Campbell smiled Wednesday when asked to share his best story about Romo.
“I had one that just popped in my head,” he said. “But I can’t tell it.”
Campbell’s 11-year NFL career included three seasons at Dallas in 2003-05, where he started 30 games.
“He was a hard-working, tough guy who loved ball,” Witten said. “Great energy. Smart. Good leader. I would say that you knew all along he was always working to be a coach.”
Before replacing Joe Philbin last month, Campbell had been the Dolphins’ tight ends coach since 2011. The Cowboys once tried to hire him for the same job, owner Jerry Jones said.
“Boy, has he ascended in a way that I don’t think anyone could have expected,” Jones said on his radio show this week. “We’re very respectful of what he can accomplish as coach.”
Campbell and Cowboys coach Jason Garrett were teammates with the Giants in 2000-02.
“Dan makes everybody around him better,” Garrett said. “His dominant trait in my mind is he has great energy — in practice, playing the game, on the field, off the field. He loves life, he loves people, he loves football.”
The Dolphins are 3-2 under Campbell, and 4-5 overall and last in the AFC East. They remain as inconsistent as when Philbin was coach, and with an 0-4 record in division games, they’re long shots to end a seven-year playoff drought.
But a respectable finish might prompt owner Stephen Ross to bring Campbell back next year, in part because he’s popular with his players. They praise his energy, positive attitude and motivational skills.
“He has been phenomenal,” center Mike Pouncey added. “I loved him as an assistant, and definitely love him as a head coach.”
“He’s continuing to find ways to give us that little spark,” receiver Jarvis Landry said. “Guys are playing harder and harder for him each week.”
