Jimmy Johnson says Barry Switzer doesn't owe him a ring

Is Barry Switzer wearing Jimmy Johnson's Super Bowl ring?

For years many fans have asserted that Jimmy Johnson should be credited with coaching the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles: the two he won while with the team and the Super Bowl XXX champion coached by Switzer.

Johnson told the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday that Switzer doesn't owe him a Super Bowl ring.

"No, no," Johnson said. "Really. He coached that team."

After winning Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII, Johnson left the Cowboys when a rift developed between himself and owner Jerry Jones.

Switzer was hired to replace him and coached the Cowboys, virtually intact from when Johnson coached them, to a win over the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX. Switzer, who was out of coaching at the time he was hired, was a college coaching legend but had no prior NFL experience.

"The great line that Barry has, he said, 'Everybody talks about you won with Jimmy's players and Jimmy's coaches,' because it was the entire assistant coaches that I had there.

"He said, 'But I could've lost with them, too.'"

Well, Switzer did preside over the loss to the 49ers in the NFC Championship game, which cost the Cowboys a chance to win an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl.

But as for winning Super Bowl XXX, Johnson said he's never been concerned with getting credit for the achievements of his successors.

"If that's the case, you know I built the team at Oklahoma State and they won 11 games with Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders," Johnson said. "I built the team at University of Miami and Dennis Erickson was able to win a national championship. So every place I went, whoever followed me got a ring."

Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire