The Cowboys' Johnson Rides Off Into Sunset : Pro football: Coach parts with Jones and is said to get $3.9 million, freedom to join another team as part of settlement.

By MARK HEISLER

March 30, 1994 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

DALLAS — The snit heard ‘round Texas claimed half of the Cowboy hierarchy when Coach Jimmy Johnson, architect of consecutive Super Bowl championships, walked away from the job and his old college roommate, team owner Jerry Jones.

Jones has now fired Tom Landry and lost Johnson, the local equivalent of pulling two heads off of Mt. Rushmore.

Johnson was given a fat settlement--reportedly $3.9 million--and can coach another team, all concessions from Jones. Johnson’s contract, which had five years left, called for no compensation if he quit and barred him from working elsewhere.

Johnson then appeared at a news conference with Jones to assert that their most recent rift and Jones’ barroom derision of his coach last week hadn’t broken them up, all of which produced laughter.

“There shouldn’t be any blame,” Johnson said. “I mean, why should you be blaming when you’ve got two Super Bowl championships in the last two years? Why should you be blaming when you’ve got the best football team in the NFL?

“You should be very appreciative of where you are and look forward to the success of the coming year. There’s no blame. It’s just a matter of, we’ve gone through a little transition here.”

The room erupted in laughter.

“Maybe it’s a big transition,” Johnson said, smiling.

When Jones bought the team and sacked Landry in 1989, he presented Johnson, his teammate on Arkansas’ 1964 national championship team, as his old friend and college roommate. By the 1992 season, when they won their first Super Bowl, their rift had become an open secret in Dallas.

The publication of Skip Bayless’ “The ‘Boys” last summer let the secret out. Jones, who had given himself the title of general manager, wanted to be accepted as a football man. Johnson didn’t want to give him any credit as such, or yield any control. Jones claimed he had pulled the trigger on the Charles Haley deal. Johnson said Jones wouldn’t know Charles Haley from Alex Haley.

And that business about their being roommates? Johnson said room assignments for Arkansas trips were made alphabetically, denying that they had ever been buddies.

Insiders expected trouble down the line, but Johnson and Jones got there faster than expected.

The ’93 season began with Jones and star halfback Emmitt Smith in a contract impasse. Smith held out for two games and the Cowboys started 0-2. After the second loss, to Buffalo, Johnson was almost in tears.

Jones caved in, Smith returned and the Cowboys righted themselves, but the rift began to show itself.

Shortly before the NFC championship game against the 49ers, Johnson said he was “intrigued” by the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars’ interest in him.

The next day, Jones said any change would be up to him.

“I have no intention of making a coaching change,” he added. “To have this as an issue is a joke.”

At the Super Bowl, Johnson, asked about his relationship with Jones, said they only spoke about once a week.

After winning the Super Bowl and embracing Jones on the sideline, Johnson appeared on David Letterman’s show. He joked that the team had been given $60,000 for a Super Bowl party and Jones had pocketed $20,000. Jones, who wasn’t laughing at much of what Johnson said, told confidantes he was upset.

Late last Monday night at the NFL meetings in Orlando, Jones walked up to a table where Johnson was having cocktails with former Cowboy defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt, former offensive coordinator Norv Turner, and former assistant general manager Bob Ackles and toasted their contributions to the team’s success. No one asked Jones to sit down, and he left angry.

Said Jones later: “I was upset with the toast, and I left.”

He went to another bar where he told four writers and several bystanders that he might replace Johnson with Barry Switzer, the former Oklahoma coach, adding that 500 coaches would have won the Super Bowl with his team.

Johnson heard about Jones’ comments and bolted the meetings the next day, telling the Dallas Morning News he wanted to “reassess things.”

Two days later, Jones telephoned Johnson. Jones said they had a productive talk.

Johnson’s version: “Nothing was resolved. I hung up on him.”

Emmitt Smith rallied behind his coach.

“I don’t care what the situation is,” Smith said. “Fire Jimmy, fire me.”

Quarterback Troy Aikman, who was upset with Jones when negotiations for a contract extension dragged on last season, rallied behind his coach.

“If I could have anticipated something like this happening, I would have been hesitant about signing a long-term contract with the Cowboys,” he said.

Jones said he had a mental list of replacements for Johnson: Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz (considered the favorite), Cowboy defensive coordinator Butch Davis and Switzer.

Switzer told the Daily Oklahoman on Tuesday: “If I was offered the job, I probably would accept it. But it’s too premature to talk about anything that would affect that opportunity.”

Johnson returned to Dallas on Saturday and let three Morning News writers come to his home.

Johnson said that Jones, who had once ensured him he had complete control, now wanted a different setup and tried to put it into writing when he doubled Johnson’s salary last summer.

“He told me in all honesty, things have changed,” Johnson said. “He said he wanted to be more a part of it. He said, ‘I want it to be Jerry and Jimmy . . . not just Jimmy.’ From that time on, it’s always been a problem.”

The Dallas media pelted Jones, calling him “a card-carrying Jethro” and “insecure and unstable.” He was likened to George Steinbrenner and nicknamed Jerry (Last Call) Jones.

Monday, Johnson returned to his office in the Cowboy practice facility in Valley Ranch for his long-awaited confrontation with Jones. Reporters and camera crews clogged the halls.

“It’s like the Branch Davidians, day one,” a Cowboy official told the Morning News.

Johnson was seen leaving with his dry cleaning over his shoulder, precipitating a rumor he was cleaning out his office. Everyone ran to the parking lot. Johnson said he was going to lunch.

At 2:05, Jones sent for Johnson. At 4:30, the meeting broke up. Both men used words like productive and candid and avoided insulting one another, suggesting they were trying to patch it up.

They met again Tuesday morning for an hour. Afterward, Johnson steamed through a crowd of minicams without comment, wearing a stony expression.

At 1:30, a formal news conference was convened. Johnson and Jones said they had settled their differences, made up--and decided to part company.

“We talked about what Jerry did not like about me and liked about me,” Johnson said. “And what I liked about him and didn’t like about him, just back and forth. It was as good a conversation as we have ever had. And this morning we went back and forth over different things we might do.

“And almost at the same time, we said, ‘Hey, it’s time.’ ”

Said Jones: “We have mutually agreed that if we don’t look out, we’ll take one of the greatest stories that’s ever been told in sports in my view and we’ll take all of the positives away. There are no negatives when you really look at it.”

Jones said he would ask Johnson for advice.

Johnson said that he would be always be a Cowboy, he simply wouldn’t be on the payroll.

“It’s unfortunate, there’s no question about that,” Aikman said. “All the players would have liked to see Jimmy stay.”

Jones, pilloried for a year after firing Landry, who hadn’t won a title in 11 years, faces worse for the departure of Johnson.

“I would just like to go back to 1989,” Jones said. “We have, I think, more fans today than in 1989. . . . I think in 1989, they had a reason to be concerned, to be skeptical. I would hope after the success we’ve had over the last five years, that might temper it some.”

Don’t count on it.

Conquering and Dividing

A look at key events in the relationship between Dallas owner Jerry Jones and Coach Jimmy Johnson, who parted ways Tuesday after leading the Cowboys to consecutive Super Bowl championships:

* Feb. 25, 1989--Jones purchases the Cowboys and Texas Stadium from H.R. (Bum) Bright for $140 million and hires Johnson to become the second head coach in franchise history, replacing two-time Super Bowl winner Tom Landry. At his first news conference, Jones proclaims Johnson is worth five first-round draft choices and five Heisman Trophy winners.

* April 6, 1989--Jones gives Johnson a guaranteed 10-year contract, citing the need for commitment and continuity in rebuilding the franchise.

* Nov. 5, 1989--The Cowboys defeat Washington in a nationally televised game, Johnson’s first NFL victory. It is the Cowboys’ only victory of the season.

* Dec. 15, 1991--The Cowboys defeat Philadelphia to clinch their first playoff berth under Jones and Johnson.

* Dec. 21, 1992--Jones and Johnson celebrate their first NFC East championship as the Cowboys beat the Atlanta Falcons, 41-17.

* Dec. 27, 1992--Johnson becomes upset with Jones when the owner makes an appearance on the Texas Stadium sideline with Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia in the third quarter of the team’s 27-14 victory over the Chicago Bears.

* Jan. 31, 1993--The Cowboys, playing in their first Super Bowl in 15 years, defeat the Buffalo Bills, 52-17.

* Dec. 30, 1993--Johnson says he would be “intrigued” if he were offered the chance to become the first coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The comments come as the Cowboys prepare for their NFC East championship showdown against the New York Giants.

* Dec. 31, 1993--Jones strongly rebukes Johnson’s interest in working for another team.

* Jan. 30, 1994--Jones and Johnson share the Lombardi Trophy and the Super Bowl championship credit after the Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills, 30-13.

* Feb. 1--In an appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman,” Johnson jokes that the Cowboys were provided $60,000 for a post-Super Bowl party, and that Jones pocketed $20,000 of it.

* March 21--Jones toasts the success of the Cowboys at the NFL meetings in Orlando, Fla. Johnson reciprocates, but does not invite Jones to sit at his table.

* March 22--Jones, in an early morning off-the-record barroom conversation with four reporters, suggests he might hire former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer to lead the Cowboys.

Johnson says later he is reconsidering his future with the Super Bowl champions after learning that Jones threatened to fire him.

* March 23--Jones says there is nothing for Johnson to assess. He calls it merely another day in the life of the Dallas Cowboys. “He didn’t apologize to me and I didn’t apologize to him,” Jones says of his meeting with Johnson.

* March 25--Johnson, in seclusion in Miami, says in a statement: “I’m deeply hurt that after five years of total commitment to the rebuilding of the Cowboys and after two consecutive Super Bowl championships, I have been treated this way.” Johnson adds he would be back at work on Monday.

* March 26--Johnson speaks at Emmitt Smith’s football camp in Pensacola, Fla., then returns to Dallas. He says he would not resign from the Cowboys without a job or compensation. He again bristles at the off-the-record comments made by Jones.

* March 28--Jones and Johnson discuss their future.

* March 29--Johnson resigns as coach of the Cowboys.

JIMMY JOHNSON’S COACHING RECORD

REGULAR SEASON

Year W L T Pct. 1989 1 15 0 .063 1990* 7 9 0 .438 1991 11 5 0 .688 1992 13 3 0 .813 1993 12 4 0 .750 Totals 44 36 0 .550 Playoffs 7 1 0 .875 Overall 51 37 0 .580

*-AP Coach of the Year

POSTSEASON

* 1991--Won wild-card playoff against Chicago, 17-13; lost to Detroit, 38-6, in divisional playoff.

* 1992--Won divisional playoff against Philadelphia, 34-10; won conference championship against San Francisco, 30-20; won Super Bowl against Buffalo, 52-17.

* 1993--Won divisional playoff against Green Bay, 27-17; won conference championship against San Francisco, 38-21; won Super Bowl against Buffalo, 30-13.