Barry Switzer on Winning Super Bowl, National Championships

Barry Switzer joined Jeff Thurn on Tuesday's edition of Overtime on ESPN 99.1.

Switzer, active in football from 1962 until 1997, has one of the highest winning percentages among college coaches.  He is one of only 2 coaches - the other being Jimmy Johnson - to win both a national championship (Oklahoma) and a Super Bowl (Dallas Cowboys).

With the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks set to square off in Sunday's Super Bowl, Switzer was asked if he had confidence when his Cowboys took on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.

Sure I did. I had a good football team. I thought we were the best, and we were favored. The opponent we were playing, we had already beaten three times when I was coaching the Cowboys. I think that proves we were consistently better, and so, going into the ballgame we felt pretty good about it. We played well, had great weather, we were playing in Tempe, Arizona where you like to play a game on New Year's, and the fact it was 18 years ago on the 28th of January, we won the Super Bowl in Tempe Stadium against the Steelers. Preparation was great, we had two weeks to practice there, we were healthy, and thought we would win the football game. You never take it for granted. You go and play it, and play it hard, hopefully minimize mistakes and usually that determines who wins. We made a few that day, and overcame them. They made some, and we capitalized.

Of course, before he even joined the Cowboys, Switzer had already reached the pinnacle of college football three times, taking home national championships with the University of Oklahoma Sooners in 1974, 1975 and 1985. For Switzer, college was a "different mission" than the pros.

Super Bowl is the biggest stage in sports, there's no game bigger than that. More attention, more people see it, more build-up to it, it's best of the best playing the best and I think it is the biggest sporting in sports. Some soccer players in Brazil may argue with you. But, college is a different mission. High school and college coaches have kids for four or five years, and preparing them for next 40-50 years of living and hoping we win some football games along the way. But, one-percent of our guys even have a chance of going to play in the NFL. We recruit hundreds of them, and it's a different deal. We have them four or five years, 365, 24/7, and in pro football, you may have them two or three days before you put them on the waiver wire before you ever see them for the rest of your life. So, it's a totally different situation.

To hear more of Barry Switzer's interview with ESPN 99.1's Jeff Thurn, listen below: