Switzer Makes It Clear: He Wants to Be Coach at Professional Level

After a suitable period of mourning since he stepped down as head of an Oklahoma football program awash in scandal, Barry Switzer surfaced last week at the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Considering the proliferation of reporters, photographers and television cameras crowded along the sidelines to view America’s most-documented team, it was a good place for a coach in search of future National Football League employment to surface.

Switzer’s presence obviously invited comparison to the move from college to the NFL by his old friend and rival Jimmy Johnson, the Cowboys’ coach, and Switzer made it clear he will entertain any and all offers.

“I’ve had coaches tell me I’d love to coach pro football,” Switzer said. “They all told me to consider it. I’ve had two opportunities to come to the NFL, but I thought I had a better job at OU. But I won’t coach college football again.”

When he resigned at OU, Switzer complained bitterly about National Collegiate Athletic Association bureaucracy and the hypocrisy of college athletics. To him, the NFL looks like a safe haven from all that, and he even sees the problems related to contract negotiations as the ultimate carrot-on-the-stick that makes coaching in the NFL easier than college.

“These guys will do anything they can to earn $300,000 or $400,000 a year,” said Switzer, gesturing toward the Cowboys and San Diego Chargers scrimmaging. “They’re easier to work with than college players. The pro coaches I know have been in college, where they had to deal with all the bull, and they like the pros better.”

The fact that Switzer ran the wishbone offense throughout his career at Oklahoma, he said, is irrelevant to his qualifications for the NFL. “Football is a people business,” Switzer said. “You hire a staff. I’d bring in a defensive coach with pro experience. I believe in multiple defensive schemes. The coach of the secondary obviously is a key position and offensive coordinator. If I do it, I’d have a blend of (pro and college) coaches.”

Philadelphia Eagles Coach Buddy Ryan recently took a shot at Johnson’s college background and record, saying, “There aren’t any Cincinnatis on the schedule up here (which is inaccurate, but you get the idea). No East Carolinas, either.”

Reminded of Ryan’s remarks and his disdain for college coaches, Switzer laughed and said, “Buddy coached high school, college and pro ball, and Jimmy coached high school, college and pro ball. They made the same trip; Jimmy’s just better looking.”

Search Goes on

The new search committee seeking a replacement for retiring NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle rounded up pretty much the same bunch of suspects for interviews last week in Chicago: Jim Finks, New Orleans Saints president and general manager; former Democratic national chairman Paul Kirk; Washington attorney Paul Tagliabue; Meadowlands chief Robert Mulcahy III; businessman and Hall of Famer Willie Davis; and the unidentified corporate chief executive officer who was one of the finalists the first time around.

National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern turned down an interview request from the search committee, but Southeastern Conference Commissioner Harvey Schiller was interviewed, according to a source familiar with the search process.

The new search committee, which includes only New York Giants owner Wellington Mara and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt from the original group, is striving for a balanced approach that will avoid some of the polarization that occurred at the owners meeting more than two weeks ago in Chicago. The current mood of conciliation between the old-guard owners and the 11 dissidents who abstained from the original vote on Finks came about because Hugh Culverhouse Jr., the son of the Tampa Bay Bucs’ owner, was so extreme in expressing views that struck some as coming out of left field that he embarrassed many of the 10 other dissident owners.

Finks remains the favorite, but one of the dissident owners said his election by no means is assured. Although Jack Kemp, Housing and Urban Development Secretary, has indicated to the committee that he is out of the running, he still remains a strong candidate in the minds of several of the dissident owners.

Around the League

Anthony Carter, the Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowl wide receiver who is scheduled to make $400,000 this season, is holding out for a raise to the $1-million level, but the Vikings are believed to have offered closer to $600,000. Carter’s Boston-based agent, Bob Woolf, said: “Everyone I’ve spoken to has (Carter) ranked in at least the top five receivers, and most have him in the top two with Jerry Rice. Yet, the Vikings’ computer ranks him the 22nd-best receiver in the league.” ... Phoenix Cardinals quarterback Neil Lomax, who was expected to announce his retirement, has changed his mind and will instead try to play despite degenerative arthritis in his left hip ... San Diego Chargers defensive end Leslie O’Neal appears to be fully recovered from left knee surgery last season. O’Neal and Pro Bowl defensive end Lee Williams destroyed the Cowboys’ offensive line in drills at Thousand Oaks, Calif., last week ... Rookie defensive end Alex Stewart, a former Long Island, N.Y., resident, is running even with second-year player Al Noga for a starting job with the Vikings ... Switzer, who coached Troy Aikman at OU before he transferred to UCLA, said: “Troy will be a great player. He and John Elway have the same type of ability. He ran a 4.65 40-yard dash for us. (Randall) Cunningham is probably the only faster quarterback in the NFL.”