Saturday, November 21, 1998

Gailey returns tricky treats to Cowboys' offensive arsenal

By DENNE H. FREEMAN

AP Sports Writer

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Tom Landry started it, Jimmy Johnson refined it and Barry Switzer killed it.

Now, Chan Gailey has brought back those old, crowd-pleasing gimmick plays, forcing fans -- and defensive coordinators -- to wonder what the Dallas Cowboys' offense will do next.

It happened again last Sunday with wide receiver Ernie Mills running the option play against the Arizona Cardinals. Twice.

Mills started out at receiver, went in motion and took a handoff from Troy Aikman. Mills ran around end with the choice of pitching the ball to Emmitt Smith or keeping it himself.

The first time, Mills pitched to Smith for a 14-yard gain that led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Chris Warren. The second time, Mills kept the ball for a 5-yard gain.

Mills, who played for Pittsburgh when Gailey was the offensive coordinator, knows what kind of imagination the new coach brings to the Cowboys.

"He's always thinking of something new," Mills said. "I like running that option."

Gailey said, "We first used it at Pittsburgh. We had a guy named Kordell Stewart run it."

The Cowboys also have practiced the play with swift Deion Sanders, who played quarterback in high school, handling the ball.

"There's only one problem with Deion running it," said receiver Billy Davis. "We know Deion will keep the ball."

Landry always liked to spice his offensive attack with a trick play or two to confuse and confound defenses.

He loved the flea-flicker, where the quarterback would hand off to the running back, take a few steps towards the line then flip the ball back to the quarterback. Sometimes a wide receiver would be 20 yards ahead of the nearest defender when the quarterback would get the ball back.

"We put in plays like that to make defenses start thinking," Landry would say. "If they start thinking too much, then you have them on the run."

Landry also loved the halfback pass, like the one Robert Newhouse threw to Golden Richards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XII to help beat Denver.

Another Landry special was the quarterback throwback. The play would start as a toss sweep to a running back acting as if he was going to circle the end. The quarterback would sneak out of the backfield on the opposite end and generally be wide open.

In one game, Danny White threw for a touchdown, ran for a touchdown and caught a pass for a touchdown.

Johnson would roll the dice from anywhere on the field. He would onside kick to start a game and fake field goals.

The element of surprise always appealed to Johnson, now the coach of the Miami Dolphins.

"It's a big psychological blow to the other team if you can pull off a trick play," said Johnson, who studied psychology at the University of Arkansas.

Switzer arrived and basically went to the meat and potatoes. He never encouraged conservative offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese to get away from the same old Emmitt Smith sweep or short, safe passes.

Enter Gailey and a healthy dose of snap, crackle and pop to the Cowboys offense. Coincidentally, much of the chicanery Gailey learned came from former Cowboy Dan Reeves, now the coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

"Danny has always had a great imagination for keeping teams off balance," said Gailey, who grew up in Reeves' hometown of Americus, Ga., and remains his close friend. "I've learned a lot from him."

Gailey, who doubles as offensive coordinator, has used Michael Irvin on a wide receiver screen, put in reverses and fake reverses, used five-receiver sets and done everything he can to make defenses take false steps.

As the season rolls along, Gailey continues pulling plays out of his bag of tricks.

"There's some stuff we haven't used," Gailey said.

Stay tuned.