Awesome Cowboys practice clip shows hard, old-school coaching is back in Dallas

On Saturday's "Blue and White" practice, the Dallas Cowboys defensive coaching staff showed the notion about them bringing a harder style of coaching is absolutely true.

Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer's old-school style of coaching is significantly different from Dan Quinn's, as it's more militaristic while the latter's is more of a "player's friend" approach. It's not that either of the two is more right than the other (we've seen both work in the NFL) but there's no question fans are enticed by the new brand of coaching that's in Dallas.

But on Saturday, it wasn't Zimmer who had somewhat of a "coaching highlight" but rather defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina, who took aim at defensive tackle Mazi Smith during individual drills.

“Hey! Mickey Mouse!" Zgonina shouted at the second-year player. "I know Disney’s only an hour down the road, an hour and 15 with traffic. Get your fast pass! Get your f—ing hands inside, let’s go!”

Listen, we're not entirely sure why Zgonina would call Smith "Mickey Mouse" but the message is clear: The Cowboys want Mazi to be better and they'll go hard at him if that's what it takes for him to get better.

Zgonina, who played defensive tackle for 17 seasons in the NFL between 1993 and 2009, knows a thing or two about the position Mazi plays. Nick Harris from DallasCowboys.com recently reported both of them "have spent a lot of time around each other these first couple days at camp."

Zimmer has talked about how today's young players might not respond to his past hard coaching style the same way they would earlier in his career. But the magic behind coaching is knowing every player responds differently. The Cowboys seem to have identified this is exactly what Mazi needs.

How is Mazi Smith looking in training camp?

So far, the second-year player who will be critical for the Cowboys' defensive success has had some good and some bad. On one hand, Mazi's weight being back up is a huge win and that power shows as he can really knock back payers with sheer strength. The fact that his get off is looking quicker helps a lot.

With that being said, Smith can still struggle to get off blocks due to limited hand usage and moves in his toolbox. Can he develop a better repertoire before the season starts? Time will tell but the Cowboys need him to put it all together as they have little talent at nose tackle to lean on if this doesn't go their way.

Hard coaching for Mazi is not going away.

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