The Dallas Cowboys have typically had a history of putting winning teams together, with their eras of extended losing only lasting for a handful of years. One of the few exceedingly bleak times in franchise history came during the late 90s and early 2000s after the dynasty flaked away.
After Barry Switzer left town, the Cowboys made two head coach hires that were unable to capture their past glory and sent this franchise on a path to the mediocrity they find themselves in.
Dave Campo may have a reputation as a great defensive coach, but his time as head coach with the Cowboys makes him far and away the worst leading man this franchise has ever had.
Dave Campo is the worst coach in Dallas Cowboys history
Campo came to Dallas as one of Jimmy Johnson's many trusted college assistants, as the former Miami defensive backs coach had over a decade of experience coaching on that side of the ball at the collegiate level. Campo was named defensive backs coach in Dallas, eventually getting promoted to defensive coordinator after Butch Davis left.
While the dynastic Cowboys were always known as an offensive team led by The Triplets and the legendary offensive line, Campo's defense was consistently ranked at or near the very top of the league. Multiple Hall of Famers plied their trade at the heart of this Cowboys defense.
When Chan Gailey floundered as a head coach at the tail end of Troy Aikman's career, the Cowboys chose to bring Campo into the head coaching world over well-respected special teams coach Joe Avezzano and the greatest offensive line coach ever in Hudson Houck. Both were retained under Campo.
To be fair to Campo, he came in at the tail end of a comet. Aikman threw just seven touchdowns all season long, Emmitt Smith was getting up there in age as a 31-year-old running back, and Michael Irvin was medically forced away from the game before he got there. Those confluences of circumstances led to a 5-11 record in his first season.
Not only did the Cowboys lose star offseason acquisition Joey Galloway in the first game of the season, but Dallas finished just 23rd in points scored and 22nd in points allowed. This led to a more earnest rebuild that helped buy Campo a bit of slack heading into 2001.
Dallas went 5-11 in 2001, but even Tom Landry would have struggled with these quarterbacks. Quincy Carter started eight games, Anthony Wright and all-time draft bust Ryan Leaf started three each, and Clint Stoerner started two. Those quarterbacks combined for just 14 touchdown passes and 20 interceptions.
2002 was supposed to be where it all turned around for Campo. Dallas had added both La'Roi Glover and Roy Williams while expecting a jump in production from Carter. It took a Week 1 loss against the expansion Houston Texans to begin the doom spiral in what would be Campo's final season.
Campo's record? You guessed it. 5-11. Carter and Chad Hutchinson combined once again for more interceptions than touchdowns, all while Smith failed to hit 1,000 yards rushing and started to look his age. Dallas couldn't tolerate another losing season, which prompted the Bill Parcells hire.
Campo, who bounced around the league as a defensive coordinator before returning to Dallas as defensive backs coach, will always have fond memories of his time as a DC, but his nice guy personality was not the right fit for a head coach role.