Friday, February 13, 1998

With Jerry's vision cleared, let's see if Chan gets chance

By Randy Galloway

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

DALLAS - It was five weeks ago when Jerry Jones delivered his "clear vision" speech, telling us of a mental image he supposedly had of the Cowboys' next head coach.

Now we think we know ... .

Know that if this is Jones' idea of "clear vision," then Ray Charles must be 20/20.

Welcome, Chan Gailey, to coaching hell. Admittedly, I'm not exactly sure how you got here, or why you'd even want to be here, and believe me, Chan, you will be second-guessing yourself at times on both points. But let us all hope for your long-term coaching survival in Dallas, meaning football success without even a hint of self-dignity slippage.

So this is it, huh? Five weeks after he chased off Gunsmoke, a good six months after he obviously knew a new coach would be needed - you can even say Jerry has had four years to prepare for a hire he knew would have to be made - the best Jones can do is Chan Gailey?

The Valley Ranch roll call adds a fourth name:

The great Tom Landry once coached here. The great Jimmy Johnson once coached here. Nobody coached here the past four years. And now Chan Gailey will coach here.

Well, at least Gailey is immensely more qualified than Nobody. And at least he's been hanging out on the NFL block for a decade. And at least when you mention his name to real football guys in the NFL, they immediately tell people like me to back way off and give Gailey a chance, because chances are he can be a good NFL head coach, if ... .

The "if" factor, of course, centers around the Cowboys currently being a coaching impossibility because of the fact Jones has transformed himself into the Nutty Football Professor.

A week ago, Gailey was not even a test pattern in Jerry's big-picture "vision" of the next coach. His name was never mentioned. He was not a candidate for the job. But somewhat out of desperation, Jones' homework with other NFL types turned up the name Chan Gailey, 46-year old offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The same Chan Gailey mentioned around here for his offensive play-calling against the Cowboys on Labor Day weekend, the first game of the '97 season - Chan, you gave up on the run way too early. The Cowboys had the defensive soft belly. But, of course, that was one game. The Steelers would end up the AFC Championship Game and played Denver much better than Green Bay would two weeks later.

Hopefully, for all the right football reasons, Gailey made such a favorable impression with Jones over four whirlwind days, that's why he was hired.

Gailey showed up at Valley Ranch on Thursday, climbed on the media-room podium with his family and was introduced as the next head coach of the Cowboys.

Ask people who know him personally, and they say Gailey is all about class, dignity and honor. That came through Thursday. And the Valley Ranch foundation also held up under the load of a head coach with class, dignity and honor. It has been awhile since any such person walked the halls.

And then go back to the football people of the NFL who know Chan Gailey, a son of Georgia and a son of a high school coach. Dan Reeves, Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher, Dom Capers, John Elway, Tom Couglin - they, and many more, all volunteer to testify on behalf of Gailey.

The only curveball is I doubt if any of those guys actually would work for Jerry Jones. There is no way at this particular time Gailey could fully understand what he's in for, no matter the amount of personal homework he's done on Jones.

But Gailey is here, and for better or worse, he represents the most important coaching hire in Cowboys' history. Again, the man does have the legitimate NFL credentials and deserves every opportunity from players, assistant coaches, fans and media to succeed. Most important, Gailey deserves that chance from Jones.

Yes, he is a coach who will have to prove he's not another Jones houseboy. What happened here the past four years spills onto Gailey, even if he doesn't deserve it.

Which brings us back to that "clear vision" of Jones. The tendency is to think the search for a new coach became a disorganized mess and Jones was forced to take a leftover.

I disagree. This is a 20/20 hire by Jones, and also well-orchestrated. Terry Donahue was offered the job but shocked Jones when he wouldn't accept the money or the conditions. Gailey, you can be sure, was offered no more in salary and conditions. Donahue walked away a better man for having said no.

George Seifert was never a serious candidate - George wouldn't work for low-ball pay and under Jerry's tight leash. And Sherm Lewis? That was a banjo job. Sherm Lewis was strummed, but never played. Too bad for Lewis.

Jones got what he wanted all along - a lesser name coach he thinks he can control.

But if a man has class, dignity and honor, along with football expertise, it says here the players respond to that, and so do a lot of other people.

Very refreshing winds of change were already blowing through Valley Ranch on Thursday, courtesy of Chan Gailey. The best advice for Gailey is to be himself. If he doesn't change, then who knows, maybe Jones will.

(Randy Galloway 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.

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