The top 3 coaches in Dallas Cowboys history
The storied franchise of the Dallas Cowboys first started back in 1960, when their first coach in team history, Tom Landry, was hired. Now in 2022, America’s Team has had nine different coaches. For this article, I am going to rank the top three coaches in Cowboys history based on their overall success with the organization. There have been some excellent leaders in the last 60 years and some not-so-great ones that we wish never came to the team.
The criteria I used to rank these coaches included wins, and most importantly, postseason success. The lack of postseason success from the coaches these past two decades should not take away from what the best coaches in this organization’s history have accomplished.
The top three coaches in Dallas Cowboys history
3. Barry Switzer (1994-1997)
Taking over a team that just won a Super Bowl the year prior is no easy task. That is exactly what Switzer had in front of him when he took the reigns in 1994. The expectations were already sky-high for the team, there was a star-studded roster in place but how would they respond to Switzer as their new coach?
On the football field, the transition was seamless. In that 1994 season, Switzer had the Cowboys back in the NFC Championship game, where they sadly lost to San Francisco. Then in 1995, he led Dallas to their third Super Bowl title in four years.
In his four seasons with the Cowboys, the team won the NFC East three times and Dallas was 5-2 in playoff games. While his time in Dallas was not long, it was impactful. After a disappointing 1997 season, where the team went 6-10. Switzer resigned as the Cowboys’ head coach.
The triplets of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin were all on the back end of their careers, and the team was soon due for a total overhaul which came over the next few years. Since the departure of Switzer, the Cowboys have yet to make it back to an NFC Championship game. Let’s hope that changes in 2022.