FanHouse BarrySwitzer

What Bill Belichick did Sunday night has happened before. It justifiably earned Barry Switzer the nickname "Bozo The Coach'' for failing TWICE on fourth down in the late stages of a tie game. And the Eagles' Andy Reid did the opposite of the New England coach on Sunday, eschewing fourth-and-short twice to kick field goals in what turned out to be an eight-point loss.

Switzer's mistake didn't prevent Dallas from winning its third Super Bowl in four seasons in the early '90s, but it left Switzer at the top of the oft-debated list of worst coaches to win a title.

On Nov. 15, 1995, the Cowboys were playing in Philadelphia and faced a fourth down and 1 on their own 29 with the game tied 17-17 and just over two minutes left. Switzer decided to go for it and sent Emmitt Smith left over the massive Nate Newton.

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Former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer says he's moved on. He doesn't dwell on his decision that stunned Sooner nation and crippled the football program 20 years ago Thursday when he suddenly resigned.

OU was in a heap of trouble back then, with five players being arrested on various felony charges and the program had been slapped with three years of NCAA probation for recruiting violations. Who could forget a tearful Switzer admitting on June 19, 1989, that too much had transpired for him to continue on as the Sooners coach?

Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson, according to the Dallas Morning News, got on a BCS related conference call recently, and given that their area of expertise rolls squarely over into Dallas Cowboys territory, reporters were, naturally, curious as to their thoughts re: Coach Cupcake's return to Big D.

Johnson's answer -- despite possibly wanting to get some payback at Jerry Jones for earier remarks -- was pretty stock in terms of the 'Boys owner just not wanting to make changes. Switzer though, was a little less reserved, and called Tony Romo out for a few things.

They stink right now. Romo might be an overrated quarterback and gunslinger, throws the ball, takes too many chances, gambles. I just know that Jerry doesn't want to do that and he's certainly going to give it another year. I think every coach in pro football gets four years.

First off, as Bacon said, how awesome is it that, suddenly, the term "gunslinger" is considered an insult? Just a year or so ago, people were swooning over Romo's similarities to Brett Favre. But after his apparent [over]exposure in New York, we can freely call people g-slingers again with the intent of calling them reckless.

And secondly, Switzer is right -- the Cowboys do stink and Romo is probably overrated; so much is made of his ability to have big games but look at the freaking offense that's around him and then check out his December splits (hint: not good) and it's not that hard to figure out he might be getting more credit than he's due a lot of the time.

The Sooners are no strangers to the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. With six football cases in their file, it's no shock to find them near the top of this list. That said, prior to Bomar-gate Oklahoma had kept its nose clean for almost 20 years. Almost.

In incidents contained in the 1988 case report were touched off when the NCAA's Project Intercept picked up on some suspicious Sooner recruiting practices. Project Intercept was a program which interviewed top prospects in basketball and football, trying to catch violations of NCAA recruiting rules. For all intents and purposes, it was a fishing expedition... and during their fishing in 1985, the NCAA hooked a whopper.Sorry, No Photos

Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles is expected to step down this week. His departure is yet another symbol of the passing of one of college football's greatest generations, the great coaches who presided over the game from 1960 or so until the mid to late 1970's. Broyles coached the Razorbacks from 1958 to 1976 helping them win a championship and competing nationally in a great era against powers like Alabama, USC, Notre Dame and Michigan.

Another giant of his time has left us in the mortal sense: Bo Schembechler. Schembechler coached Michigan from 1969 to 1989 becoming the face of the program until his death just before the Michigan/Ohio State game last year.

The only giants of that era still with us are Broyles, former Texas coach Darrell Royal (1957-1976) and former Notre Dame coach Ara Paraseghian (1964-1974).

Among the magnificent but dead is Alabama's Bear Bryant (1958-1982) who retired at the end of the 1982 season and promptly checked out of mortal existence. Ohio State's Woody Hayes (1951-1978) hung around until his death in 1987. Nebraska's Bob Devaney (1962-1972) checked out in 1997 and USC's comedic John McKay (1960-1975) lasted a little longer, passing away in 2001.

All those giants left the coaching ranks long ago, but each stewarded elite programs for a decade or more. To this day most of them remain the standard for which current coaches aspire to at each of their programs. Schembechler's death and Broyles' departure signal the end of their collective direct involvement in the college game.

As that great generation fades further into memory we must now also begin to take stock of the succeeding generation of coaches. I'm talking about guys like Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno, Tom Osborne, John Robinson, Vince Dooley, Don James, Hayden Fry, Pat Dye, Lou Holtz, Lavell Edwards and Barry Switzer here.

They are the ones who were the game's caretakes from the mid to late 1970's until the late 1980's, an era of great transition and upheaval due to parity measures such as scholarship limits, the completion of racial integration and the rapid and dramatic death of plodding, run-heavy conventional offenses such as USC's "Student Body Right/Student Body Left" approach.

We'll save that analysis for another day, another time. Until then it's one final embrace of perhaps college football's "greatest generation" of coaches. Thanks for the memories, fellas.