Thursday, July 30, 1998

Cowboys seek cast to replace Bates' one-man show

By Kevin Lyons

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Bill Bates never made more than $500,000 a year. He didn't possess hulking size or brute strength. He has never been confused with being fast.

But his transition from 15-year veteran to rookie assistant coach left a hole in the Cowboys' special teams and prevent defense that they are attempting to fill with a combination of at least five players scheduled to earn more than a combined $2 million in 1998.

"I doubt seriously if people knew why Bill was a wonderful player or what he did for us," special-teams coach Joe Avezzano said.

Bates was a mainstay on special teams, particularly on punt coverage and kickoff-return teams. Charlie Williams is expected to replace him as one of the upfront blockers on kickoff returns. And Billy Davis and Dexter Coakley have been working to replace Bates as the upback on punt coverage teams.

"Any time you lose a guy that performed the way Bill Bates performed, it's going to hurt," said fullback Daryl Johnston, who works on some of the special-teams units. "Bill had some on-field leadership qualities that are difficult to replace, but Joe (Avezzano) is a good coach and I'm sure he'll have us ready to go. There are still a lot of talented guys on this team."

Williams, Davis, and Coakley have been extraordinary special-teams players for the Cowboys. Williams and Davis, Avezzano said, "are amongst some of the best kick cover men in the NFC." But each must now perform his craft at a special-teams position different from last year. The resul-3/4a-3/4g holes to be filled worry Avezzano.

"Right now, on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the best, we're like a two," Avezzano said. "The rating has probably been that low in other years, and I expect it to go up. But now we are working with a committee made up of a bunch of unknowns. The good thing is we have preseason games to get things figured out."

Avezzano is not the only coach who must find a replacement for Bates. Defensive coordinator Dave Campo has been looking at three players to use as the club's nickel linebacker, where Bates played eight to 10 snaps a game on obvious passing situations. Linebackers Dexter Coakley and Randall Godfrey, and safety Omar Stoutmire have received most of the repetitions at Bates' old nickel linebacker spot.

"My physical build allowed me to do a lot of different things," Bates said. "I'm bigger than Billy Davis, but he's faster, and he'll get in there and fight and scrap.

"With Charlie Williams, he's also faster than me, but he's smaller and he'll be in some situations with bigger guys that'll be tough on him.

"The thing about Dexter and Randall is those are guys who can stop the run," Bates said. "A guy like Omar is going to be stronger against the pass. Each have different strengths, and it's just a matter of what the coaches want."

Campo wants consistency. And so does Avezzano, who must also find a kickoff-return man to replace Herschel Walker, who the club did not re-sign in the off-season. The Cowboys were fourth in the league in kickoff-return average (24.1 yards per return) last year. Davis, Jimmy Oliver, Stepfret Williams, and Kevin Mathis are each expected to get a chance to return kickoffs in the preseason games.

"We're not working with a lot of experience," Avezzano said. "But we have a lot of talent."

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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