Sunday, April 19, 1998

Chan Gailey is impressive, even in golf

By DENNE H. FREEMAN / AP Sports Writer

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (AP) -- It was a get-to-know Chan Gailey session in a swanky suite at Lone Star Park and the new coach of the Dallas Cowboys held court with the confidence of someone wearing a Super Bowl ring on all five fingers.

Gailey chatted with print and broadcast types in a relaxed manner like he had known them personally for years. No subject seemed too arcane for Gailey, although he wouldn't reveal the cloak-and-dagger Cowboys draft thinking.

All Gailey would say about the draft is "we've been interviewing a lot of potential first-round picks. You've got to find out what these guys are thinking."

It's apparent Gailey wants to know more about a prospect than how fast he runs and how high he jumps.

The subject got around to golf.

Gailey is almost as good at golf as he is coordinating an NFL offense, which is what he was doing with the Pittsburgh Steelers when Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hired him.

At the recent NFL owners meeting in Orlando, Fla., the coaches had a competitive little outing on the Hyatt Cypress Course, a testy layout where waters lurks on many holes. It's no course for the fainthearted.

Gailey had played three rounds of golf this year prior to going to Florida. He had been busy, among other things, going through the laborious interview process with Jones, who tried to hire Terry Donahue before he got around to Gailey.

On this day, Gailey shot a 1-under-par 70 to dust a field that included Atlanta coach Danny Reeves, who hails from Gailey's hometown, Americus, Ga., and has always played near scratch himself. Reeves and Gailey played a lot of golf together back in Georgia.

Was that a fluke, beating Reeves?

Gailey gave a slight smile and said, "I can take him most days of the week."

Everyone laughed.

One of the things Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher said about Gailey was how competitive he can be.

Someone mentioned to Gailey that at least his Cowboys, who struggled through a 6-10 season in Barry Switzer's farewell campaign, will be favored in their first game, Sept. 6, when Arizona comes calling at Texas Stadium.

"We won't be favored the next week," Gailey said. "We'll really find out how good we are."

The second game on the Cowboys schedule is at defending Super Bowl champion Denver.

Gailey has been quietly assuming control of the Cowboys. He's held twice-a-week gatherings of his players so they could at least become familiar with the terminology he uses on both offense and defense.

These have been non-mandatory affairs, although most players have attended. Emmitt Smith missed several workouts because of previous commitments.

"These have been great sessions because it give the players a chance to get to know me and for me to get to know them," said Gailey. "It also exposes the players to our terminology so we won't have to spend a lot of time on that when training camp starts."

The Cowboys will train in Wichita Falls starting in mid-July, but Gailey will have several mini-camps before then at Valley Ranch. Any NFL team with a new coach can have extra mini-camps.

During a lull in the conversation, there was discovery of an interesting eighth race which had a horse named "Jerry's Troubles" and "Bye Bye Jimmy."

Of course, before Jones fired Switzer he fired Jimmy Johnson.

Asked if he wanted to bet an exacta on the race, Gailey smiled and said, "Gentlemen, I'm headed to the buffet line."

Not only do the Cowboys have themselves a competitor, they also have a diplomat.

After the sorry season they had last year, they can use both.