'He's No Yes Man!' Fiery Dave Campo Reacts To Dallas Cowboys’ Mike Zimmer Hire
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys' recent re-hire of Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator has a number of his former colleagues coming forward to share thoughts about Zimmer's new role.
One former Cowboys head coach who is excited about Zimmer returning to Dallas is Dave Campo, who appeared on 105.3 The Fan to discuss the hire.
Campo and Zimmer go all the way back to 1981 where both were at Weber State, where Campo served as an assistant while Zimmer coached inside linebackers and defensive backs.
"The first thing I learned about Mike Zimmer at Weber State was he is very passionate about what he did and very outspoken and just a tough coach, which he has that reputation now throughout his career," Campo said.
Campo said when Barry Switzer took over as head coach of the Cowboys in 1994, he was able to get Zimmer hired as assistant secondary coach before he was promoted to defensive coordinator when Campo took over as head coach in 2000.
"I loved him because he's not a yes man. ... He has his own ideas and he's very transparent. Everyone knows what those ideas are, including the players, the head coach, whoever it is," Campo continued.
“In the end, when it was all said and done, whenever I said, 'That's great, Zim, but we're doing it this way.' that's the way we did it.
"From a loyalty standpoint, I thought that was one of his strengths, and I think one of the things he brings to the table is he has a passion for winning."
Campo and Zimmer worked together in Dallas from 1994 through 2002, including Campo's two seasons as head coach when Zimmer served as his defensive coordinator.
Former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells also spoke about Zimmer.
“He's a coach's son, and I always liked that because they lived it at the dinner table when they were young," Parcells told ESPN. "[Bill] Belichick was the same way. That's the kind of guys they were. But I got to like Mike and we've become good friends."
Current coach Mike McCarthy hopes Zimmer can regain some of that defensive magic that he helped develop in the mid-90s for a deep playoff run in 2024. … with Zimmer - no “yes man” bringing his own ideas while meshing them with what McCarthy has already built.
