Campo began his coaching career in 1970 as an assistant freshmen coach for
New London High School. In 1971 he returned to his alma mater, Central Connecticut, to coach the
linebackers. In 1976, Campo was hired as the defensive backs coach for
Washington State. In 1980, he was hired as the defensive backs coach for
Oregon State. In 1981, he was hired as the defensive coordinator for
Weber State as the first assistant named under first-year head coach
Mike Price. Campo spent 1983 and 1984 to 1986 as the defensive backs coach for
Iowa State and
Syracuse, respectively. In 1987, Campo joined the
University of Miami staff under head coach
Jimmy Johnson as secondary coach. At Miami, he helped the Hurricanes to a two-year record of 23–1 and the 1987 National Championship. Safety
Bennie Blades was the 1987
Thorpe Award winner before being selected with the third pick in the NFL draft by the
Detroit Lions.
Dallas Cowboys After two seasons with the Hurricanes, Campo followed Johnson to the Dallas Cowboys in 1989 as a defensive assistant coach. After
Dick Nolan (a Landry holdover) left following the 1990 season, Campo became the defensive backs coach and was a part of two Super Bowl championships (the 1992 and 1993 seasons). When
Butch Davis left the Cowboys to become the Miami Hurricanes' head coach after the 1994 season, Campo was promoted to
defensive coordinator. In his first season as defensive coordinator, the Cowboys won the Super Bowl. After five seasons as defensive coordinator, Campo was named as the fifth head coach of the Cowboys on January 26, 2000. After the firing of
Chan Gailey in
2000, he was promoted to the head coaching duties of the
Dallas Cowboys, over candidates
Joe Avezzano and
Hudson Houck. Campo's head coaching debut (known as the "
Pickle Juice Game") was marred by a successfully executed, surprise on-side kick on the opening kickoff by the underdog
Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener. Later in the game, the Cowboys lost
Joey Galloway, their prize off-season free agent acquisition, for the season and quarterback
Troy Aikman for several games with a concussion (Aikman would retire upon the conclusion of the season). The Cowboys lost to the Eagles 41–14 and ultimately finished the season at 5–11. With considerably lower expectations for the 2001 season after Aikman's retirement, the Cowboys again finished 5–11, but Campo was given credit by many for getting the most out of a less talented team. However, Campo was harshly criticized after a
Thanksgiving Day game against the
Denver Broncos when, trailing 26–10 early in the fourth quarter, Dallas scored a touchdown to make the score 26–16. Campo at first decided to go for two which would narrow the lead to 8 points (a one possession game) but after a timeout decided to kick the extra point leaving Dallas down by 9 points and needing two possessions rather than one. Dallas was only able to score one more touchdown and lost 26–24. In 2002, Dallas was believed to have much better talent, having acquired all pro defensive lineman
La'Roi Glover and drafting talents such as safety Roy Williams and receiver
Antonio Bryant, and a now-more experienced starting quarterback in
Quincy Carter. The team was featured on
HBO's
Hard Knocks in the preseason and Campo's leadership on that show was widely praised. However, the Cowboys stumbled in the season opener losing to the expansion
Houston Texans in the Texans' very first game. Dallas entered week 14 with a 5–7 record and led the
San Francisco 49ers 27–24 with about 2 minutes to play. Facing a fourth and one at the 28-yard line, Campo opted for a field goal attempt even though there was a considerable amount of time left in the game. The attempt failed and taking over at the 37, the 49ers drove down the field to win the game. Campo's team was blown out the next two games and finished the season 5–11 for the third straight season, after which he was fired. To date, he is the only Cowboys head coach to have left the team with a losing record. Indeed, he is the only coach in franchise history to have never posted a winning season or coached a playoff game.
NFL coaching In 2003, after his dismissal from the Cowboys, Campo was hired as the defensive coordinator by the
Cleveland Browns to replace
Foge Fazio, while working under head coach
Butch Davis, Campo's predecessor as Cowboys defensive coordinator. After Davis resigned from the Browns, his successor
Romeo Crennel, fired Campo. Campo then joined the
Jacksonville Jaguars as assistant head coach working primarily with the secondary unit, under head coach
Jack Del Rio.
Return to Dallas In January 2008, Campo was re-hired by the Cowboys as their secondary coach to replace
Todd Bowles, while working under head coach
Wade Phillips. He was not re-signed after the 2011 season and was replaced with
Jerome Henderson.
University of Kansas On January 13, 2012,
Kansas head coach
Charlie Weis hired Campo as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. He stayed on after Weis was fired early in the 2014 season and replaced first with interim coach
Clint Bowen and permanent head coach
David Beaty. He left after the 2015 season.
USC In August 2018 it was confirmed that Campo had been hired as a consultant at the
University of Southern California (USC) to work closely with defensive coordinator
Clancy Pendergast. Campo had been away from the game for the last two seasons, the first period since 1972 that he had not held a coaching job at the college or professional level. ==Head coaching record==