First Things First : Wannstedt Refuses to Think About Becoming Bears’ Coach Until After He Has Prepared Cowboy Defense for Super Bowl

Dave Wannstedt, next coach of the Chicago Bears, was back in blue sweatclothes last week, attacking the final days of his Dallas Cowboy career with characteristic fury.

His future is in Chicago, but for now, the Super Bowl and the Buffalo Bills beckon.

“Nothing’s different,” said Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson, who shepherded Wannstedt through the job-interview process.

Asked if Wannstedt has been able to concentrate on the Cowboy defense after being hired last Tuesday to coach the Bears, Johnson said: “He’s just doing what he gets paid for.”

Just another day at the office for a team about to make its first Super Bowl appearance in 14 years with a defensive coordinator who is about to replace Chicago legend Mike Ditka.

Camera crews follow Wannstedt, 40, on his daily jog around the Cowboys’ Valley Ranch complex now, and hundreds of unanswered phone messages are piling up on the desk of the only man chosen to be head coach of one NFL team while preparing to coach in a Super Bowl game for another.

But Wannstedt, popping out of his office briefly after practice late last week to answer a few questions, does not seem to be distracted after having been the No. 1 coaching choice of both the Bears and the New York Giants.

All of the questions about the makeup of his first Bear staff and the potential chaos of dual team loyalties are rendered moot by the tone of his voice.

“It’s been nice, because I’ll be perfectly honest with you, the only person that I’ve talked to really in the last two days has been my wife on the phone,” Wannstedt said. “And I’m going to keep it that way right through the Super Bowl.

“That’s the commitment. That’s what I owe to the Dallas Cowboys. I owe that to myself. I owe that, most importantly, to these players. That’s truly how I’m going to go about it. And after the Super Bowl, there’ll be time for what needs to be done as far as getting in order with Chicago.”

Without one player voted to the Pro Bowl, Wannstedt’s agile defense led the NFL in fewest yards given up and has been coldly efficient through two playoff victories.

Wannstedt acknowledged feeling a touch of nostalgia as he walks through Valley Ranch these days, knowing that even as he is readying his defensive players for the Bills, he is also saying farewell.

“What I did this morning . . . in the meeting, it was the first time we were together since it happened,” Wannstedt said, “and the only words I had was, ‘Thank you.’

“And they know exactly where I’m coming from. Because in this profession . . . players win games, and then there’s success for the team and then there’s credit to be given. That’s how the thing works.

“I think as long as you keep it in that perspective and that order . . . at least I do. I feel good about the situation--and I think the guys know exactly how I feel.”

They do.

“I know his heart and soul right now is with the Dallas Cowboys and helping us win the Super Bowl,” defensive end Jim Jeffcoat said. “I’m going to miss Dave because, personally, he’s a friend.

“But I understand this is a great opportunity for him, and he’s going to be a great head coach.”

Beyond the talk of distractions and preparations for Buffalo, Wannstedt’s departure will open a void in Johnson’s staff that fellow assistants do not deny.

Wannstedt, who has been with Johnson off and on since their days together at the University of Pittsburgh in the late-1970s, through Johnson’s head-coaching stints at Oklahoma State and the University of Miami and finally all four years with the Cowboys, is Johnson’s most trusted lieutenant and closest friend.

He is the one assistant who can communicate openly with Johnson, according to offensive line coach Tony Wise, who also is part of Johnson’s inner circle and probably Wannstedt’s best friend.

Wise almost certainly will have to choose between following Wannstedt to Chicago and staying in Dallas when the Super Bowl is over.

Wannstedt often jogs with Johnson, time they use to talk about their jobs and the team. It was on one of those jogs that Johnson first brought up the idea of trading Herschel Walker, the move that set the foundation for the Cowboys’ success.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Wise said, “Dave is the guy who talks to Jimmy.

“Jimmy likes him, Jimmy respects him, Jimmy trusts him. And not only that, but he trusts his opinion on things because Dave is a very sound coach. So he doesn’t givebad advice. He’s not a crazy man--let’s blitz here and blitz there--and end up losing a ballgame because of it.

“And he’s a hard-nosed guy, which Jimmy likes. So the two of them in a lot of areas really mesh together.”

Wannstedt, the only assistant Johnson allows in the room on draft day, got the additional title of assistant head coach during the last off-season when he almost became the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coach. So, when there is a point to be made to Johnson, Wise said, Wannstedt makes it.

“That’s one of his true functions, yes,” Wise said. “It could (concern) when the vacation is taken. It could be whether we’re going to try to block a kick. It could be a lot of things.

“It’s like a family. It has developed that way.”

Johnson allowed Wannstedt to interview with other teams this winter, even though the Cowboys were still playing--almost unheard of in the NFL--and even spoke to Bear owner Mike McCaskey about the situation.

Earlier this season, the University of Pittsburgh was interested in Wannstedt, reportedly offering a financial package that could have totaled $1.25 million over three years, and Johnson made sure Wannstedt knew what he was rejecting.

“When I felt like he could have had the University of Pittsburgh job . . . I talked to him about the money,” Johnson said.

“I said, ‘Dave, here’s what you’re turning down. . . .’ He said, ‘Well, I couldn’t leave before the end of the season.’ I said, ‘The heck with this, you’ve got to do what’s best for your career and for you and your family. If you have to leave tomorrow, we’ll adjust, we’ll go on about our business.’

“He said he couldn’t do that. That tells you a little about Dave. I said, ‘Hey, your life and your family, their lives come above what adjustments we have to make.’ ”

As the offers rolled in for Wannstedt, Johnson said he knew his leaving was “inevitable,” so he tried to make sure Wannstedt wasn’t frozen out of NFL coaching vacancies because the Cowboys were in the Super Bowl.

“As Dave and I talked,” Wise said, “(some) guys could’ve said, ‘You can’t talk to him until after the bowl game,’ then they give it to (San Francisco 49er assistant Mike) Shanahan or somebody else. And Dave just goes on vacation.”

Wannstedt agreed that, even though it was obvious he would eventually leave Johnson for a team of his own, the decision to depart wasn’t easy.

Johnson suggested that one of the reasons Wannstedt chose the Bears over the Giants was that he didn’t want to damage his relationship with Johnson by coaching a team in the same division.

“Jimmy’s like a brother to me,” Wannstedt said, “and I’ll always value his friendship and his opinion both personally and professionally.”

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Wannstedt, however, is not a Johnson clone, and if anything, he is closer to Ditka’s firecracker personality than to Johnson’s cool, cocky attitude.

Wannstedt, as did Ditka, grew up in western Pennsylvania, played for Pitt and now comes to the Bears after a stint as a Cowboy assistant.

“He comes from a real solid background . . . if he was to ever go back to Pittsburgh and talk or act differently, they’d disown him,” Wise said.

“And he loves his upbringing. Every time Ditka would come on (television and) say, ‘I’m from a steeltown and I had a hard upbringing,’ he’d say, ‘Yeah, that’s the same thing I went through.’ ”

But now, as Wannstedt plans how to defend against Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly and the rest of the Bills, he is not letting his mind wander to the task of replacing Ditka or even packing for Chicago.

Before he assumes his biggest job, Wannstedt has to coach in his biggest game.

“I know that the Super Bowl is the ultimate goal,” he said, “and that’s all we’re talking about now. We’re not addressing any other alternative, except to win.”