Hackett Plans to Meet With McGee Tuesday

Paul Hackett, the passing offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, said Saturday that he scheduled a Tuesday meeting with USC Athletic Director Mike McGee to discuss the coaching job at the school.

Hackett, who was USC’s quarterback coach from 1976 through 1980, said he wasn’t sure where the meeting will be held, but it will most likely be in the Dallas area.

McGee had previously received permission from Dallas President Tex Schramm to talk with Hackett after the Cowboys’ season ends. It will end today with a game against the Chicago Bears. The Cowboys, with a 7-8 record, failed to make the playoffs.

In a previous interview with The Times, Hackett said he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to return to college coaching, adding, though, that the USC job is something special because of his emotional ties to the school.

Asked if he is interested now, Hackett said:

“I’ve got to be at this early stage. I just have to listen to what Mike McGee has to say. You know how I feel about USC and you know my background there, and even though I’ve committed myself to pro football, I want to listen very carefully to what Mike McGee says. After I’ve done that, I’ll have a better idea.”

Hackett, 39, was among the first four coaches that John Robinson hired when Robinson assembled his staff at USC in 1976. Hackett had previously been the quarterback coach at California, where he was credited with the development of Steve Bartkowski and Joe Roth.

After leaving USC, Hackett was with the Cleveland Browns in 1981-82, moved on to the San Francisco 49ers from 1983 through 1985, then joined Dallas this season.

It has been rumored that Hackett would be strongly considered for Tom Landry’s job when the Dallas coach retires. But Landry, the only head coach the Cowboys have had, said he has no intention of retiring at the present time. “We’re in a little bit of a dip now, but history has proven what we can do, and Coach Landry is very excited about next year because of our young people,” Hackett said. “It’s a great place to be, and who knows what the future will bring? On the other hand, there is only one USC.”

It was speculated that Hackett would become USC’s coach when Robinson was debating whether to take the New England Patriot coaching job at the end of the 1981 season.

Hackett said he met with USC President James H. Zumberge and talked about the situation with Robinson.

“At that time, nothing had been decided in terms of what John was going to do,” Hackett said. “Of course, nothing came of it.”

Robinson resigned, however, in 1982 and recommended Ted Tollner to Zumberge as his successor.

“I was never contacted at that time,” Hackett said. “I was a little bit surprised but, then again, I had been away from USC for a couple of years, and sometimes being in the right place at the right time makes a big difference.

“The interesting thing was that in the same year Bill Walsh called me and I ended up in San Francisco and we went on to win the Super Bowl. One of the reasons I’m being considered now (for the USC job), if I am, would be because we did go to the Super Bowl and I did have that experience with Bill Walsh.”

McGee has already interviewed Dave Levy and plans to interview the former John McKay assistant coach again. McGee interviewed Arizona Coach Larry Smith Thursday. Baylor Coach Grant Teaff withdrew his name from consideration.

It is believed that McGee plans to interview other coaching candidates, with no rigid time frame in regard to naming the new coach.