Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Just watched the Troy Aikman episode last night. Was pretty interesting. One thing that surprised me though was how openly critical he seemed to be of Barry Switzer. I knew he was frustrated with Barry's coaching style but I didn't realize he was out there on the sidelines during games just blasting the guy. Have any of you guys ever seen that clip before where he was out there just calling out Switzer during a game because that is the first I have ever seen it. I assume that took place during the '97 season when the team really started to unravel.

I'm not much into biographies myself (much more of a fiction reader) but for those that are big on reading biographies has he talked about having such disdain for Switzer before in the books?

Almost came out of retirement early-'00s to play for Dolphins, fittingly under Wanny (and OC Norv)...

http://thelandryhat.com/2016/12/03/troy ... -dolphins/


As for his rift with Switzer, just imagine how even bigger things could have blown-up had my Steelers took SBXXX! My guess is Switzer would have been fired with or without Troy's strong urging to Jerry.

lastcat3 wrote:has he talked about having such disdain for Switzer before in the books?

It might date back to when both were at Oklahoma, when Switzer made a big point of switching to a pro-style offense to accommodate Aikman. Once Aikman got hurt, Switzer switched back immediately to the wishbone and won the national title. That left Aikman few options other than to transfer to UCLA.

Jim Dent covered it in his book on Jerry Jones, which was published after the 1994 season. Skip Bayless took it further in his book a year later.

Switzer came to watch Aikman work out, and was so impressed he offered a scholarship on the spot, promising to revamp the offense. It was hardly a pro style attack, and after Aikman was injured, against Jimmy Johnson's Miami Hurricanes, the offense reverted back to full blown wishbone. Oklahoma went on to win the national title that year. When Aikman told Switzer he wanted to transfer and gave him a list of schools, Switzer personally called UCLA coach Terry Donahue. There was no animosity then.

But Aikman, who thrived on order and discipline, disliked Switzer's laid back ways when he became the Dallas coach. The relationship grew frostier. Kevin Williams was constantly screwing up a particular route in practice (something that would never have been allowed under Jimmy Johnson, or in Norv Turner's offense) and Aikman finally unloaded on him, cursing him out either on the sidelines or during a practice. Assistant coach John Blake, a Switzer loyalist, told some reporters that Aikman was harder on black teammates than white ones. (A number of black teammates defended Aikman.) Others in the Switzer camp spread rumors the QB was gay. (Bayless wrote about the allegations in his book, earning himself a place on the same page as Switzer in Aikman's book. Bayless defended himself by pointing out he never said the QB was gay; he simply wrote about the allegations that had come from the Switzer camp, believing that reflected on the relationship between coach and QB. However, Bayless devoted most of a chapter to Aikman's sexuality, and many other journalists criticized Bayless' journalistic ethics.)