Thursday, November 26, 1998

Gailey has revitalized Cowboys offensive stars

By JIM SOUHAN

Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

IRVING, Texas - On their way down the yellow brick road that leads to the Hall of Fame, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith met the Wizard of Pause.

Chan Gailey, the Dallas Cowboys rookie coach, interrupted the dotage of three great players who gave the Cowboys three Super Bowl championships ... and taught them that a moment's hesitation can add years to a career.

The NFL's most famous power trio reached stardom in an offensive system devised by former offensive coordinator Norv Turner.

Smith ran straight ahead behind a huge, power-blocking offensive line. Aikman relied on Irvin and a couple of simple routes.

Turner's system, once taught to him by Ernie Zampese, became stale when Zampese replaced Turner, and Smith and Aikman began spending more time at the X-ray machine than in the winner's circle.

"Of course, things got predictable," Smith said. "Everyone in the league had years and years of films to watch to see what we were doing."

The once-dynastic Cowboys went 6-10 last year, leading to coach Barry Switzer's resignation. Owner Jerry Jones went looking for an offensive wizard. Gailey, who had made Kordell Stewart a multi-threat quarterback and whose religious beliefs made him attractive to an owner trying to cleanse his team's image, was the choice.

Jones insisted Gailey's contract stipulate that only Gailey be allowed to call plays. Eleven games into Gailey's NFL head coaching career, he has taken the most disappointing team in 1997 and made it one of the best of '98 by revitalizing his three offensive stars.

"I didn't want to go back to '89," said Jones, whose first team went 1-15 under Jimmy Johnson in '89. "I wanted someone who would work with the talent that was here, because I still believed in my heart we had great players who could win."

Gailey preaches patience, in three different ways to his three offensive stars.

Aikman has learned to wait. In the old offense, he often locked on Irvin and threw quickly.

Last year, Aikman completed passes to 11 different Cowboys. Sunday, he completed passes to 10 different receivers in the same game. His first eight completions went to eight different receivers.

"Boy, he looked off receivers, went to third receivers and possibly even fourth receivers," Jones said. "The way he was picking them up ... makes you realize what this offense can do for him."

The old offense relied on one productive receiver (Irvin), one occasional deep threat (former Cowboy Alvin Harper) and a great pass-catching tight end.

Gailey's offense relies on multiple formations, up to four wide receivers, and the quarterback's ability to find second and third options. "The quarterback holds the ball a tick longer than he has in the past," Aikman said. "You've got to wait, to let the patterns develop. That gives us more opportunity for bigger plays down the field, but it also exposes you to taking more sacks."

Aikman said that early in the season, but it hasn't proved true. By emphasizing the running game, employing a blocking tight end (David LaFluer) and moving All-Pro offensive lineman Larry Allen to left tackle to protect Aikman's blind side, Gailey has bought Aikman more time in the pocket. He has been sacked only three times, and just once in the last 14 quarters.

Last year, the Cowboys scored 30 points in only two games. This year, they have scored 30 or more in six of 11 games, and Aikman has grown more comfortable with the offense.

"He's getting better every week," Irvin said. "He's doing well now, and by next year, when we all really understand the offense better, it could be amazing."

Said Gailey: "Troy hits guys you wouldn't tell other quarterbacks to even throw to. I think he's a great quarterback."

Aikman always said he couldn't envision playing more than 10 years in the NFL. Now, in his ninth season, he's envisioning playing at least another five.

Irvin has learned to wait. In the Cowboys' glory years, from '91 through '95, Irvin averaged eight touchdowns a season. This season, he has one. Irvin had at least two catches in every game last season, and had catches in 117 consecutive games - until Nov. 15, when he was shut out.

The Cowboys won that game, 35-28. Irvin, who once screamed for the ball, has learned that the offense can thrive with him as a decoy.

One of the knocks on Switzer was his lack of discipline and his reliance on the Cowboys' stars. Practices lacked precision and required little of role players.

Under Gailey, practices are intense, and the offense requires every receiver to expect the ball.

"I think it's been shown that the ball is going to get spread around in this offense," Aikman said. "Different people are going to get the ball. They know that when they're running routes. I think that makes us a better team. More people get chances in practice. That's one of the reasons I believe that we've had a chance to have some success even when guys have gotten hurt."

Smith has learned to wait. He won four NFL rushing titles by doing what he has done all of his life - hitting the first hole he saw hard and fast.

That's the way he ran in high school, in college, and in the first eight years of a career that will land him in the top three on the NFL's all-time rushing list.

"This is the first time I've been in an offense where I had to be patient enough to let things develop," Smith said.

Smith called his old style "running downhill." He would run as hard as he could as soon as he touched the ball, and would hope a hole opened along the way. Now he practices patience, pausing behind the offensive line until a hole opens.

Smith motioned to fellow running back Chris Warren, noting that Warren and running backs coach Clarence Shelmon were together in Seattle.

"Clarence teaches you to press the hole, press the hole, press the hole, to the point where you almost get on top of the linemen, then you make the jump cut to the hole and take off running," Smith said. "That's a matter of learning this system."

Smith rushed for 1,074 yards last season - his lowest total since he gained 937 yards as a rookie. Starting in 1995, Smith declined from 1,773 to 1,204 to 1,074, and his touchdowns dropped from 25 to 12 to four.

This season, Smith, spelled often by Warren, has rushed for 1,063 yards and eight touchdowns.

"There's a lot of different things you can do in this offense," Smith said. "You've just got to be patient."

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)