Dave Wannstedt goes back to Dallas for the first time this week since leaving Jimmy Johnson’s staff to become head coach of the Bears.
Will it be his last trip?
Reacting to reports that owner Jerry Jones might want to name himself the next coach of his Cowboys, Fox television commentator Howie Long threw out the possibility that Wannstedt, not Jones, could be the man to succeed Barry Switzer.
Since coaches with 0-4 records are always the target of job speculation and since Switzer is the target of speculation no matter what his record, the Wannstedt-Dallas connection is a natural.
Although Wannstedt maintains strong ties to the fired Johnson, risking alienation from Jones, he also has managed to keep up with the Joneses, Jerry and son Stephen, so he has not burned bridges.
“Jerry has an affinity for all the coaches who have been here–Dave, Norv Turner (Redskins) and Butch Davis (University of Miami),” said Rich Dalrymple, the Cowboys’ public relations director. “He has called Dave on some matters and Dave has called him.”
Wannstedt was the Cowboys’ successful defensive coordinator under Johnson from 1989-92, where his claim to fame was building a Super Bowl defense without Pro Bowl talent. He also earned a reputation as a conciliatory liaison between Johnson and players.
A weekend report that Jones wants to eventually coach the Cowboys himself was debunked by Jones, who first discussed the subject at Super Bowl XXVIII following the 1993 season, Johnson’s last.
While Jones admitted at that Super Bowl that “many people could coach much better than I could,” he also refused to sell himself short and expressed confidence that he could do it, saying, “If I had the time to focus in and do homework, they could be successful.
“No way I could be involved in the NFL if I hadn’t been a frustrated coach. If I hadn’t been so greedy when I was a young man, I probably would have been in coaching.”
Rookie class: Tampa Bay’s sensational Warrick Dunn isn’t the only rookie providing instant help.
Dunn’s 416 yards rushing and receiving and three touchdowns proves he’s the class of the class, but Buffalo’s Antowain Smith has proved that big guys can play, too.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 225 pounds, Smith is the antithesis of the 5-7, 176-pound Dunn. He ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bills’ comeback from a 26-0 deficit to the Indianapolis Colts. Smith, from the University of Houston, now has 261 yards rushing in four games and is quickly relegating Thurman Thomas to spot duty.
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Dunn’s Florida State teammate, defensive end Peter Boulware, has 3 1/2 sacks for Baltimore after becoming one of the last two rookies (with St. Louis offensive tackle Orlando Pace) to sign. Boulware missed all of training camp and three preseason games, proving that talent is more important than practice time.
On Monday, Rams coach Dick Vermeil named Pace his starter at left tackle, with Wayne Gandy moving to right tackle.
What a kick: Rookie punter Ken Walter of Carolina was named NFC special-teams player of last week and leads the NFC in net punting average. He spent the previous five summers working as a ballboy at the training camp of the Browns and Ravens.
He also helped with laundry and was a team gopher. He once picked up then-Browns special-teamer Michael Bates (also a Panther now) at the airport and toted Bates’ bags into team headquarters.
Walter kicked at Kent State in 1994. His full-time job was in Euclid, Ohio, where he worked for a plant nursery and landscaping service. He got his break last summer when Ravens punter Greg Montgomery saw him kicking in training camp and was impressed enough to put him in touch with punting guru Ray Pelfrey of Las Vegas. The Panthers discovered him at Pelfrey’s spring tryout camp for NFL scouts.
The moral of the story is punters don’t have to cost second-round draft choices.
How times change: Supposedly, Jimmy Johnson had his pick of Tampa Bay or Miami jobs and picked the one with Dan Marino instead of Trent Dilfer at quarterback. That was after Dilfer had thrown four touchdown passes during all of the 1995 season.
On Sunday night, Dilfer threw four against Johnson’s Dolphins.
“I never did have anything more than have some preliminary talks with (Tampa General Manager) Rich McKay,” Johnson said. “The No. 1 thing, I wanted to live here in South Florida. Miami was my home.”
Tony Dungy, on the other hand, was pitied for having to settle for the Bucs job.
“It’s funny. We (Dungy and Johnson) kind of talked about that a little bit when he went to Miami and he found out that my name was being mentioned after he turned the job down here,” Dungy said. “He told me that he thought it was a good situation but his heart was in Miami and he wanted to bring them a winner, which you can really understand. But he did feel that this was a good job and I’m very happy and blessed the way it turned out. He got the job he wanted and I got the job that was right for me.”
Injury report: San Diego kicker John Carney is listed as doubtful after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his kicking leg. . . . Seattle defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, who has started 100 straight games, is doubtful with a sprained knee. . . . Atlanta lost linebacker David Brandon for the season with a broken leg.