Cowboys Officially Dismiss Campo

DallasCowboys.com ^ | December 30, 2002 | Nick Eatman / DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer

[MeekOneGOP]

Cowboys Officially Dismiss Campo

Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
December 30, 2002, 12:30 p.m. (CST)

IRVING, Texas - The speculation came to an end here on Monday.

After three seasons as head coach of the Cowboys, Dave Campo has been dismissed, announced Monday by owner Jerry Jones at a mid-day press conference at Valley Ranch.

Campo suffered through his third consecutive 5-11 season this year, the season ending with Sunday's 20-14 loss to the Redskins, which left his three-year head coaching record at 15-33.

Campo held an emotional 30-minute meeting with the team Monday morning, then met with his coaching staff as Jones then met for a few minutes with the team before holding a press conference.

"That was a tough way to finish the season," Campo said following the first loss to Washington since 1997, leaving his winning percentage at .312, the lowest of the four previous Cowboys head coaches. "We're not real pleased to lose the last four ballgames. I'm just disappointed in the season we had."

While Jones did not immediately name a replacement, the Cowboys owner and general manager has already spoken with coaching candidate Bill Parcells on at least two occasions in the last two weeks. Sources around Valley Ranch say Parcells could even be hired as early as Tuesday and likely at least by Thursday.

Jones has also spoken to former Vikings head coach Dennis Green last week about possibly of becoming the next head coach. However, Parcells remains the leading candidate for the job, and it appears the two already have hammered out the essential details to sign a contract. Sources say Parcells could sign a deal worth $3-$4 million a year, which would be the most Jones has ever paid a Cowboys head coach since buying the team in 1989.

As for Campo, who still had two years remaining on his contract, his 14 seasons working with the Cowboys has come to an end.

One of the final coaches brought over by Jimmy Johnson from the University of Miami, Campo started out his NFL coaching career as a defensive assistant in 1989. He quickly moved up to secondary coach before assuming the defensive coordinator role in 1995 season. After five solid years leading the defense, Campo was promoted to head coach following the firing of Chan Gailey.

"I've seen Dave grow like I have," said Emmitt Smith, who might be saying his farewells to the Cowboys in a few weeks as well. "I've seen him go from secondary coach, to defensive coordinator, to head coach. And he's been effective at all levels, except for head coach. But I don't think it's a reflection on him as a head coach. Lots of things didn't go right for us and things Dave has no control of."

In his first season, Campo had to watch Troy Aikman, Joey Galloway and Rocket Ismail miss a combined 28 games, while the defense was the worst in the league against the rush, allowing three separate 200-yard rushers throughout the season.

The defense improved dramatically in 2001, but the offense regressed just as much. The Cowboys started four different quarterbacks, including rookie Quincy Carter for eight games. The Cowboys ranked last in the league in passing offense. The Cowboys also had to play with more than $24 million missing from their salary cap because of "dead money" shelled out to former players no longer on the roster.

And then this season, which was supposed to be the start of the turnaround, the Cowboys appeared to have enough talent to make a playoff push. Instead, the offense never got on untracked under Carter's guidance, and really wasn't much better under rookie Chad Hutchinson, who started the final nine games. The offensive line suffered an unbelievable amount of injuries early, headlined by Larry Allen finishing just one game all season and ending up on injured reserve following ankle surgery. The defense anchored the team all season, but still didn't get enough pressure on the quarterback, finishing with just 24 sacks.

"We had known, because we had such a young team, that we would struggle some early on," Jones said. "But we would start to see positive signs as the year went on. But it's real disappointing that we're not seeing those right now."

Jones has said all season that continued progress would be the determining factor in evaluating Campo and the remainder of the coaching staff after the season.

However, the Cowboys lost their final four games, allowing a total of 115 points in the span. Everything seemed to unravel in the final seven minutes of the San Francisco game, when the Cowboys lost a 10-point lead and the game to end a two-game winning streak, and unfortunately for Campo, begin a four-game losing streak.

The Cowboys have several assistant coaches still under contract for at least one more season, including offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and special teams coach Joe Avezzano.

There has been speculation Jones already has spoken to Parcells about retaining Zimmer, along with Avezzano and quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson, all of whom have at least two more years on their contracts.

[Trust but Verify]

Thanks for the clarification. The only thing I'd heard was on the game last night. McKay acted smug, like he had Jones by the short ones, but it seemed like a long shot for Tampa.

McKay should worry about getting his starting QB back on the field. They aren't going to beat many teams by kicking 5 field goals!

[sinkspur]

The Dallas Morning News is announcing (via KTCK "The Ticket") that Bill Parcells has agreed to a four-year, $18 million deal that will be announced tomorrow.

[dtel]

Just heard that.
I still would have liked to have seen Stoops and his gang come in though.

[Nita Nuprez]

Is it just me, or does George W. look a whole lot like Landry in this pic?

I hadn't thought of it, but now that you mention it, it looks a lot like him.

[Alberta's Child]

I'll believe it when I see it. He also had an agreement to coach the Tampa Bay Bucs a while back, didn't he?

Parcells' biggest problem was always his over-inflated ego. He left the Giants because he wanted to be both the coach and the general manager, but it turns out he was nothing more than a mediocre GM at best. The guy can coach, but he can't manage an organization for his life.

[j_tull]

Dennis Green?!? I thought Jones wanted to win.

I have a feeling a well-used Mike Holmgren may be available soon.

[KeyWest]

Parcells also is a short timer. Too big an ego. There is also some truth that he is a winner when Belicheck was his assistant. Will be interesting, but my bet is he will blame Jones for any failure, and everyone will believe it, since he is a "great" coach. Probably be partly true, too.

Dallas will mirror the TV show and be pure soap opera- Parcells and Jones starring. Only question will be who shot who at the end.

[MeekOneGOP]

Source: Parcells, Cowboys agree on 4-year deal
The Dallas Morning News ^ | December 30, 2002 | By JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR and CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

Source: Parcells, Cowboys agree on 4-year deal

12/30/2002

By JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR and CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING -- Bill Parcells has agreed to a four-year contract that will pay him roughly $4.5 million per season, and will be announced as the sixth coach of the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday, a source close to Jerry Jones and Parcells said.

The announcement will culminate a coaching search by Jones that began with two games left on the Cowboys' schedule in a meeting between Jones and Parcells on Dec. 18 at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

Also Online

	Parcells' record
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The final details of the contract, including that Parcells will have total control of hiring and firing of assistant coaches as well as a strong say in personnel and draft matters, were concluded in a second meeting Friday on Long Island, N.Y.

Parcells, who has walked away from previous coaching jobs that appeared imminent, including Tampa Bay last year, was expected to fly into Dallas on Tuesday for a press conference.

Jones said Monday in a news conference to announce Dave Campo's firing that he had no timetable to name Campo's successor but added, "I hope it can happen quickly." Jones publicly acknowledged having spoken to former Minnesota coach Denny Green about the possibility of becoming the Cowboys' next coach. Jones said in talking to Green, who is black, he was taking seriously a new rule among NFL owners to interview at least one minority candidate when there is a head coaching change.

Jones said his decision to fire Campo, who had three straight 5-11 seasons, "was not about what Dave was unable to do" but instead about a "change in philosophy." Jones said he was ready to hire a coach with previous NFL head coaching experience. All of Jones' previous hires - Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey and Campo - had no previous NFL coaching experience.

Parcells won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants, reached another with the New England Patriots and took the New York Jets to an AFC championship game.



Read more on this story in Tuesday's Dallas Morning News.

---

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/123002dnspocowlede.3ffa2019.html

[Alberta's Child]

The final details of the contract, including that Parcells will have total control of hiring and firing of assistant coaches as well as a strong say in personnel and draft matters, were concluded in a second meeting Friday on Long Island, N.Y.

A "strong say" and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee, but not much more.

Jones is not foolish enough to give Parcells anything more than that when it comes to player personnel. I could tell you a few stories about players for the Giants who became stars even though Parcells b!tched and moaned that the team drafted "the wrong guy."

[VadeRetro]

Has anybody heard the nasty rumor that li'l Simms wants to go to the Cowgirls if Parcells (daddy's coach?) steps up to Jerry's throne? That would just about kill the 'Boys for the next decade.

News to me. I don't follow the 'Boys much now. The glory days have been gone too long.

[Veggie Todd]

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze MARK CUBAN. Find a way to shell out another few hundred million and save the Cowboys too!

You've got to be kidding!!! Mark Cuban is just a giant jacka$$. He shouldn't be allowed to own anything except a Dairy Queen.

[Dog Gone]

It was a reach, but Quincy Carter was a second round pick, not a first.