Thursday, August 27, 1998

Coach Chan Gailey has pieces for Cowboys reconstruction

By Clarence E. Hill Jr.

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

FORT WORTH - Jerry Jones can remember Dale Hansen's radio call from the 1992 Super Bowl like it was yesterday.

"In a span of four years, the Cowboys have gone from the absolute worst to the absolute best. ... Dallas, your Cowboys are champions."

Yes, Jones had built the Cowboys from laughingstock losers when he bought the team in 1989 to Super Bowl champions in 1992. The Cowboys also won Super Bowl titles in 1993 and 1995.

But's last season's 6-10 disaster not only seemed to bring Jones' Cowboys full circle but rendered Hansen's celebrated call obsolete. The awful performance, which saw the Cowboys end the season with a five-game losing streak and finish fourth in the NFC East after five consecutive division titles, affected Jones not much differently than the blind-side hits quarterback Troy Aikman had to endure during the grim season.

For Jones to witness the Cowboys fall off their perch among the league's elite to become losers again was like dropping the Vince Lombardi Trophy and seeing it shatter.

"I was in denial, maybe withdrawal," Jones said. "It just fell there in the final weeks like a splash of cold water."

But it also brought a splash of clarity.

As Jones stood on the cold floor of Texas Stadium after the season-ending loss to the New York Giants and started trying to figure out how to piece his championship team back together, he realized this wasn't 1989 all over again.

With Aikman and all-pro defenders such as cornerback Deion Sanders, defensive tackle Leon Lett and safety Darren Woodson in place, Jones believed his task for 1998 was more of a renovation than a rebuilding job.

The effort began in February with the hiring of former Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and his phone-book-thick playbook as head coach to replace Barry Switzer. Jones said he felt the Cowboys' offense had gotten too predictable and wanted to bring in an offensive-minded coach with a new system.

The patchwork also included the addition of seven new assistant coaches, modifying the defensive scheme and upgrades at running back, the offensive line and wide receiver with the free-agent signings of Chris Warren, Everett McIver and Ernie Mills, respectively.

"We were not in a rebuilding situation," Jones said. "If I thought we were in a rebuilding situation, I would have made different decisions. But to get a coach like Chan and combining the changes with already having a Super Bowl quarterback ... and a Super Bowl-caliber defense, I felt we could have a dramatic turnaround and be a playoff team."

Jones said one of the considerations during his search for a head coach was to find someone who could fit the team's players because he didn't want to make wholesale personnel changes.

"I didn't want to pay the price of years of evolving," Jones said. "We didn't want to pay the price to evolve into a team that better fit any coach's idea of what personnel ought to be."

Through personnel evaluations and outside recommendations, Jones surmised that the Cowboys' problems last season were not based on inferior talent.

He acknowledged that the Cowboys weren't as talented as the past Super Bowl teams but said he believed they had far better than 6-10 talent - especially when he compared Aikman, receiver Michael Irvin, running back Emmitt Smith and his defense that ranked No. 2 in the league to what other NFC East teams had.

Gailey came to the same conclusion. He said one of the benefits in coming to the Cowboys was that he was getting an opportunity with a team that had established stars in place. He said the Cowboys' 37-7 blasting of his Steelers in last season's opener was proof enough to him.

"I saw it firsthand," Gailey said. "I didn't have to go evaluate it. They had a lot of bad breaks after that game, and things went against. But if everybody stays healthy..., we are better than a 6-10 team. We got a solid nucleus of players."

The key, according to Jones, was putting that core group of players in a new offense.

Jones felt the old offense had become predictable and that changing the offense would give the Cowboys a better chance to win. Former offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese told Jones as much when he offered his resignation after Switzer's departure.

"Just as important as getting into to the end zone is how you get there," Jones said. "In addition to Troy and Emmitt Smith running and Michael Irvin catching, we needed a tangible weapon of unpredictability. Chan brings us that imagination and creativity."

Smith, who rushed for 1,204 yards in 1996 and 1,074 in 1997 after gaining a club-record 1,773 yards in 1995, agreed that a change in style was necessary.

"It was about time the rest of the league caught on to what we were doing," Smith said. "They sure had a lot of tape to watch. And we needed to make a change."

Enter Gailey and his array of end arounds, shotgun formations and five-wide sets.

The change for the Cowboys was like going from the fundamentals of math to trigonometry. Out went the Cowboys' simplified attack, based on power I-formation running, man-to-man blocking on the offensive line and a precision passing game that featured timing patterns and no adjustable pass routes.

Gailey's offense is based on the run as well, but uses zone blocking on running plays, multiple formations, the shotgun, four- and five-receiver sets and an audible system.

The package is complex, but receivers coach Dwain Painter said the premise is basic. The multiple formations cause defensive adjustments, and the shotgun gives the quarterback more time to throw the ball by spreading out the defense.

"Versatility is the key," Painter said. "We want to run and pass. But we want to be a physical football team and run the football first. We want to use the speed and deceptive elements to stretch the ball vertically and sideline to sideline. We want the defense to prepare for a lot of things."

It didn't take Gailey long to figure out that his offense fit the Cowboys' personnel. He says his central figures here are not much different than they were in Pittsburgh, comparing Aikman, Smith and Irvin to the Steelers' trio of quarterback Kordell Stewart, running back Jerome Bettis and receiver Yancey Thigpen. Gailey said the key for him was inserting David LaFleur in the starting lineup ahead of Eric Bjornson because a big, blocking tight end is crucial to the offense's success.

Aikman, who admits he's a fan of the old offense, likes what he sees.

"I think it gives me some freedom to make some throws in this offense that I couldn't in the past," Aikman said. "This offense gives us the ability to make bigger plays down the field. And it allows me to use the field a little bit more. I like it."

For Smith, his biggest adjustment is running more instinctively. With zone blocking, Smith could start one way and end up on the other side of the field. In the past, he would run to the designated spot and trust that a hole would open.

Gailey said Smith is still one of the league's top running backs, but Gailey's first big move was deciding that the Cowboys needed to add another back. Warren, Seattle's all-time leading rusher, is a definite upgrade from Sherman Williams, last season's backup. Warren's addition gives the Cowboys the team's best pair of runners since Tony Dorsett and Herschel Walker shared the tailback spot in 1986-87.

The third member of the Cowboys' offensive triumvirate, Irvin, is also in for some changes. Though Irvin caught 75 passes last season for 1,180 yards and nine touchdowns, Aikman had trouble locating him at crucial times because of constant double-teaming.

Gailey plans to free Irvin in his offense by moving him into the slot, having him line up in the backfield and even having him catch screen passes.

"I'm in favor of anything that will help us win and get me the ball more," Irvin said. "Chan is trying to do some things that will get me some mismatches. And that's good."

Wide receiver and running back were only two of the areas that Gailey said the Cowboys must improve. The others were the offensive and defensive lines.

The Cowboys attempted to improve the offense line by signing McIver, mandating that guard Nate Newton lose weight and drafting Flozell Adams.

The Cowboys did two things to address the defensive line, drafting defensive end Greg Ellis in the first round and shifting their basic defensive alignment from a traditional 4-3 to a modified 3-4 that is designed to close gaps in the the team's run defense, which ranked 24th in the league last year.

However, beyond the schemes and player additions, the Cowboys know one of the biggest changes they must make is in their approach to the game. Many of the team's problems - especially inside the opponent's 20-yard line where they ranked among the league's worst in scoring touchdowns - were because of poor execution, assignment mistakes and penalties.

Gailey, who has been lauded for his organized style and disciplined ways, said handling those "little things will make the ultimate difference.'

"Those are things that make the difference from 6-10 to 10-6," Gailey said. "In general, that's how it always works."

The Cowboys are not ready to guarantee that all the changes will work smoothly. They admit that questions abound, especially regarding a consistent pass rush, consistency on the offensive line and at No. 2 receiver, where Mills is competing with Billy Davis for the starting job.

However, the Cowboys say they are encouraged by the team's attitude.

"I think any time there is change, there is renewed enthusiasm," Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Campo said. "The change has given everybody a fresh outlook. Now that doesn't equate to wins and losses. But it has brought about a renewed vigor."

It all has Jones feeling good about his effort to piece that Lombardi Trophy back together.

"No, I can't say now that we made all the right moves," Jones said. "To be what I consider a legitimate playoff team, we still have a lot of questions to answer. However, I'm optimistic we will answer those questions."

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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