Michael Irvin Finally Reveals Truth Behind Jimmy Johnson-Jerry Jones Feud That Cost Cowboys Multiple Super Bowls

One peculiar day in 1994, a group of friends were sitting at a table with the Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson. They were all ex-employees of the team, and a couple of them had been fired by Jerry Jones. But when the team owner wandered to their table at an NFL social function in Orlando and raised a glass to toast… no one really responded, except for Johnson’s half-hearted acknowledgment. That gesture confirmed it all. Jones knew people didn’t show him the respect he deserved. Not even his own employees.

The only exception was people lauding his decision to hire Johnson a couple of years ago. But the two men, who were football teammates at Arkansas, soon had money and ego clashes. Perhaps it was always there. But matters worsened when the coach shared he wanted to explore the expansion team in Jacksonville. Jones felt wronged. After all, he was paying Johnson $1 million a year and expected profound loyalty in return. The distance between them grew, and Jerry Jones was almost certain that the group in Orlando was also now laughing at him.

That outraged him, and soon, he began telling reporters he should fire the coach and that Johnson’s rival, Barry Switzer, would be a good replacement. After more back and forth filled with clashes, Jones handed his former friend a $2 million severance offer so that he could coach elsewhere. But if you’d ask former Cowboys player Michael Irvin about their feud, he believes the coach deserved more than what he got. In his latest YouTube video, he stated, “Jimmy was maniacal about winning football games. And then the truth of it is, I think when you’re back-to-back champion, I don’t know what Jimmy was getting paid and all of those things. But I’m pretty sure he was being paid below what he deserves. That’s all I’m going to say.

“And since this video is titled back to back, the great glory of the story is the back to back. But for me, the great pain: could have won four or five straight [Super Bowls].” For Irvin, the memory carries both pride and pain. Pride, because Dallas had reached the pinnacle of football with a roster built to dominate. Pain, because he is convinced the Cowboys left championships on the table. His words echo the disappointment of players who felt the dynasty slipping away, not from lack of talent, but from a broken relationship between two men at the top. But what happened post that?

Well, fans witnessed Barry Switzer sitting next to Jones at a couple of press conferences. He was excited. He made people laugh. He was not Jimmy Johnson. But owing to his Arkansas connection, the hiring made sense.

The Jones-Johnson tiff went on for decades. And it wasn’t until the end of 2023 that Jones announced Johnson would be inducted into their Ring of Honor. “Well, let me just say how appreciative I am of Jerry, and of this. I’m appreciative of the Ring of Honor, but more appreciative of him bringing me to the Cowboys in 1989,” the former Cowboys coach said that year, and his former boss was right there to congratulate him.