By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Nov. 18, 1998

The transition was inevitable.

The

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difference between those crazy, unsettling four years with Bonehead Barry Switzer as coach and the down-home, honest approach of Chan Gailey reflects how far the Dallas Cowboys have come this season.

With Switzer, you had a guy who didn't have the greatest situation when he left the University of Oklahoma after the 1988 season, then replaced Jimmy Johnson with the Cowboys in 1994.

Yes, they won Super Bowl XXX, their third title in four years, and first without Johnson.

But there was a problem festering, a lack of discipline and country club atmosphere that disturbed several of the serious players the Cowboys retained. A 12-4 record in his first two seasons, then 10-6 in his third reflected a downward spiral despite NFC East titles all three years. Practices had become a sham and rumblings of how upset quarterback Troy Aikman had become was common knowledge.

THUS, NOBODY WAS STUNNED WHEN the Cowboys collapsed in 1997 to a fourth-place, 6-10 finish without a post-season. Switzer was blown out. Players were happy. And the transition was under way.

Then again, Gailey's head-coaching experience had been limited to a couple of years in the World League and three years at Troy State University.

Considering last season, their present 7-3 record and slipping back into contention while the NFC is mired in a reorganization of its power structure, was hardly a given.

"I don't think I had any preconceived ideas," Gailey said. "I felt very fortunate to come into a situation with a team that had a nucleus of very good players. We've tried to build around that nucleus. The players here have a lot of pride ... do not like being called losers, and have tried very hard to shake that tag that they got last year."

The point was well taken. When you have Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin at your key skill positions, it isn't a difficult group to build around. Despite the aging of the offensive line, the talent was still there. And the defense, too, was hardly a weak group. They had lost their edge under Switzer and everybody knew it.

Aikman refuses to go into the differences between the two men. He's just happy to be back playing after breaking his collarbone during the second game of the season and has played in three games since coming back. Nonetheless, the return to grace is a welcome relief.

"We're in the 11th week, guys, so I don't want to talk about what took place last year, the differences and all that," Aikman said. "Chan's done a great job of leading this football team and given us a real sense of direction. I think the players have responded to that. We were doing things pretty much one way for nine years around here and Chan's brought some different ideas.

"Probably, more than anything, a sense of accountability."

THEREIN LIES THE KEY. WITH ALL THE turmoil surrounding Switzer and the players during his volatile years -- ranging from drug problems with players to his own arrest at an airport for carrying a gun -- it would be logical to assume the Cowboys are better just because their coach is now a responsible adult.

Gailey does things in an organized and logical fashion. In his last four years as an offensive assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers (the final two as offensive coordinator), he earned a big fan in quarterback Kordell Stewart. Stewart still hasn't gotten into the same rhythm at quarterback this season with Ray Sherman, and that has as much to do with the inconsistent Steelers as any other reason this season.

"We

Chan Gailey says potential doesn't count for much. 'The reality is ... what did you do?' (Allsport)

had a great relationship," Stewart said. "Chan always had me prepared and comfortable for every game. It takes time to replace that."

Some guys come in and just fit as a coach. It's unpredictable. There are ways to figure it out. Now, to take Gailey and make him coach of the New York Giants probably wouldn't have been such an appropriate move. That "gawsh awwful" southern drawl of Gailey's wouldn't play the same in the Meadowlands as it does in Irving, Texas.

Then again, it worked just fine in Pittsburgh and in his five seasons as an assistant in Denver with the Broncos from 1985-89, he certainly earned the respect of John Elway.

"He is a great coach and a quality person," Elway said. "Troy is going to enjoy working with him as I did during his days here in Denver."

NOT TO BELABOR THE POINT, but the context of his personal qualities continually gets raised. A 46-year-old native of Gainesville, Ga., Gailey is in his 25th season as a football coach. For 11 years, he toiled in college from Florida through Troy State, tiny Samford in Birmingham, and the Air Force Academy.

There is no mystery to his approach, as his wife and two sons will attest. Gailey comes from the school that believes there are two ways to go through life ... the right way and the wrong way. Considering the Cowboys remain a predominantly veteran team that works hard, they just required a different personality than Switzer's, setting them up to succeed as opposed to the failure that seemed to be surrounding Switzer.

Gailey says the only thing that matters is a consistently stable and honest approach with players and explaining their roles. He used free agent Chris Warren, an All-Pro running back in Seattle, as an example. He explained to Warren that he would be a third-down back and backup to Smith before they signed him. Consequently, Warren has been happy and productive.

The evidence is all there that Gailey has a grand plan. He scoffs at talk about the potential of the team and anticipation of competing for the NFC title that is always on the minds of the Dallas media and fans.

"The one thing I found out about people," Gailey said, "and this is people in general, if you're honest with them, and talk to them about what's right and what needs to be done, they'll listen. They might not do everything that needs to be done, but they'll listen. And if you make sense, they'll try it. That's the reason you were brought here in the first place.

"Our guys have great expectations of playing in big football games late in the year and going into the playoffs. Most teams have that expectation either the first of the year and on down the line. We're no different. Potential is one of those unusual words that don't mean anything. All it is (is) something that can happen in the future. The reality is ... what did you do? And you don't get to that until the end."

To date, the Cowboys are gaining momentum as a loaded weapon going into the playoffs. Only this season, you won't see their coach get arrested carrying a gun into the airport. He is their newest weapon and we don't need to wait until the end to figure that out.