January 27, 2000

Cowboys elevate defensive coordinator Dave Campo to head coach

By David Moore
The Dallas Morning News
(KRT)

IRVING, Texas — Over the last two weeks, owner Jerry Jones became convinced that the best way for the Cowboys to move forward was to cling to the strengths of their championship past.

Dave Campo has become an integral part of that plan.

About 3:30 Wednesday afternoon, Jones called Campo into his office to inform the 52-year-old career assistant that he would be the Cowboys' next head coach. Jones believes that Campo's energy, skill and ties to three Super Bowl titles will help invigorate a team that has fallen on mediocre times over the last three seasons.

“There was a common thread that developed as I talked to people,” said Jones, who never interviewed anyone outside the organization for the job. “All said Dave was smart, extremely talented and ready to be a head coach in the NFL.

“It was this morning when I recognized there was no need in trying to beat him out. There's no doubt in my mind that the best man to be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys was right here.”

Campo replaces Chan Gailey, who was fired earlier this month, and becomes just the fifth head coach in the club's 40-year history.

More moves will follow. Club officials confirmed that Jack Reilly, New England's quarterbacks coach, will be named Cowboys offensive coordinator next week. Mike Zimmer, the Cowboys' defensive backs coach, is expected to replace Campo as defensive coordinator.

Jones and Campo declined to discuss the impending moves during Wednesday's news conference. The focus was on Campo and his commitment to shift the focus back to what made the Cowboys the National Football League's best in the mid-1990s.

“My top priority is to develop that championship attitude back here again,” said Campo, who signed a five-year deal worth between $4.5 million and $5 million. “That is what I will attempt to accomplish immediately.”

Campo has worked his way up the Cowboys' ranks. He began as the team's secondary coach 11 years ago and was elevated to defensive coordinator in '95. Under his leadership, the Dallas defense has consistently met or exceeded expectations, finishing among the league's top three defenses twice.

Jones passed over Campo twice in the last six years in filling the position of head coach.

Jones said Campo and special teams coach Joe Avezzano were the only candidates he considered. Jones told Avezzano on Wednesday afternoon that he was going in another direction and offered the position to Campo a short time later.

“I think you work to try to be the best you can be,” Campo said. “That's something I've tried to do all my life: not worry about what obstacles are in front of me, but find a way to get through the obstacles.

“This is without a doubt the most exciting moment in my life.”

Campo concedes he wasn't sure what to expect when Jones called him into his office. He was touched that the owner was surrounded by members of his family and put his wife, Gene, on the speaker phone when he relayed the news.

“That's what it's all about,” Campo said. “Family.”

That's what it's all about with Jones. Gailey was not a member of the Cowboys family when he was hired nearly two years ago. Jones made the move hoping a fresh set of ideas would spark the franchise.

It didn't. The failure of the players to embrace Gailey's ideas helped convince Jones of the need for a familiar face. He believes the Cowboys' veteran nucleus, built around quarterback Troy Aikman and running back Emmitt Smith, has a limited window of opportunity to win another Super Bowl.

That window narrowed by two years during Gailey's tenure. Jones is driven by the sense that this group doesn't have many more years to waste. That's why he opted for the smoothest transition possible.

“It helps to have a guy who knows the players, who knows the system, who knows what we've been all about,” Aikman said of Campo. “He has tremendous respect within this organization.

“That loyalty is deserved. He earned the right to coach this team.”

Campo characterized his coaching style this way:

“I believe enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm,” he said. “That's the way I coach. When I go on the field, I'm excited.

“I believe in discipline. ... I pay attention to details. I feel everyone should be accountable for whatever they do.

“I truly believe you can motivate athletes.”

Campo's philosophy as defensive coordinator has been to get his players to chase the football, be aggressive and force the action. He and Jones are in agreement that the same approach is needed on offense.

“I want to attack,” said Campo, who will leave the play-calling to the offensive coordinator. “That's my philosophy. I want to be aggressive. I want to go for the jugular vein as many times as possible over the course of the football game.

“I feel I can walk into the offensive staff and say, `Hey, here are some areas that I feel we can attack on this football team. You find a way to get to those areas.' That's the approach I'm going to take.”

Campo also takes the approach that Jones' overpowering presence in the organization as owner and general manager is a plus, not a negative.
“One of the great advantages of this organization, in my opinion, is that there are no middlemen,” Campo said. “It's a very quick decision-making operation.

“We are going to make decisions that are best going to impact this football team. I felt that was one of the things I brought to the table. I'm comfortable with how Jerry works. There will be a working relationship between us. Not I or me. It's we and us.”

An us with links to the Cowboys' past.

“I understand the expectations and aspirations of the city of Dallas and this organization,” Campo said. “The one thing I can definitely promise is I will give you everything I have to bring those expectations and aspirations back to where they should be with this organization.”

(c) 2000, The Dallas Morning News.
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