I think you mean got older and older.. And how could a team that won the Super Bowl , '95, be "worse" than a team that didn't.. '94.. The fact that you include Larry Brown on that list of great players tells me you were either very young back then or you are very old right now.. Brown does not belong on that list.. He caught two gift wrapped interceptions in a Super Bowl.. other than that he was the guy who got picked on opposite Kevin Smith and then Deion. He was not a bad player by any stretch but putting him in that class is being overly generous. But back to the teams Switzer coached.. They got old.. Emmitt played two seasons with bone spurs in his ankles.. Big E had the infamous car accident from which he never fully recovered. Haley's back caused him to have to hang 'em up. Same with Novacek who they never replaced. Nate got old.. Tooey got old.. Stepnoski went to the Titans.. Moose's neck sent him into retiremen.. As did Irvin's. Holding Switzer responsible for the ravages for Father Time (and free agency) simply is unfair.. not to mention in accurate.
I don't know why you have to attack my age but your attack of my age makes your incredible argument even less credible.
1. Moose and Irvin was injured after Barry Switzer left. 98 for Moose and 99 for Irvin.
2. I didn't hold Switzer responsible for father time, so I'm not sure where you came up with that. Your argument is faulty at best. You're saying that age and retirement ravaged the team. Well they won in '95, 96 they lost to an 2nd year expansion team in the divisional round of the playoffs. 97 the team quit on Switzer and they didn't make the playoffs. There was not a lot of turnover from that '96 team to the 97 team. The only 2 starters I can think of that left were Larry Brown and Russell Maryland. They left after the '95 season. You already spent much time discussing how Larry Brown was a non factor and Russell was an above average starter. In this time period Larry Allen was coming into his own and they still had Nate Newton, Big E, Tooey, Emmitt Smith, Moose, Irvin, Williams, and of coarse Aikman. Not a lot of turnover from that '96 team. You're not going to convince me that Jay Novacek was the key cog in our offense. Also Kevin Smith was healthy, prime Darren Woodson, Deion Sanders in his prime. That's a pretty talented defense to go along with that offense. So for anyone counting you got Aikman, Irvin, Allen, Deion, Emmitt. 5 HOFers in the prime of their careers. Darren Woodson, HOF candidate, Tolbert, K. Smith, Lett, all above average starters. How did Switzer do a good job in '96 and '97 with this talent? Oh right, they were all injured, sorry my dementia from old age is kicking in. Well doesn't a good coach figure out ways to coach up the rest of the team that isn't injured. So every HOFer from that team was injured at the exact same time. If you have one or two HOfer's on your team, even if they're a little nicked up you have a good squad. Especially if one of those is a first ballot HOFer at QB. Those are pretty rare. Switzer had 5 and Woodson will make it 6 when he is inducted. 6 HOFer's on one team.
3. Not to quote Mickey Spags but if Switzer was such a great coach why didn't anyone try to sign him when Jerry fired him? Why hasn't any team tried to talk him out of retirement? Other great coaches were talked out of retirement, such as Parcells, Gibbs, Vermeil, Gruden, etc. If he's so great why is he available?
I have nothing against Switzer as a person but he was not a good NFL coach. He inherited a porsche from Jimmy Johnson and he didn't do any upkeep on the porsche and that porsche turned into a rusty old car that quit on the side of the road. Good coaches don't let that happen in a span of 2 seasons. Good guy but not a great coach.
