Paul Hackett was brought in with the idea that he would one day succeed the legendary Tom Landry.
It didn’t work out. Shortly after leaving the Cowboys, Hackett returned to college to become the offensive coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh.
About the same time, a young man with a master’s degree in sports administration and a passion for coaching had moved back to his parents home in Pittsburgh to save some money. He applied for a graduate assistant’s job at the school, hoping to get his foot in the door.
The 25-year-old quickly made himself indispensable, so much so that four years later when Hackett left to become a coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs, he lobbied to create a new position so he could bring his acolyte.
That man is now in his fifth season as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, returning to his hometown this weekend in search of the 170th victory of his NFL career.
Hackett never did follow in Landry’s footsteps.
Mike McCarthy did. It turns out he was the heir apparent — seven coaches removed — that would take over the storied franchise and be the one to incorporate the West Coast offense his mentor was tasked with installing in the late 1980s.
The irony isn’t lost on either man.
“I’ll tell you what, that’s really something,’’ said McCarthy, who reveres Hackett as one of the central figures in his coaching career.
“Better late than never.’’
A vision for the future
Landry was into his third decade as the only coach the Cowboys had ever known when management began to think about a successor.
Dan Reeves. John Mackovic. Raymond Berry. Gene Stallings. Mike Ditka. All had trained under Landry before striking out on their own careers.
There was a bright, young quarterbacks coach in San Franciso who had caught Tex Schramm’s eye. The Cowboys general manager was intrigued by Paul Hackett and what was being called the West Coast offense.
Landry was the one to call 49ers coach Bill Walsh to ask for permission to speak to Hackett before the ‘86 season. But the process was driven by Schramm and then-owner Bum Bright, who wanted to lay a bridge to football after Landry’s eventual retirement.
“It was real clear-cut what I came in to do,’’ Hackett said. “It was Tex Schramm’s vision. He wanted a full-blown dose of what we were doing in San Francisco.
“It wasn’t Tom Landry’s vision. Tom was interested in a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
“There was a conflict in terms of what I was bringing.’’
There was one more talented complication. The Cowboys signed Herschel Walker in Hackett’s first training camp, pairing him with Tony Dorsett for what was called a Dream Backfield.
“Who is going to block?’’ Hackett asked after learning of the move.
“Oh, you’ll figure it out,’’ Schramm cackled.
The Cowboys got off to a 6-2 start and had the NFL’s top-rated offense that season before quarterback Danny White broke a bone and tore the ligaments in his throwing wrist. He missed the remainder of the season and wasn’t the same when he returned.
Melding the two offensive concepts became even more problematic from that point forward. When Bright unexpectedly sold the franchise to a brash, Arkansas businessman named Jerry Jones in ‘89 the succession plan was out the window.
It was already on hold. Schramm had long proclaimed that Landry would coach the Cowboys as long as he wanted. The iconic coach, who had indicated he was close to retirement at one point, had no intention of stepping down after a 3-13 season and informed Schramm of that reality.
Landry felt an obligation to stay until the team was on more solid ground.
“The head coaching job was never promised,’’ Hackett said. “That’s not the way Tex operated.
“The atmosphere was that the organization would create an opportunity for you, and then it was up to you to do something with it.’’
Foot in the door
McCarthy was an all-conference tight end at Baker University, a small, NAIA Division II school in Kansas, when Hackett went to the Cowboys in ‘86. McCarthy spent the next two years at nearby Fort Hays State, coaching linebackers as an unpaid graduate assistant.
He returned home in the spring of ‘89 in the hopes of finding a coaching job that would pay. He lined up an interview at the University of Pittsburgh, only a couple of miles from his home, with Alex Kramer, the program’s director of football operations.
There were no openings. But several days later, when Kramer learned that Alleghany College was interested, he called McCarthy and offered him a graduate assistant position.
Unpaid.
McCarthy accepted over the phone, then took a night job in a toll booth with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to earn a little extra money before training camp.
The first time Hackett and McCarthy met was that summer when the budding head coach walked into Hackett’s office and told the coordinator he would do anything that needed to be done. Hackett had heard young coaches say that before.
“I thought I’d drive him out of here in a week or two, knowing he would need to work a ridiculous amount,’’ Hackett said. “He said the one thing I know is how to work.
“And he did. I just gave him more and more. He was such a hard worker, and very smart. He was learning all he could about football.
“When it came to learning about quarterback, he was a sponge. He loved all of the ins and outs and nuances of the position. He jumped all over it.’’
McCarthy loved every second of it. He was floored by Hackett’s encyclopedic knowledge and experience and wrote everything down.
Less than two weeks before the Panthers faced Texas A&M in the John Hancock Bowl, Mike Gottfried was dismissed as head coach due to a difference of opinion with the administration. Hackett was named the interim coach and then offered the full-time job in front of the players and staff in the locker room before the bowl game.
Hackett began to lean on McCarthy more and more. He eventually made him the wide receivers coach because that group needs to see the game the way the quarterback sees it, and he knew McCarthy would get that across.
McCarthy was truly, in Hackett’s words, “my right hand.’’ He helped the veteran coach put together the game plan. Both men wore headsets during the game with Hackett calling the plays and McCarthy passing along suggestions based on what he saw.
“It was an incredible opportunity and I knew it,’’ McCarthy said.
Another opportunity was on the horizon.
A no-brainer
Paul and Elizabeth Hackett invited McCarthy over for dinner on a Saturday night.
That wasn’t unusual. The three had grown close in their four years together in Pittsburgh. The couple trusted McCarthy to babysit their son, Nathaniel, on their rare date nights.
“He was a great kid,’’ McCarthy said of the Hackett who is now the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. “We would shoot hoops all night in the driveway.
“That was my kind of job.’’
But McCarthy wasn’t asked over to watch Nathaniel that evening. During dinner, Hackett told his friend that he had an opportunity to return to the NFL as the Chiefs coordinator. He then showed McCarthy a pair of plane tickets and asked him to leave for Kansas City with him the next day.
Marty Schottenheimer was the franchise’s head coach. He came from a defensive background and had a quality control coach on that side of the ball. He didn’t have that position offensively.
Hackett convinced Schottenheimer he needed the same position on his side of the ball. He needed someone who spoke the same offensive language to help get the new staff on the same page. Plus, the guy he had in mind was good with computers and could put together graphics for PowerPoint presentations to help teach his concepts.
“It was a no-brainer for me to appeal to Marty to hire Mike,’’ Hackett said. “Fortunately, he did.
“Mike had such a huge impact on my time in Kansas City.’’
There was an added benefit for McCarthy. Hackett was no longer his sole teacher about the West Coast offense. He got to pick the brain of Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Montana. When he took over as the Chiefs quarterbacks coach two years later, Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac and Steve Bono were in the room.
McCarthy calls his time with the Chiefs the biggest break of career. He owes it all to Hackett.
“Mike was part of our family by the time we left Pittsburgh,’’ Hackett said. “In Kansas City, we were inseparable. The kids, wife, all of us.
“I’m the one who benefitted from our relationship. Those were five great years. But it was great to see him go off on his own.’’
Hackett’s charge is complete
McCarthy was named the ninth head coach in Cowboys history on Jan. 8, 2020, four decades after circumstances nudged the job out of his mentor’s grasp.
A bit more irony: McCarthy replaced Jason Garrett, the coach Jones publicly proclaimed he hoped would become his Tom Landry.
The Cowboys still ran the timing offense from the tree of former San Diego coach Don Coryell when McCarthy took over. He didn’t change the offense initially because he didn’t think it was fair to quarterback Dak Prescott. He also liked the creativity of coordinator Kellen Moore, who he inherited from Garrett’s staff.
McCarthy has always believed his job was to make the quarterback as comfortable as possible. That’s why he didn’t rush to make changes. He kept the timing offense in place and let Moore call the plays.
Hackett didn’t understand. He considers McCarthy a great quarterbacks coach, maintaining he understands the details of the position better than anyone in the league, and an excellent play caller.
“What the hell are you doing?’’ Hackett would ask in his calls to his friend and former student. “How could you give it up?
“That’s one of the things we went back and forth about.’’
Moore left for Los Angeles — he’s now in Philadelphia — before last season and McCarthy resumed calling the plays. He installed the West Coast offense, the foundation he said was built by Hackett.
Prescott responded with his best season in a Cowboys uniform.
“I love him,’’ McCarthy said of Hackett. “I have so much respect for him and Elizabeth. I’m blessed by the grace of God to interact and have established a relationship with that family.
“They have taught me so much in life and in the business of pro football.’’
Hackett is 77 years old. He’s been out of coaching for 14 years and now spends his time with his wife, Elizabeth, at their home in New Hampshire. He has never been envious of the job McCarthy obtained.
“It couldn’t have happened to a more wonderful guy,’’ Hackett said. “He’s a great coach and has proven it.
“That was a great honor for me to work with Tex and Tom. They are legends. But for Mike to be able to coach there now, even with that big gap in betweeen...
“It’s wonderful.’’
Catch David Moore and Robert Wilonsky as they co-host Intentional Grounding on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. through the Super Bowl.
Twitter: @DavidMooreDMN
Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
