Barry Switzer
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| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
October 5, 1937 Crossett, Arkansas |
| Playing career | |
| 1956–1960 | Arkansas |
| Position(s) | Center, linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1961–1965 | Arkansas (RB) |
| 1966–1972 | Oklahoma (OC) |
| 1973–1988 | Oklahoma |
| 1994–1997 | Dallas Cowboys |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 157–29–4 (college) 40–24 (NFL regular season) 5–2 (NFL playoffs) |
| Bowls | 8–5 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
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Super Bowl XXX 3 National (1974–1975, 1985) 12 Big Eight (1973–1980, 1984–1987) |
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| Awards | |
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Sporting News College Football COY (1973) Walter Camp Coach of the Year (1974) |
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College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2001 (profile) |
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Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football player and coach. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has one of the highest winning percentages of any college football coach in history, and is one of only three head coaches to win both a college football national championship and a Super Bowl, (the others being Jimmy Johnson and Pete Carroll).
Barry Switzer was born in Crossett, Arkansas, to parents Frank Mays Switzer and Mary Louise Switzer. Barry and his younger brother, Donnie, were at home in rural Ashley County, Arkansas with their mother and father when, in early February 1954, their home was raided by the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission and the Arkansas State Police. The Commission and the State Police found untaxed contraband liquor in the home. Frank made bond but was later tried and convicted of illegal trafficking in alcohol for purposes of re-sale ("bootlegging"). He was sentenced to a term of five years in prison, but that conviction was reversed upon appeal. Frank did serve five months of that term, and, as a result, missed seeing Barry play his senior season of high school football.
Barry and his brother Donnie were at home with their mother when on August 26, 1959, she took her life by her own hand with a .38 caliber pistol on the back porch of their home. On November 16, 1972, after Barry and his brother had each commenced their professional careers, in Norman, OK, and Nashville, TN, respectively, their father was murdered by a jealous lover.
Barry accepted an athletic scholarship and played football at the University of Arkansas, where he joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon. During his senior season of 1959 (with a post-season game on January 1, 1960 against Georgia Tech) he was one of the Razorbacks' "Tri-Captains." After graduation, he did a brief stint in the U.S. Army and then returned to Arkansas as an assistant coach.
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