Cowboys Coaches

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- The Dallas Cowboys are junking the offense they've used the last two years and returning to the one they used to win three Super Bowls in the 1990s -- and they're bringing

Tuesday, February 1st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- The Dallas Cowboys are junking the offense they've used the last two years and returning to the one they used to win three Super Bowls in the 1990s -- and they're bringing back a former assistant to run it.
Jack Reilly, whose 20 years with the system includes tutoring quarterback Troy Aikman in 1997, was hired Tuesday as offensive coordinator. He takes over play-calling duties from Chan Gailey, whose failed schemes cost him his dual roles as coach and offensive coordinator.
Dallas also promoted secondary coach Mike Zimmer to defensive coordinator, filling the vacancy created last week when Dave Campo became coach. Unlike the radical change on offense, that move was made to ensure stability. Reilly and Zimmer were easy choices for Campo and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. They didn't even interview anyone else.
Reilly was a good fit because of his background with the timing-based offense Norv Turner and Ernie Zampese used in Dallas from 1990-97 and because he was fondly remembered from the season he spent with the Cowboys. "He has probably the best respect that you could have from Troy Aikman," Campo said.
Zimmer was even more of a shoo-in because of his close relationship with Campo. They've worked together the last five years in Dallas and two more at Weber State in the early 1980s. "He's been my right-hand man all along," Campo said. "There was no doubt in my mind who the coordinator would be if I ever had this opportunity."
Jones admits he made a mistake by going away from the Turner-Zampese system two years ago. However, the feeling then was that it had become stale and predictable and that Dallas needed something fresh and exciting. Aikman and others never adapted to Gailey's playbook and offensive problems were behind their first-round playoff exits the last two years. Reilly's playbook is back in vogue because St.Louis used a similar version to win the Super Bowl. "In the Super Bowl years here, they were very effective at throwing the ball in the early part of the game. We've got to be able to make hits like that and score points that way and to mix in the run to complement that," Reilly said.
Reilly's only season in Dallas ended with Jones' decision to go in a different direction. Reilly called that year's problems as "bumps in the road."
Reilly was an offensive coordinator once before, from 1995-96 with St. Louis. Isaac Bruce had his breakout seasons under Reilly's guidance.
He spent the last two seasons as quarterbacks coach in New England, where Zampese was offensive coordinator. The two may be reunited again in Dallas with Zampese joining the staff as a consultant. Zimmer's promotion ends a long run of former Jimmy Johnson proteges heading the Dallas defense. Dave Wannstedt installed the system in 1989, Butch Davis ran it for two years and Campo took over in 1995.
Zimmer joined the staff in '94 as a defensive assistant after spending nine years as a college defensive coordinator. He moved up to secondary coach the following year, taking Campo's place.
Although he shares many philosophies with his predecessors, Zimmer plans to add his own wrinkles. "We may be a little more aggressive because that's my nature," he said. "But you have to be careful saying how much you're going to change when the head coach sitting right next to you was doing all the stuff."
During Zimmer's six seasons, Dallas has allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game in the NFL. The Cowboys' defense as a whole has been in the top 10 four of the last five years.
The biggest issue facing Zimmer's unit is whether Deion Sanders will be back. "I want to see him back and I know if he had a choice he'd want to play for me," Zimmer said. "But there are other business decisions he has to make and we may have to make, too."