COWBOYS VS. COWHER BOYS\Coaches' touches vary dramatically.

Byline: Curt Sylvester Detroit Free Press 

If Barry Switzer is - as some have said - the hood ornament on the Dallas Cowboys' drive to Super Bowl XXX, then Bill Cowher has to be the bus driver for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That's how different are the two men who will be facing each other from across the field when the high-flying, high-profile Cowboys meet the down-and-dirty, blue-collar Steelers for the NFL's grand prize today in Sun Devil Stadium.

On the Cowboys' sideline you have Switzer, described by Jim Dent in his book "King of the Cowboys, The Life and Times of Jerry Jones," as sometimes appearing to be "nothing more than a spectator wearing a headset."

He came out of a five-year coaching retirement to take over the Cowboys in 1994 after Jones decided two-time Super Bowl winner Jimmy Johnson had become too power-hungry and fired him. Switzer's style is to delegate authority, let his staff work, and grimly take the heat of criticism from frenzied fans and media when things go wrong.

"I never thought I'd coach in professional football," said Switzer, who coached 16 years and won three national championships at Oklahoma. "I wasn't in that fraternity, I wasn't in that family. That's what it is - networking, politics.

"But I said this: If it ever happened it would be the Dallas Cowboys. Why? Because I knew Jerry Jones. That's why Jimmy got there, that's why I got there. It's because we happen to know a guy that's wealthy enough to buy a professional football team."

And on the Steelers' side of the field you have Cowher, intensely focused on the game, animated in headset conversations with assistants in the press box or instructing a player on the sideline.

He grew up in the Pittsburgh area watching guys like John Henry Johnson and "Cannonball" Butler take their whippings in the 1960s, grew proud when Terry Bradshaw, Joe Greene and Jack Lambert led the Steelers to four Super Bowls titles in the 1970s, and jumped at the chance to coach the team four years ago.

Cowher's style is hands-on. He worked his way up as an NFL player, assistant coach and coordinator and, at 38, he is still convincing to the younger players when he preaches the western Pennsylvania blue-collar work ethic.

"You look at how we like to play the game," Cowher said. "And our identity is such that we believe in playing the game for 60 minutes, not overreacting to situations but responding to them. It has kind of typified our football for the last three months and however you want to label that, so be it."

Cowher's coaching style is straight-from-the-shoulder or straight-from-the-heart, depending on the situation. But whatever it is, he doesn't soft-pedal his thoughts or his feelings. He wears his emotions on his sleeve; he teared up after the Steelers' 20-16 victory over Indianapolis in the AFC title game.

"I think that's Bill's style," guard Tom Newberry said. "He tells us come Sunday you have to have the assignments behind you, you have to know the other player, and then you've got to go out and play with emotion.

"He tells exactly how it is, you always know what he's thinking. We prepare during the week and when it comes to Saturday night or whenever he comes up and talks for the last time, he tells us to just let it go: 'Go play, have fun.'

"His whole thing this week is, 'Prepare but relax, don't get uptight. When the game comes you'll know what to do because you're prepared. Then just let it go.' He wants you to play with emotion, he wants you to play fast and he wants you to play physical."

Whereas the Steelers are a direct reflection of Cowher, the Cowboys show little if any reflection of Switzer. And there is no reason they should. They are still basically a team put together by Johnson and Jones, a collection of big-play artists who generally rise to their greatest heights in the biggest games.

In the first season under Switzer, they went 12-4 but were bounced out of the playoffs on the road against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game.

They did better this season. Despite being beaten badly by the 49ers - again in Texas Stadium - and upset twice by the Washington Redskins during the regular season, they are back in the Super Bowl, hoping to take home the Lombardi Trophy for the third time in four years.

Even after his two years as a lightning rod for criticism from the Dallas fans and media, however, Switzer's impact on the team seems uncertain. His two most notable collisions with the Cowboys' destiny have been forgettable.

In the NFC title game a year ago, his bad decision gave Steve Young just enough time to complete a touchdown pass to Jerry Rice in the closing seconds of the first half, and later his 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty stopped a late-game rally.

And in a loss to Philadelphia late this season, he twice called for a running play on fourth-and-a-foot situations that failed, giving the Eagles the opportunity they needed to kick the winning field goal.

For those and other less-glaring decisions, he has taken a heap of the four-letter word that wide receiver Michael Irvin articulated so clearly on national television after the Cowboys' 38-27 victory over Green Bay in the NFC title game. But Switzer says he doesn't mind.

"You'll always have your critics," he said. "And I've always been one of those that said vindication or redemption is not part of me. If I could win every one of 'em it might be, but I'm smart enough to know you can't win 'em all.

"They can sit back and take their shots when they want to. They've pulled back in right now but they don't have a won-lost record, there are no consequences for them. They'll sit there and be ready to reload and fire when it's time to fire."

For whatever reasons - loyalty, team unity or honest conviction - most Cowboys defend Switzer.

"One thing about Coach Switzer," defensive tackle Russell Maryland said, "he really held up strong. With all the pressure that was coming down, he was like a rock. He was the same guy.

"As he puts it, he's the bootlegger's boy. He's been through a lot in his past and he wasn't going to let anybody second-guessing him worry him, because he's been through a lot worse."

He's just one win away from having it a lot better, though, one win away from decorating the hood of the hottest team in football.

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Photo (1) Barry Switzer has received more criticism than acclaim in his short stint in Dallas. (2) Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher has shaped the Steelers in his hard-edged image. Associated Press