Can Bruce Read make the special teams Special?

Dallas has a new special teams coach in Bruce Read. He has five years of NFL experience and has been a special teams coach his entire 22-year career with Oregon State University, NY Giants, San Diego, and University of Montana (he was actually assistant coach for one year there).

Don't get me wrong, our special teams was above average, besides the field goal kicking game. The Cowboys averaged 23.3 yards per kickoff return last season, eighth in the NFL. The Cowboys scored on one punt return when Terence Newman ran a 56-yarder in the finale against Detroit (which we lost!). Newman led the club with 10.1 yards per punt return, but it's not good enough

Apparently, the word is Isaiah Stanback is going to take over for Newman for punt returns. The rookie from Washington was a quarterback there before he injured his foot, ending his season.

He did have some kick returns but nothing stellar:

KICK RETURNS           G   No.    Yds  TD  Lg Avg/R Avg/G
2003................  11     8    133   0  23  16.6  12.1
2004................   7     0      0   0   0   0.0   0.0
2005................  11     0      0   0   0   0.0   0.0
2006................   8     0      0   0   0   0.0   0.0
TOTAL...............  37     8    133   0  23  16.6   3.6

Stanback competed on the college team as a sprinter. He was just shy of setting the school's 100-meter record. Did you know that the Baltimore Orioles selected him in the 45th round of the 2006 draft? He is obviously speedy.

But time will tell if he can catch the ball from the air, dodge tacklers and hit the end zone a few times a year to help the Cowboys reach the playoffs. I am so excited for the season to start!