the wheel," Mr. Jones said. "We know what direction we want this team to go in, offensively and defensively. ... The coach and coaches will have their focus on moving the ball. Others, including myself, will be focused on personnel."

Circumstance thrust Mr. Switzer under intense scrutiny from the time he became the Cowboys' coach in 1994.

He hadn't been involved in football since resigning from Oklahoma in 1989 after 16 seasons as head coach. And he was replacing Mr. Johnson, who took the Cowboys from a 1-15 record in 1989 to a Super Bowl championship in the 1992 season.

This time, Mr. Jones said, he wants a coach who will be well-received by fans, players and the media. "I think part of my job is to have someone come in here who isn't saddled with that type of criticism from the very beginning," Mr. Jones said.

Under Mr. Switzer, the Cowboys won three NFC East championships and a Super Bowl. But they went 16-16 in their past 32 games, including 6-10 this season – their first losing season since 1990. The 1997 season also was the first time since 1990 the Cowboys missed the playoffs.

"We have not achieved our goal of challenging for a Super Bowl the past two seasons, which is a burden every member of the organization shares," Mr. Jones said. "It is certainly not something that can be laid at the feet of one individual."

He said he hoped a new head coach and assistants would invigorate a team that has gone stale the past two seasons.

Mr. Jones said a similar rejuvenation occurred in 1989 when he bought the team and again in 1994 when he replaced Mr. Johnson with Mr. Switzer.

The Cowboys have been running the same basic offensive and defensive schemes most of this decade. For a team filled with veterans, Mr. Jones said, the game may have become routine.

"In March of 1994, Barry Switzer was the right person to take on this challenge ... ," Mr. Jones said. "When you consider Barry is one of just 17 men in history who have brought home that Super Bowl trophy, his ledger is square with me."

Mr. Jones, however, acknowledged the Cowboys are not the team they were in 1994 when Mr. Switzer arrived.