“Jones Turns Dallas Into Switzer-Land.” Los Angeles Times published the headline after Jimmy Johnson left the Dallas Cowboys following back-to-back Super Bowl wins and his well-documented conflict with owner and general manager Jerry Jones. Just a day after Johnson’s departure, Jones hired Barry Switzer, his freshman football coach at the University of Arkansas.

Stepping into Johnson’s shoes was no simple task. Switzer arrived in the NFL after winning three national championships at Oklahoma, and there’s no denying he had the pedigree to lead the Cowboys. Still, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the team Switzer inherited was largely built by Johnson. Legendary broadcaster Dale Hansen recently revisited Switzer’s tenure in Dallas and addressed exactly that.

“At the practice facility, you said to me, ‘Hey, Hansen, you’re gonna love this guy.’ I said, ‘No, I know I’m gonna love the guy because he was the craziest head coach I’d ever known in my life when he was at Oklahoma.’ Now, obviously, it went off the rails rather quickly, but it went off the rails because I still think that you’re right,” said Hansen. “The assistant coaches saved him. I’ll go to my grave arguing this. Yes, he won a Super Bowl. But a friend of mine once said ‘My mom could have won that Super Bowl with those assistant coaches.'”

Right after the Cowboys hired Switzer, the head coach retained Johnson’s existing coaching staff. Dallas already had Ernie Zampese as offensive coordinator and Butch Davis as defensive coordinator. At the same time, the staff also included future NFL head coaches Dave Campo and Mike Zimmer, among others. Switzer, meanwhile, knew what he was stepping into.

“It’s the greatest coaching staff in the NFL,” he said at that time. “I competed against some of them. I just ask them to give me a chance. Just let me garner their respect.”

The Cowboys’ 1994 season was successful. The team went 12-4 and finished first in the NFC East. They scored 414 points, the second-most in the league, while allowing just 248 points, the third-fewest in the league. Dallas then reached the NFC Championship Game before losing to the San Francisco 49ers.

By the 1995 season, however, Barry Switzer had become a Super Bowl-winning head coach in just his second NFL season. Dallas went 12-4 again and defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX to win their third title in four years. But the roster still featured the core that had powered Johnson’s championship teams.

We’re talking about Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Larry Allen, Nate Newton, Charles Haley, and Darren Woodson. Of course, overlooking Barry Switzer’s efforts in the Cowboys’ Super Bowl campaign can be subjective. Still, it won’t be wrong to say that the head coach inherited both an elite roster and a largely established coaching operation rather than constructing a Super Bowl team.