Coaches

IRVING – Jimmy Johnson wasn't sure of the proper word for what had happened – quit, resigned, fired, rode off into the sunset. All he and Jerry Jones really knew Tuesday was that it was over.

What Mr. Jones has described as "one of the greatest stories in sports" reached a bizarre conclusion at the team's Valley Ranch headquarters after the coach and owner met for a little more than an hour Tuesday morning. After five years and consecutive Super Bowl titles the past two seasons, Mr. Johnson said it was a "mutual decision" that he no longer serve as coach.

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jones each claimed last week's verbal battle in the media, which began with the owner's threats to fire Mr. Johnson, had nothing to do with Tuesday's separation. For more than 30 minutes, they sat side by side and assured the huge news media assemblage that they were parting as friends, had enjoyed their years together and that all was in the best interest for the future of the Cowboys' franchise.

"We've had hours of candid discussions the last two days," said Mr. Johnson, "and I can sincerely tell you that I feel better today about Jerry Jones as a friend than I have in our entire relationship. After our discussions, we mutually decided I would no longer be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys."

Mr. Jones refused to discuss possible successors, although last week's mention of former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer has turned out to be realistic. Mr. Switzer was in Dallas on Tuesday night to meet with Mr. Jones and is likely to be named Mr. Johnson's successor at a news conference Wednesday.

To make room for Mr. Switzer, Mr. Jones paid Mr. Johnson a settlement of between $1 million and $2 million, a source said. Mr. Jones called it "a big thank you." He also gave Mr. Johnson immediate freedom to pursue another job. Mr. Johnson said he plans to wait until 1995 before returning to coaching.

"Personally, I think it was time to pull back some," said Mr. Johnson, who met Mr. Jones when they were teammates at Arkansas during the early 1960s. "I have always been 100 percent totally into it, but as Jerry was starting to see, I was starting to lose my focus."

Mr. Johnson told a friend recently that it was tough to come back from trips to Miami, where he coached the University of Miami Hurricanes for five seasons and won one national title. In the past, Mr. Johnson has taken only rare, brief vacations.

Mr. Johnson said he began to sense that he was losing his drive near the end of the 1993 season. It was not evident on the field, however, where the Cowboys won their last eight games and claimed their second straight Super Bowl title. No coach has ever won three in a row.

"Our relationship is one that is different from any in the NFL," said Mr. Jones. "We mutually agreed that if we didn't look out, we would take one of the greatest stories ever told in sports, take all those positives and turn it into something that we didn't think would be in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys.

"This isn't something that has just been frivolously talked about. We have analyzed this from stem to stern."

Mr. Jones and Mr. Johnson met for 2½ hours Monday and narrowed a list of five possible scenarios to two. Ruled out were Mr. Johnson quitting, Mr. Jones firing Mr. Johnson and the two working together under the current agreement, which had five years remaining.

That left two possibilities going into Tuesday – Mr. Johnson staying for one more year or accepting a settlement. Mr. Jones' lawyer, Dick Cass, and Mr. Johnson's attorney, Nick Christin, started the morning working on new terms for a one-year deal. But shortly before 9 a.m., Mr. Johnson said he realized that it wasn't going to work.

He called Mr. Jones and told him that it was time to meet to resolve the issue. Less than an hour later, a settlement of Mr. Johnson's contract had been reached, and Mr. Johnson returned to his office.

The news conference gave no indication that these two men were no longer compatible. When tough questions were asked of Mr. Jones, Mr. Johnson routinely intervened on the owner's behalf. Just three days earlier, Mr. Johnson had said Mr. Jones was a man he could no longer respect or trust. He said winning a third Super Bowl had lost meaning as long as Mr. Jones was the owner. On Tuesday, he did nothing but credit Mr. Jones for his contributions to their successes together.

"There's no way in the world we could have accomplished what we did without each other," Mr. Johnson said. "Some people might describe it as rocky, but something about our relationship worked."

Mr. Johnson didn't call it burnout but indicated that the pressure of the job was a factor in his decision.

"I don't think anybody in this room or anybody watching really understands until they've walked in our shoes what this is about," Mr. Johnson said. "You think there was pressure in the 1989 season when we lost all but one game? But there's just as much pressure to win a Super Bowl and to win another Super Bowl."

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jones shook hands after Mr. Johnson's opening statement, in which he announced that he was leaving. After the news conference, they hugged. Between, they continually deflected all questioning of the timing of the change.

It reached a laughable stage when Mr. Johnson said at one point, "We're going through a little transition here." When the media interrupted him with its laughter, Mr. Johnson smiled and said, "Well, maybe it's a big transition."

Mr. Johnson has compiled a 31-7 record the past two seasons, tops in the NFL. His career record with the Cowboys was 44-36 in the regular season, despite that 1-15 start. Mr. Johnson's teams were 7-1 in the post-season, the second-best winning percentage in the NFL behind Vince Lombardi's 9-1.

Mr. Jones and Mr. Johnson each denied that Mr. Jones' efforts to exercise more control was a factor. "Really, 99 percent of every decision was made working together," Mr. Johnson said.

Said Mr. Jones: "Jimmy, did I ever try to call a play? The facts are that we never had a disagreement when it came to football."

Players, assistants and employees were understandably surprised at Tuesday's turn of events. Offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese has been on the payroll less than eight weeks after spending his entire life on the West Coast.

"I think we're all in a state of shock," Mr. Zampese said. "But I get paid to do a job, and I'll do it the best I can."

"Whoever comes in here is going to have his hands full," said center Mark Stepnoski. "You'd think these guys could have ironed something out. But this thing didn't happen overnight."

Quarterback Troy Aikman said he could begin to see that Mr. Johnson's interest was diminishing this off-season. "It's tough even for us as players to always keep that drive," he said. "The main thing for us now is to try to take care of the guys who are free agents."

To many, Mr. Jones now will be regarded as the man who fired Tom Landry and ran Mr. Johnson out of town. The owner's reaction: "Well, they will just have to keep pointing fingers at me. I think we have more Cowboys fans now than we had in 1989, and there was a lot of skepticism then. But I've always committed everything I've ever done to the Dallas Cowboys."

For five years, Mr. Johnson gave the same commitment. But his first two head coaching jobs, at Oklahoma State and Miami, also ended after five years. It will be the same here.

The Jimmy Johnson era of Cowboys' football is finished.