<p>When Jim Mora was hired as Atlanta's coach, he was immediately presented with a touchy situation: The son-in-law of former coach Dan Reeves was still on the Falcons' payroll.</p><p>Surely, no one would have blamed Mora for dumping such a prominent reminder of the old regime.</p><p>But the rookie coach never considered getting rid of special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis, and it turned out to be one of Mora's wisest decisions.</p><p>Throughout the season _ and especially in the playoffs _ "Joe D" has shown why he's one of the best at overseeing this overlooked phase of the game.</p><p>"If you're in the business, you keep track of who's good at their position," Mora said. "There was no hesitation to (keep) Joe. As a matter of fact, we had to convince him to stay because so many teams were after him."</p><p>Last week, DeCamillis finally gained some national attention in a 47-17 rout of the St. Louis Rams. Allen Rossum set an NFL playoff record with 152 yards in punt returns, including a 68-yard touchdown on a trick play designed by the coach.</p><p>The Falcons lined up three players across their 30-yard line for the return, with Rossum in the middle. After catching the punt, he feigned a lateral pass to DeAngelo Hall on the right side, then took off up the middle. Rossum wasn't even touched on his way to the end zone.</p><p>Afterward, television cameras honed in on the guy who drew it up. While moving frantically down the sideline, DeCamillis got a hug from receivers coach George Stewart and an approving slap on the shoulder from Mora.</p><p>"He was part of the highlights," Mora said, "and he should be because he's a big part of this thing."</p><p>Typically, DeCamillis shrugged off all the praise that's coming his way. It wasn't like this was some aberration. The Falcons ranked No. 1 in both punt return average and punt coverage during the regular season, and they were in the top 10 in two other categories.</p><p>"You've got to keep it in perspective," DeCamillis said, taking out a moment from another grueling day of meetings and watching film. "You enjoy it for a day, then you go back to work."</p><p>He can't slow down now. The Falcons are one victory from the Super Bowl, but they'll face a more formidable opponent in Sunday's NFC championship game at Philadelphia.</p><p>Unlike St. Louis, which has some of the worst special teams in the league, the Eagles appear to match up well with the Falcons _ right down to the coaches.</p><p>John Harbaugh has been in charge of Philadelphia's kicking game for seven years; the Eagles were in the top 10 in nine special teams categories this season.</p><p>"Philadelphia has a lot of outstanding athletes and a great special teams coach," DeCamillis said. "We'll have to come back down to earth."</p><p>He gets 40 minutes each day to meet with his guys and about 30 minutes BEFORE the start of practice to work on the kicking game. That's it. With only a 53-man roster, most of the special teams players must work at other positions. (Rossum, for instance, intercepted a couple of passes this season as a nickel back.)</p><p>DeCamillis feels a constant sense of urgency, which led him to develop a deft touch with the computer. He puts together presentations that resemble a business meeting, blending video with diagrams to get his point across quickly.</p><p>"You can't tell stories, like they do in other meetings," DeCamillis said. "You've got to be completely focused for that 40 minutes."</p><p>He's willing to take chances that other coaches might avoid for fear of getting burned.</p><p>"We're not playing not to lose," said Artie Ulmer, the leading special teams tackler. "We're playing to win. We pin our ears back. To us, it's just an important as offense or defense."</p><p>DeCamillis was a bit uncertain about his future when his father-in-law was fired. After all, he had coached under Reeves since 1988.</p><p>Mora moved quickly to assuage any hard feelings, calling Reeves a coaching idol and making it clear that he wanted DeCamillis to stay. That smoothed things over with DeCamillis' wife, Dana, who was understandably hesitant about having her husband continue to work for an organization that had just fired her father.</p><p>"When Jim talked about how much respect he had for Coach Reeves, he addressed her concerns," DeCamillis said.</p><p>Reeves also gave his blessing, maintaining a relationship with many of the players along with the new staff.</p><p>"Coach Reeves understands the business," DeCamillis said. "Certain things happen. You deal with them and go on."</p>
