Sunday, January 11, 1998

Switzer says no hard feelings toward Jones

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Barry Switzer says he harbors no hard feelings toward Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after stepping down as the team's head coach.

"Jerry and I had a long, private conversation this morning," Switzer told The Daily Oklahoman. "We've had a great relationship, and we always will. I couldn't have worked for a better colleague or a better friend."

Switzer, 61, left the Cowboys after the only losing season in his 20-year career. His four years as Cowboys coach is the shortest tenure of the team's three leaders; Johnson lasted a season longer while Tom Landry was in charge for 29 years.

"I will continue to work with Jerry privately, outside of this organization," Switzer said Friday. "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."

The team began the season with a promising 37-7 victory over Pittsburgh, only to fall into a scoring funk. The Cowboys lost their last five games to miss the playoffs for the first time in seven years and finished 6-10. They also failed to win the NFC East for the first time in five seasons.

"I want the people of Oklahoma, my friends and Jerry's friends, particularly, to know this was my decision," Switzer said. "This is something Jerry never wanted. Jerry wanted it to be Camelot and we all know Camelot doesn't exist."

Switzer told the Oklahoman "I couldn't have worked for a better man."

"He's been a very, very loyal friend and companion," Switzer said. "Jerry Jones has always treated me right. We have a friendship I will always value."

Switzer later said outside a Norman restaurant that he decided to step down long before word of his resignation leaked late Thursday night.

"I made this decision months ago, in fact during football season. The way the schedule played out, the games we had lost, I just told Jerry -- I went in and sat down a couple weeks before we finished the season, told him if we couldn't win these last couple games, I felt like the best thing to do is have a change. We started discussing it at that time and followed through with it," he said.

The coach said he returned to Norman on Friday because "this has always been home, 30 years north of the Red River. I never was welcomed south of it for those 20 or 30 years I coached here.

"I've got a lot of friends and associates here. I look forward to renewing those acquaintances and spending a lot of time up here."

Switzer, who built a house in Dallas, said he planned to maintain his Texas residence but also will spend a lot of time in Oklahoma.

"I will still stay here," Switzer said. "I have several business interests here that need my attention. But I also have many business interests in Oklahoma and will attend to them. Trust me, I will be spending a lot of time in Oklahoma."

He said, however, he had no interest in returning to the University of Oklahoma, where he spent 16 years as head coach.

"No, no, no. You've had all you're going to get of me," Switzer said. "Just like the Dallas media has had all they're going to get of me."