After officially dismissing head coach Jason Garrett on Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys have, according to multiple sources, struck a deal with former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy to be the Cowboys' ninth head coach in team history.
While the Cowboys have not yet confirmed the decision, here is what I like, and don't like, about the selection.
What I Like ...
McCarthy Has a Ring
There are only eight active NFL head coaches with Super Bowl rings (Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Jon Gruden, Doug Pederson) and McCarthy is one of them.
Jerry Jones needed a credibility hire after bombing with Jason Garrett who never developed into the coaching star he envisioned after 10 years on the job. Jones likes having an offensive head coach. McCarthy is the only guy walking around The Star who knows what it’s like to win a Super Bowl at JerryWorld. The Packers won Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6, 2011 over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Cowboys need somebody in the building that has an understanding of what it takes to win a championship. McCarthy said he did a deep dive professionally with a year off and with 10 playoff wins under his belt, the starved Cowboys fan base should feel good about the club’s chances in 2020.
His resume is legit. He finished 13 seasons in Green Bay with a 125-77-1 record and went to the playoffs nine times. He also ended the Cowboys' season twice in the divisional round of the playoffs (2014 and 2016).
Blue Star
The center of the Dallas Cowboys universe.
QB’s Excel Under Him
Brett Favre is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. No. 4 won his Super Bowl under Mike Holmgren, but he did spend one year with McCarthy in 1999 when he served as the Packers quarterbacks coach. Favre played for McCarthy when he was the head coach from 2006-2007 and gave him high praise when it comes to working with signal callers saying, "I think any young quarterback would like him."
We know Aaron Rodgers developed into a Super Bowl winner, MVP winner and future Hall of Fame quarterback. I have said for years, Dak Prescott, who’s been to multiple Pro Bowls, did not get elite coaching under Jason Garrett. Now this can change with McCarthy on board. We know he is a fan of Prescott from his interview with Peter King of NBC Sports.
Worked to Improve During His Year Away From Football
Too many fired head coaches go run to the television booth and hope to stay relevant and wait for another shot at a gig. Not McCarthy. With many saying his offense got stale, McCarthy decided to get better, not bitter. NBC’s Peter King called it a “gap” year. McCarthy had three other unemployed coaches who developed a mastermind. He called it The McCarthy Group.
McCarthy Can Deal With Jerry Jones
We all know the Cowboys Hall of Fame owner Jerry Jones holds a press conference after games and has a bi-weekly radio show on 105.3 The Fan. Brett Favre said on Sirius XM NFL Radio his old head coach is tough enough to handle it when Jones speaks out.
“Obviously, he’s the owner, and everything starts and stops with him. Mike’s a smart guy,” Favre said. “He knows that, and he knows that maybe at times Jerry will interfere or say things that you don’t necessarily agree with or don’t like. But it is what it is. I’ll say this: Mike is one of those guys from Pittsburgh. He’s hard-nosed. He’s tough. He is an aggressive personality. If there’s anyone out there presently that can handle that, it’s Mike. I believe that wholeheartedly.”
What I Don't Like ...
McCarthy's Special Teams Are Not Good
The Packers special teams under McCarthy were not good and the Cowboys special teams in 2019 were atrocious. In 13 seasons, McCarthy’s Green Packers were last three times in Hall of Fame Pro Football writer Rick Gosselin’s Special Teams rankings. They were also finished second to last and 29th. That’s five seasons of sorry.
McCarthy is an offensive guy but he can’t have his head buried in a play-calling sheet all game long. The Cowboys cannot go into games in 2020 with no shot at winning the special teams phase of the contest. That weak special teams play was a major reason Dallas lost in New England back in November. NBC Milwaukee’s Lance Allan offered a defense of the Packers special teams woes.
He May Have to Keep Current Cowboys Assistant Coaches
Jerry Jones is always asking his head coaches to keep assistants from his prior staffs. I hate that. McCarthy should be allowed to pick his own people. A head coach needs and deserves to have assistants loyal to him and not the Cowboys owner. According to Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson, McCarthy is willing to add Jerry's favorites. He had to in order to get the job. Wade Phillips did. Bill Parcells did it. Ugh.
Mike Nolan is reportedly going to be the new defensive coordinator. Nolan hired McCarthy in 2005 to be his offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers before McCarthy became the Green Bay Packers’ coach from 2006-2018.
McCarthy Needs to Run the Ball More
If you are a Cowboys fan how can you forget Aaron Jones carving up the Cowboys for 107 yards rushing and caught seven passes for 75 yards in the Packers 34-24 thumping back in October. McCarthy has been criticized for not using Jones enough when he had him. In his last four years in Green Bay, McCarthy never had a running back rush for over 1,000 yards. Eddie Lacy was his last thousand-yard running back in 2014.
The Cowboys made Zeke Elliott the highest paid running back in the NFL. McCarthy will have to commit to running the ball a lot more in Dallas. The offensive line and running back is where Jones has made his largest investments so Air Cowboy won’t work.
