Coaches

IRVING – The Cowboys fired Dave Campo on Monday, paving the way for owner Jerry Jones to hire Bill Parcells as the sixth coach in franchise history. Mr. Parcells has agreed to a four-year contract that will pay him $16 million to $18 million and give him the authority to hire and fire assistant coaches, as well as have a strong say in personnel, according to a source close to Mr. Jones and Mr. Parcells.

The Cowboys had hoped to announce Mr. Parcells, 61, as coach as early as Tuesday, but a news conference has not yet been scheduled. He is scheduled to arrive in Dallas on Thursday, according to several sources.

Still, Mr. Parcells has a history of walking away from deals that seemed imminent. He did it to Atlanta once and Tampa Bay twice, including last year.

Mr. Parcells, who won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants and took New England to another, would be the first coach with NFL head-coaching experience Mr. Jones has hired.

"This change is more about a change in philosophy – not about what Dave Campo didn't do," Mr. Jones said of Mr. Campo's dismissal. "Dave was hired because he represented a continuation of a philosophy.

"The philosophy that we have had was a winning philosophy that produced three world championships."

A source close to Mr. Parcells said the coach wanted the power to hire and fire assistant coaches, something Mr. Jones had not given a coach since Jimmy Johnson left after the 1993 season.

"People are under contract. You can't also have everybody that you would sit down to dinner with and be at dinner with five nights a week," Mr. Campo said of assembling a staff. "That doesn't happen. At the same time, I think it's part of the head coach's responsibility and accountability to make a working relationship out of whoever you have with you."

Sources have said Mr. Parcells, nicknamed "the Tuna," was phoning friends around the league to get a feel for the members of the Cowboys coaching staff. A Cowboys source said Mr. Jones has asked Mr. Parcells to consider keeping quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and special teams coach Joe Avezzano.

Under contract

Mr. Wilson and Mr. Zimmer received raises and two-year extensions that run through 2004. Mr. Avezzano, who has survived every coaching change under Mr. Jones, is signed through 2006.

University of Alabama coach Mike Price has talked to Mr. Zimmer about the possibility of becoming the defensive coordinator at Alabama, two sources said.

Mr. Parcells would like to hire Dan Henning to be offensive coordinator, two sources said. Mr. Henning is Carolina's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but there has been speculation that the Panthers would release him from his contract so that they could hire New York Giants offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Sean Payton.

Mr. Payton worked with Carolina coach John Fox when Mr. Fox was the Giants defensive coordinator.

Hurdles overcome

The potential union between Mr. Parcells and the Cowboys appeared to hit two snags Sunday, when Tampa Bay notified Mr. Parcells' agent, Jimmy Sexton, that it believes talks with the Cowboys violate NFL tampering rules. Tampa Bay contends that a team must get its permission before talking to Mr. Parcells because he signed a four-year contract with the Buccaneers last year before opting not to take the job.

A source close to Mr. Parcells said Tampa Bay never sent the contract to the league office, where the commissioner is required to approve it. The source also said Tampa Bay never filled out a personnel form notifying the league's other teams that he was under contract.

"The Bucs will present their case later in the week," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "Nothing prevents Bill Parcells from signing with another team."

Mr. Jones also was criticized Sunday for violating the spirit of a new NFL policy that requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate before hiring a coach.

Green interviewed

Mr. Jones conducted a phone interview with former Minnesota coach Dennis Green, who is black. He has had two face-to-face meetings, totaling 11 hours, with Mr. Parcells. Mr. Jones and Mr. Parcells spoke by phone Sunday.

"There is no issue with the Cowboys," Mr. Aiello said. "Jerry has a long-standing relationship with Dennis Green from their days on the competition committee. This was a special situation. A telephone interview is not always sufficient."

Mr. Campo, 15-33 in three seasons with the Cowboys, is the fourth man to have three consecutive seasons with at least 10 losses in his first three seasons as an NFL head coach. Fourteen times his teams lost by more than 10 points, including 10 losses by more than 20 points.

Mr. Jones, though, didn't blame Mr. Campo entirely for Dallas finishing 5-11 each of the last three seasons.

Mr. Jones blames the 2000 season results on injuries to Troy Aikman and Joey Galloway. He blames the 2001 season results on $23 million in salary-cap room allotted to players no longer on the team.

Season gone awry

This season, Mr. Jones blames an injury-ravaged offensive line and the decision to begin starting rookie quarterback Chad Hutchinson, who spent the last four years playing baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, in the eighth game.

"Sometimes when changes take place, they are not always fair to the individual involved. Coaching, in particular, is often an unfair profession," Mr. Jones said. "Sometimes, in the coaching profession, unfortunate things happen to outstanding individuals. This is one of those cases."

Mr. Campo insisted Monday that he wasn't angry at Mr. Jones for firing him. And he wasn't mad that word leaked out last week that Mr. Jones and Mr. Parcells met for five hours Dec. 18.

Mr. Campo has said he always considered himself lucky to work for the Cowboys.

After all, he started as an assistant to the assistant coaches in 1989, became the secondary coach in 1991, the defensive coordinator in 1995 and the head coach in 2000.

"When I accepted this position, I didn't take it with a disclaimer that said things wouldn't be difficult. I knew what I was getting into," Mr. Campo said. "I knew that we were an organization in transition. I knew that there would be strong challenges.

"I truly love this organization, love this community, the Jones family and the passion they have for the game of football and the Dallas Cowboys. I'm a Dallas Cowboy, and part of me will always be a Dallas Cowboy."