Trashman
01-07-2009, 06:46 PM
Proving that the NFL is much like the real world in that it’s not what you know but who you know, the Dallas Cowboys have hired former Jacksonville Jaguars special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis, an NFL source confirmed.
DeCamillis will be the fifth special teams coordinator to work for Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips in what is expected to be his eighth NFL season as a head coach.
DeCamillis began his career in Denver as the defensive quality control and assistant special teams coach from 1988 to ’92, when current Phillips was the defensive coordinator with the Broncos. DeCamillis also spent time on staff with Phillips’ in Atlanta 2002 and ‘03.
DeCamillis will replace Bruce Read, who was fired a few days after the season ended.
But whether or not the Cowboys special teams was a Bruce Read problem or a Wade Phillips problem can be debated.
In the seven total seasons Phillips has been a head coach, his special teams have been anywhere from pretty good to pretty bad.
There have been moments when his specials teams shut down players such as Chicago Bears kick returner Devin Hester in 2007 to moments when it lost the game in Arizona in 2008. Or the absolute worst, when his Bills lost in the AFC Wildcard playoff game in Tennessee on the infamous “Music City Miracle” in 1999.
When Phillips was the head coach in Buffalo from 1998 to ’00, the kick coverage unit ranked 17th, 21st and 11th, respectively; the punt coverage units ranked 25th, 18th and 22nd, respectively.
As the head coach in Denver in 1993 and ’94, the kick coverage unit ranked seventh and sixth, respectively; the punt coverage unit ranked 23rd and seventh, respectively.
So DeCamillis comes to the Cowboys in an effort to shore up an area that has been erratic. Pretty good one week to awful the next.
The Cowboys coverage units ranked sixth in the NFL in kickoffs and 24th in punt coverage. Other than place kicker Nick Folk, who connected on 20-of-22 field goals this season, the unit was sporadic. Folk did not have a touchback on 75 kickoffs this season. The Cowboys punt returners averaged 6.4 yards per attempt.
DeCamillis has been a special teams coach since 1993. He worked from 1993 to ’96 under Dan Reeves with the Giants. DeCamillis was the special teams coach for the Falcons from 1997 to ’06.
DeCamillis will be the fifth special teams coordinator to work for Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips in what is expected to be his eighth NFL season as a head coach.
DeCamillis began his career in Denver as the defensive quality control and assistant special teams coach from 1988 to ’92, when current Phillips was the defensive coordinator with the Broncos. DeCamillis also spent time on staff with Phillips’ in Atlanta 2002 and ‘03.
DeCamillis will replace Bruce Read, who was fired a few days after the season ended.
But whether or not the Cowboys special teams was a Bruce Read problem or a Wade Phillips problem can be debated.
In the seven total seasons Phillips has been a head coach, his special teams have been anywhere from pretty good to pretty bad.
There have been moments when his specials teams shut down players such as Chicago Bears kick returner Devin Hester in 2007 to moments when it lost the game in Arizona in 2008. Or the absolute worst, when his Bills lost in the AFC Wildcard playoff game in Tennessee on the infamous “Music City Miracle” in 1999.
When Phillips was the head coach in Buffalo from 1998 to ’00, the kick coverage unit ranked 17th, 21st and 11th, respectively; the punt coverage units ranked 25th, 18th and 22nd, respectively.
As the head coach in Denver in 1993 and ’94, the kick coverage unit ranked seventh and sixth, respectively; the punt coverage unit ranked 23rd and seventh, respectively.
So DeCamillis comes to the Cowboys in an effort to shore up an area that has been erratic. Pretty good one week to awful the next.
The Cowboys coverage units ranked sixth in the NFL in kickoffs and 24th in punt coverage. Other than place kicker Nick Folk, who connected on 20-of-22 field goals this season, the unit was sporadic. Folk did not have a touchback on 75 kickoffs this season. The Cowboys punt returners averaged 6.4 yards per attempt.
DeCamillis has been a special teams coach since 1993. He worked from 1993 to ’96 under Dan Reeves with the Giants. DeCamillis was the special teams coach for the Falcons from 1997 to ’06.