Tuesday, July 28, 1998

Jeffcoat should be a perfect fit for Cowboys

By Frank Luksa

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

WICHITA FALLS, Texas - One reason there's a night-and-day difference between playing and coaching in the NFL is that coaches get to work longer days and nights. However, as an indication that coaches still serve a necessary function, they are also paid less than the athletes.

Coaching requires enormous patience because players aren't smart enough to absorb lessons the first or second time around. This is why mini-camps and two-a-days remain in vogue. Assignments must be repeated endlessly until they penetrate reluctant minds.

There's a less obvious physical hazard to coaching than the annoying prospect of being fired. You leave the business with 20-200 vision after watching years of film. Old coaches are helped across the street by Boy Scouts.

Coaching is a taxing trade, but someone always wants to do it. Jim Jeffcoat is among the latest.

"The hours are long because you want it that way. You want it right," says the new Cowboys aide.

Getting it right was Jeffcoat's NFL trademark for 15 seasons - 12 of them (1983-94) at defensive end in Dallas and the last three with Buffalo. Durable as a refrigerator door and dependable as sunrise, he played 224 of 227 career games in consecutive order and tied Larry Cole's club record for most-bowlegged lineman to wear the uniform.

Jeffcoat's playing credits do not fully account for his presence on Chan Gailey's staff. How he was raised as a pro, what he learned and who taught him were impressive entries on his dossier. But it was Jeffcoat's reputation as a high-caliber person that caught Gailey's attention after his first choice for the position didn't work out.

"I've never heard so many compliments about anyone before I met them," Gailey told Jeffcoat upon making the hire.

Jeffcoat's major task as understudy to assistant head coach/defensive line boss Jim Bates is to lateral what he knows to those who know little or nothing about playing defensive end. His pupils are untried No. 1 draft choice Greg Ellis and Kavika Pittman, still unproven entering his third season. The short version of his assignment is to make them play like he did and in a hurry.

"I feel like I've had good teachers. I've been taught well," Jeffcoat said. Such as whom and what?

Jeffcoat reminisced to his timely arrival in Dallas as a No. 1 pick from Arizona State. He joined a defensive line of Too Tall Jones, Randy White and John Dutton that was coached by Ernie Stautner, himself a Hall of Fame tackle.

"From Too Tall, I learned how to pass rush from the edge," Jeffcoat recalled. "From Randy, physical and mental toughness. From Stautner, study habits. From Dutton, how to overcome adversity and be a team player.

"Those old vets took me under their wing and taught me. They force-fed me and made me a better player.

"More than the games I played, it's the people I was involved with that I cherish most. Everybody will retire some day. The memories of those guys will always live on."

So will memories of head coaches he served - Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer and Marv Levy. Jeffcoat recalls Landry as prepared and organized. Johnson for the importance of discipline during early hard times with the Cowboys. Levy for vast knowledge. Switzer for his personal touch.

"I thought Barry had a way with people. Any time he expressed something, it was from the heart. One thing about Barry; you knew he cared," said Jeffcoat.

Another vignette of since-retired Levy still brings a chuckle: "He was 71 years old and running sprints with us."

Jeffcoat's role is to do unto others what was done for him by excellent coaches and All-Pro teammates - help Bates teach Ellis and Pittman, in particular, since neither is proven goods. A joking question about Pittman begot a surprising reply. Is Kavika as good as you were?

"Oh, he'll be better," Jeffcoat answered. "He has lots of ability. And Ellis has so much upside potential. They're two talented athletes."

Jeffcoat doesn't fancy himself as a polished coaching product. He sees himself as a rookie learning something new every day from Bates. Others view Jeffcoat as a perfect fit under Gailey, whose credo appears on a sign pinned on the door of the cafeteria: "Do Things The Right Way."

If Ellis or Pittman fails, the Cowboys at first glance appear in a tight spot. Except ... there's a coach who once played 224 consecutive games, looks in great shape at 37 and may have some pass-rush savvy left in those bowed legs.

(Frank Luksa is a sports columnist for the Dallas Morning News. Write to him at: Dallas Morning News, Communications Center, Dallas, Texas 75265.)

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.