The Dallas Cowboys completed the 2026 NFL draft by adding seven new players last weekend, and with the roster coming into focus, they are now moving on to the workout portion of the offseason program. That program–voluntary at this point–began on Monday and does not include the team’s rookies. There will be a rookie minicamp late this week, and there will be an interesting and familiar name on the docket: Zach Switzer, a 5-foot-11 running back from Presbyterian who happens to be the grandson of former Cowboys coach Barry Switzer.
That news comes from Aaron Wilson of KPRC in Houston, who wrote on Twitter/X: “Dallas #Cowboys have invited Presbyterian college running back Zach Switzer to participate in rookie minicamp on a tryout basis. He is the grandson of former Cowboys head coach and Hall of Fame college coach Barry Switzer.”
Switzer is the last coach to win a championship with the Cowboys, in 1996, after he took over for Jimmy Johnson, who had left the team amid continuing conflicts with owner Jerry Jones Switzer also oversaw the fall of the Cowboys’ dynasty, as they went 6-10 two years after that final championship.
Zach Switzer a Reminder of Glory Days
Still, having Zach Switzer in Cowboys camp, for however long it lasts, will be a fun story and a throwback to the team’s glory days. He started his career at Memphis but transferred to Presbyterian in 2023.
Soon after, according to the school’s website, Switzer earned, “All-PFL First Team status as a return specialist while calculating 1,250 all-purpose yards. … That’s the most by a Presbyterian player since 2017 and the 4th-most in a sole season since the school joined the Division I ranks nearly two decades ago.”
He ran for 838 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games this season, and also caught 31 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns this season. He returned 17 kickoffs for an average of 19.7 yards.
Cowboys a Contender? Depends on Defense
As for the Cowboys, reminders of the last Super Bowl win, which came after the 1995 season, are probably going to get more and more prominent in the coming months, as the hype train starts chugging around this team. Dallas has improved its defense with at least three new starters, including star safety and No. 11 overall pick Caleb Downs, and possibly as many as six new starters depending on how camp battles shake out.
If the defense, under new coordinator Christian Parker, can get something close to league average, or even slightly above that, then the Cowboys will be in a position to contend, providing the offense stays healthy.
GettyDallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
Jerry Jones Not Sweating Cowboys Drought
As for the 30-year Super Bowl drought that started with Switzer and the decline of the “triplets” era, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said that as much as he wants to win, he does not look at the team’s failures in that context.
“I haven’t been living like it was a 30-year drought,” Jones said. “It’s been each year, the opportunity. You would like to have done better, but we’ve done some good things around here that when I go to sleep at night, I can hang my hat on that were good things over this last 30 years.
“In other disciplines, it isn’t failure to be second or third or fourth. It is in the NFL.”
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