1-25-02, 12:05 a.m.
BY GEOFF HOBSON
Former Bengals head coach Bruce Coslet meets with Jerry Jones Friday, but doesn't know if the owner of the Dallas Cowboys plans to offer him the job of offensive coordinator.
Jones has already talked to former Florida head coach Galen Hall and former San Diego State head coach Ted Tollner with Hall perceived to be the leader in the clubhouse.
Coslet, out of the NFL since he resigned after the Bengals started the 2000 season 0-3, is all ears.
"Let's see what Jerry has to say. I'm anxious to hear what he has to say," Coslet said Thursday night. "He's on the East Coast and said he'd like to come by and talk about it and I'm flattered."
Coslet, who has moved pretty much to Florida full-time, plans to meet Jones Friday afternoon in Naples, Fla., with the Cowboys seeking a successor to the fired Jack Reilly. Coslet would be going from one struggling young quarterback in Akili Smith to another one in Quincy Carter. In fact, the Cowboys replaced the Bengals this season as the team with the NFL's worst passing game.
But Coslet, 55, said that doesn't
deter him from considering the Cowboys. He's determined to return to the NFL, where he has coached all but five years since he retired as a tight end with the Bengals after the 1976 season. He spent 16 seasons in Cincinnati, the last three-and-a-half of them as head coach with a 21-39 record. He was 26-39 during four seasons with the Jets, but made his mark as the coordinator of the Bengals' No. 1-ranked offense from 1986-89.
"It can be a good opportunity depending on what the plans are, which is why I want to see what Jerry has in mind," Coslet said. "I would imagine it would take about a week before something is done."
Coslet said he has also heard rumblings that the new coaching staffs in Minnesota and Carolina may also have him on their lists.
He was surprised to hear some reports that he talked to Jones Thursday.
"I was at a golf merchandise show all day," Coslet said with a laugh. "I didn't know Jerry was interested until my son called and said he saw the report. Then Jerry called me and I'm glad he did."
Last January, Coslet met for eight hours with then new Redskins coach Marty Schottenheimer, but didn't get the coordinator's job on what turned out to be a doomed staff.
