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Rob Phillips: Teaching Is Campo's Middle Name
Rob Phillips
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
SAN ANTONIO - Time is precious for Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo here inside the Alamodome. He and secondary/safeties coach Brett Maxie have 14 defensive backs to supervise daily in practice and meetings.
Among the priorities:
A new starting free safety (Alan Ball), who's preparing for his first full season at the position, and a second-year safety (Mike Hamlin) pushing him; four more primary contributors (Pro Bowl cornerbacks Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins, slot corner Orlando Scandrick, and starting strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh) that need attention and feedback; four other rookies, including two draft picks, one of which (safety Akwasi Owusu-Ansah) just completed his first professional practice.
There would seem to be few openings on his daily calendar for newly-signed Teddy Williams, the fifth first-year DB on the roster who satisfies the full essence of the word, "rookie."
He hasn't played football since his senior year at Tyler (Texas) John Tyler High in 2006. He was a receiver, not a defensive back. He's spent the last four years collecting All-America sprinting honors five minutes down the road at the University of Texas-San Antonio.
He's fast - word is the Cowboys clocked his 40-yard dash time at 4.27 seconds - but even in football, he's used to running forward, not backward.
This is a vast project. Two to three years, maybe, before Williams could contribute. He won't be able to help Campo and the Cowboys' defense in 2010, and who knows, maybe he moves back to receiver at some point, anyway.
But you can't teach speed, football savvy and coach-ability. Williams has shown all those traits over the last six days.
And there's no better man to instruct him than Campo.
He's probably best known for his biggest job title in Dallas: head coach from 2000-02. With 53 players, there's often more macro- than micro-managing.
At his core, though, the 63-year-old Campo is a teacher. A college DB, he's now been coaching defense for 40 years, starting in 1971 at his alma mater Central Connecticut State. In 22 NFL seasons, he's been a defensive assistant and coordinator at four different stops: Dallas, Cleveland and Jacksonville.
In all his years directing secondaries, never has he tackled a raw talent quite like Teddy Williams.
There have been running backs or quarterbacks converting to defense, but there was an accelerated learning curve for those guys. They'd already been in the league or, at the very least, former college standouts. They had to make a successful transition quickly, show the coaches they could help the team, or they'd be gone.
There's more patience here. The realistic goal for Williams is the practice squad, where he can continue developing on the scout team and adapt to the NFL landscape.
Campo wants to help him get there.
"It's fun," Campo said. "That's why I'm out here. I enjoy that part of it.
"That's why I've enjoyed coming back as an assistant (in 2008) because that's what I really got into coaching for in the first place, was being able to take a guy, improve him each day, get a little bit better each day and see what happens from there."
As mentioned before, Campo can't devote a large portion of his training camp day to Williams. Much of that has come in 15-minute segments after each practice, breaking down the fundamentals. Stance, backpedal, drive and plant, etc. It's got to be natural against receivers, because as Campo says, if he's thinking about what to do with his feet, "Bam, they're gone."
Campo has help. Fellowship coach Marco Butler, the defensive back/special teams coordinator at Norfolk State, is providing one-on-one advice to Williams during practice and assisting Campo afterward. And Pro Bowler Terence Newman has simulated receivers for him.
Williams is already starting to get it. He seems a little more comfortable with his techniques, and he broke up a hitch route throw intended for Sam Hurd on Wednesday.
Credit Williams' patience and work ethic so far. Credit Campo for working with him, too.
His football knowledge and people skills, along with Maxie's, are a big reason why the Cowboys have successfully groomed a talented young secondary.
Head coach Wade Phillips has noticed. "Our secondary guys have gotten just markedly better this year, he says. "We have some good players. But the young guys are coming along quicker, the techniques are better."
"It does help when the player says exactly what the coach says and then you're getting the same thing from them all the time, and I think we're getting that."
Sensabaugh has slightly been around Campo longer than any other player. He spent his rookie season under Campo, the Jaguars' secondary/assistant head coach, 2006.
Campo's messages are well-received because he's constructive and he treats every player the same, "no matter what your status is," Sensabaugh says. And, as mentioned before, he enjoys teaching.
"He loves to see a player just blossom," Sensabaugh says. "He loves the challenge."
So it's no surprise these overtime sessions with Teddy Williams seem to be paying off. It's what Dave Campo does. It's his life's work.
Rob Phillips: Teaching Is Campo's Middle Name
Rob Phillips
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
SAN ANTONIO - Time is precious for Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo here inside the Alamodome. He and secondary/safeties coach Brett Maxie have 14 defensive backs to supervise daily in practice and meetings.
Among the priorities:
A new starting free safety (Alan Ball), who's preparing for his first full season at the position, and a second-year safety (Mike Hamlin) pushing him; four more primary contributors (Pro Bowl cornerbacks Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins, slot corner Orlando Scandrick, and starting strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh) that need attention and feedback; four other rookies, including two draft picks, one of which (safety Akwasi Owusu-Ansah) just completed his first professional practice.
There would seem to be few openings on his daily calendar for newly-signed Teddy Williams, the fifth first-year DB on the roster who satisfies the full essence of the word, "rookie."
He hasn't played football since his senior year at Tyler (Texas) John Tyler High in 2006. He was a receiver, not a defensive back. He's spent the last four years collecting All-America sprinting honors five minutes down the road at the University of Texas-San Antonio.
He's fast - word is the Cowboys clocked his 40-yard dash time at 4.27 seconds - but even in football, he's used to running forward, not backward.
This is a vast project. Two to three years, maybe, before Williams could contribute. He won't be able to help Campo and the Cowboys' defense in 2010, and who knows, maybe he moves back to receiver at some point, anyway.
But you can't teach speed, football savvy and coach-ability. Williams has shown all those traits over the last six days.
And there's no better man to instruct him than Campo.
He's probably best known for his biggest job title in Dallas: head coach from 2000-02. With 53 players, there's often more macro- than micro-managing.
At his core, though, the 63-year-old Campo is a teacher. A college DB, he's now been coaching defense for 40 years, starting in 1971 at his alma mater Central Connecticut State. In 22 NFL seasons, he's been a defensive assistant and coordinator at four different stops: Dallas, Cleveland and Jacksonville.
In all his years directing secondaries, never has he tackled a raw talent quite like Teddy Williams.
There have been running backs or quarterbacks converting to defense, but there was an accelerated learning curve for those guys. They'd already been in the league or, at the very least, former college standouts. They had to make a successful transition quickly, show the coaches they could help the team, or they'd be gone.
There's more patience here. The realistic goal for Williams is the practice squad, where he can continue developing on the scout team and adapt to the NFL landscape.
Campo wants to help him get there.
"It's fun," Campo said. "That's why I'm out here. I enjoy that part of it.
"That's why I've enjoyed coming back as an assistant (in 2008) because that's what I really got into coaching for in the first place, was being able to take a guy, improve him each day, get a little bit better each day and see what happens from there."
As mentioned before, Campo can't devote a large portion of his training camp day to Williams. Much of that has come in 15-minute segments after each practice, breaking down the fundamentals. Stance, backpedal, drive and plant, etc. It's got to be natural against receivers, because as Campo says, if he's thinking about what to do with his feet, "Bam, they're gone."
Campo has help. Fellowship coach Marco Butler, the defensive back/special teams coordinator at Norfolk State, is providing one-on-one advice to Williams during practice and assisting Campo afterward. And Pro Bowler Terence Newman has simulated receivers for him.
Williams is already starting to get it. He seems a little more comfortable with his techniques, and he broke up a hitch route throw intended for Sam Hurd on Wednesday.
Credit Williams' patience and work ethic so far. Credit Campo for working with him, too.
His football knowledge and people skills, along with Maxie's, are a big reason why the Cowboys have successfully groomed a talented young secondary.
Head coach Wade Phillips has noticed. "Our secondary guys have gotten just markedly better this year, he says. "We have some good players. But the young guys are coming along quicker, the techniques are better."
"It does help when the player says exactly what the coach says and then you're getting the same thing from them all the time, and I think we're getting that."
Sensabaugh has slightly been around Campo longer than any other player. He spent his rookie season under Campo, the Jaguars' secondary/assistant head coach, 2006.
Campo's messages are well-received because he's constructive and he treats every player the same, "no matter what your status is," Sensabaugh says. And, as mentioned before, he enjoys teaching.
"He loves to see a player just blossom," Sensabaugh says. "He loves the challenge."
So it's no surprise these overtime sessions with Teddy Williams seem to be paying off. It's what Dave Campo does. It's his life's work.
