Looming Large

Football Digest, Nov, 2000 by C.J. Williams

Cowboys linebacker Dexter Coakley has never allowed his small stature to prevent him from performing big deeds on the football field

DEXTER COAKLEY DIDN'T LET his mother, Barbara Coakley, chart his growth on a wall in their Mt. Pleasant, S.C., home. He simply always accepted that he was short, shorter than his two younger sisters and shorter than most NFL players.

Coakley now is just 5'9 3/4", but he isn't about to allow his height to stand in his way.

Last season he became only the second Dallas Cowboys linebacker in the past 17 years to be voted to the Pro Bowl, joining Ken Norton Jr., who earned the honor in 1993 before signing with the San Francisco 49ers in '94.

"All my career I've heard that I wasn't capable: `He won't be able to get it done,'" says Coakley, whose mother is 5'3" but whose father, William, is a foot taller than that. "I've used that as a burning fire--you know, like a ball of fire that was burning. I just used that as fuel that was thrown on that fire constantly. I went out there and tried to work harder than the other guys to get noticed."

In a game of inches, Coakley's statistics are bigger than the measuring tape. Coakley actually has .65 of an inch on the average American man, but in the NFL he is above average only when comparing big plays. Based on 2000 training camp rosters, just four other NFL linebackers are 5'10" while 13 are 5'11". The average height of an NFL linebacker is 6'1.67".

However, what Coakley lacks in height, he makes up for with speed, strength, and smarts. During the 1998 offseason, he ran a personal-best 4.28 in the 40-yard dash. This past offseason he joined an elite list of Cowboys--mostly offensive linemen--who bench-press at least 500 pounds.

"Look at him," Cowboys free safety George Teague says. "What is he, 5'4", 5'5", maybe 200 pounds? But he's real compact and strong. He has a lot of power. He's quick, very quick. That's where a lot of people get caught, not knowing how good he is. And he has some serious instincts for the football."

Not surprisingly, Coakley's NFL role models aren't exactly hulking giants: Sam Mills, who played 12 seasons at linebacker despite being just 5'9", and Zach Thomas, the Miami Dolphins' 5'11" Pro Bowl linebacker.

Now Coakley has become an inspiration for other height-challenged players, namely 5'11" middle linebacker Dat Nguyen, who's in his second season on the Cowboys. "He's the guy who paved the road for me to get an opportunity to be where I am," Nguyen says. "He's definitely a guy I look up to. He's been going through obstacles all his life, and he's become a great player and made a name for himself. I'd love to be in his shoes. He's certainly opened the door for being a Pro Bowler."

When Coakley was a defensive back and running back at Wando High in South Carolina, his height wasn't an issue. He twice was the team's most valuable player and twice was all-conference. And at Appalachian State, where he had a school-record 616 tackles and 13 forced fumbles, his height wasn't mentioned either. Only when NFL scouts began coming around during his senior season was it scrutinized.

"I heard, `Well, he won't make it to the NFL because he's not 6'4", 240 pounds,'" says Coakley, who weighs 228. "It never hampered me. It never came into play [while in college]. But it was discouraging every time I spoke to an NFL scout, and he would always say, `If you were an inch taller, you would be a millionaire. You would be the first linebacker taken in the draft.'"

At home, the only time Coakley's height ever presented a sizable problem was when his younger--and taller--sisters stood over him, staring down and flashing a grin. "They knew I had a complex about my height sometimes," Coakley says. "I would just push them away and tell them to get away from me."

"I went out there and worked harder than the other guys," says Coakley.

That's the same strategy he used on his critics. In 1997, after being drafted by the Cowboys in the third round, Coakley made an immediate impression, becoming the team's starting weakside linebacker early in training camp. Coakley started all 48 games his first three seasons, compiling 394 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 11 quarterback pressures, 20 passes defensed, and six interceptions.

"I think he's done a wonderful job," Cowboys coach Dave Campo says. "You don't always know what to expect from a guy who doesn't fit the mold. But when he first came here, there was no question in my mind that he was a quality guy just by the way he went about his business. He's gotten better every year."

Obviously, Coakley always has worn his size well. At the Pro Bowl last season, it wasn't Coakley who stood on a phone book for the NFC team photo--instead, it was New York Giants linebacker Jessie Armstead and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp who magically grew taller than life.

"I don't ever question it because maybe if I was taller, I wouldn't have the speed that I have now," Coakley says. "I accept my ability, and I'm using it the best I can. I'm not ever going to let my height be a hindrance."