Changes the Cowboys Need to Make NOW (Part 1)!

By:  Bobby Shores

(This is the first in a two part series, the second part will be released Friday Morning)

Normally I save the "Changes Needed" articles until after the season, but with this Cowboys team there are some OBVIOUS changes that need to be made....and made NOW!! These changes rank from the small () to the major (hire an OC).

1) Replace Dave Campo as Secondary Coach - I know Campo has been around for a long time in this league, and that he is a favorite of Jerry Jones and Cowboys fans, but after the performance of our secondary this year, especially in big moments.....it's time for a change. Rob Ryan inherited Campo this year and I am sure he was told to give him a chance, well he did and it hasn't worked, Campo has failed to get the most out of a talented group of corners.

Currently the Cowboys pass defense rank in the bottom 10 in not only completion percentage, but also in passing yards allowed, yards per completion, etc. While a lot of people want to blame the secondary problems on the lack of a pass rush, which I admit the pass rush has come up short in some big moments, the Cowboys defense ranks in the Top 10 in sacks, so they are getting to the quarterback. And remember these stats that reflect the performance of the secondary are with a defense that has TWO 1st round cornerbacks (Terence Newman & Mike Jenkins), a nickel corner and a safety that just received extensions in the $25 million dollar range (Orlando Scandrick & Gerald Sensabaugh). Unacceptable.

In my opinion the biggest problem with the secondary has been technique. It seems that the corners especially are always 4-7 yards away from the wide receivers when the catch is made, and I believe this is due to the corners playing off when they should be pressing, turning the wrong way, playing outside position when they should be playing inside position, all technique issues.

Since it is known that Campo is a "Jerry Guy" it may not be that easy for Ryan to replace him, but at the least he should be made a position coach only and Ryan should be allowed to bring in his own secondary coach, one with which he is familiar with and can teach the techniques necessary to execute his defense. So what would they do with Campo? Well he seems to have gotten the most out of 2 undrafted safeties in Barry Church and Danny McCray, and done well enough with Sensabaugh that they gave him the long-term contract he had been seeking for a few years, so maybe Jones could keep him on as safeties coach.

2) Hire a new Special Teams Coordinator (STC) - Joe DeCamillis is known in the NFL as one of the top Special Teams Coordinators, and when the Cowboys brought him in from Jacksonville prior to the 2009 season I thought that the special teams woes would be solved. They started off pretty good in his first couple of years, but now in his 3rd year, things are falling apart, the Cowboys special teams currently rank 23rd in Kick Return average, 27th in Punt Return average,  and rank 19th in Punt Return yards allowed.

While we have one of the best punters in the league in Mat McBriar and a rookie kicker in Dan Bailey who has been exceptional this year, their protection leaves some to be lacking. McBriar has had 2 punts blocked in the past 2 years which both led to losses. Then this past week against the Giants, Dan Bailey's game tying field goal was blocked after our field goal team failed to make the necessary adjustments.

What do you guys think of the changes? While I know that these are not exhaustive lists, I think they are a good starting point. Let me know what else, or what else we should do differently in the comments.

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