After a 48-32 loss to the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers, Cowboys’ brass has elected to keep head coach Mike McCarthy in Dallas
FRISCO, TX– Mike McCarthy has somehow weathered the storm. Despite being 1-3 in the playoffs since he got to Dallas, and following a 48-32 dismantling of the Cowboys by the lowest seeded Green Bay Packers, McCarthy has somehow managed to be retained in Dallas. Many questions arose about his job security and a myriad of teams perked their ears late Sunday evening after the loss, but McCarthy won’t be going anywhere and will remain with the Cowboys.
“I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach,” general manager and owner Jerry Jones said. “There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach.
“Specifically, there are many layers of success that have occurred this season as a result of Mike’s approach to leading the team, both with individual players and with our team collectively.”
Some of you might wonder why McCarthy is even under fire after leading the Cowboys to the playoffs three straight years in a row and capping off the 2023 season with a 12-5 overall record. The blunt answer, results. McCarthy is 1-3 in the playoffs throughout his tenure in the Big D, even in lieu of the fact that McCarthy has a 42-25 record with the Cowboys. The pure fact that playoff success has not followed impressive regular season stretches has led to McCarthy’s job security in serious peril. But, Jones has decided to keep him, even though that’s not the Jerry Jones method.
“Our loss on Sunday is shared by everyone here, not just Coach McCarthy,” Jones said in Wednesday’s statement. “Our players. Our coaches. Our front office. Myself. There is accountability for our results. I am accountable for our results. The lens we use to view and evaluate Coach McCarthy is holistic. While we’re all disappointed with the result on Sunday and with our playoff record, I am 100 percent supportive of him as our head coach and ability to reach our goals.”
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Jones’ philosophy is to make the biggest splash possible in order to win while staying heavily involved. As one of the only owner-general manager hybrids in the NFL, other than Cincinnati’s Mike Brown, Jones has opted to take a more hands-on approach when it comes to tackling roster construction. The decision to retain McCarthy is one of Jones’ more interesting ones. Especially after visible frustration throughout the game and Jones’ aptness to make major changes after enough straws.
According to multiple reports, Jones didn’t look too deeply into exploring other options at head coach. Instead, the general manager made the decision to essentially make this year, 2024 a make or break year. McCarthy’s judgement day may well be the final game of the 2024 season whether that’s the Super Bowl or not. To add fuel to the fire, nearly every coach on McCarthy’s staff is signed through the 2024 season, making this year all that much more interesting.
“He’s been amazing,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said Sunday night. “I’ve had the season that I’ve had because of him. This team has had the success that they’ve had because of him. I understand it’s about winning the Super Bowl. That’s the standard of the league and damn sure the standard of this place.
“So I get [the questions], but add me to the list in that case.”
McCarthy propelled the signal caller to an MVP caliber season, one in which he led the NFL in passing touchdowns. But ultimately, for whatever reason, it wasn’t enough. Whether or not the decision to not make a change with ripe coaching talent on the stalk was a good one, that will remain to be seen.
