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The Dallas Cowboys grew so impressed with Mike McCarthy during his two-day interview over the weekend that he was granted full autonomy to pick his own groceries.
Appearing Monday on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer, who broke the news of McCarthy’s hiring, reported the former Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl-winning head coach made no concessions on his coaching staff.
In other words, holdovers from the Jason Garrett era will not be forced on McCarthy.
“Nope. Nope. Zero,” Glazer said, via Blogging The Boys. “At first the Cowboys I think were looking at it like ‘We love our offensive coaches, we’d love to do that,’ but at the end they talked to Mike and they all talked through it. And I think they realized ‘You know what we’ve done this in the past, we’ve tried to push certain coaches on others,’ we can’t do it this time. And they pulled off.”
If it seems like Dallas’ deal with McCarthy came together quickly, that’s because it did. His sitdown on Saturday carried over into Sunday and reportedly culminated with a sleepover at owner Jerry Jones’ house (yes, really).
On Monday morning, hours after the team axed Garrett, McCarthy put pen to paper on a five-year contract.
“They just fell in love with him throughout the night,” Glazer said, via Blogging The Boys. “Again I reported yesterday on our FOX NFL Sunday playoff show that he was still in Dallas. The interview was only supposed to last the first day, but it went so well they ended up keeping him overnight.”
McCarthy won out over several other candidates — some experienced (Marvin Lewis) and others not so much (Lincoln Riley, Urban Meyer) — because, the Cowboys feel, he embodies everything Garrett wasn’t during his decade in the big chair.
“Jason Garrett obviously a Princeton kind of guy. Mike McCarthy is just a Pittsburgh guy,” Glazer said. “Worked at the tollbooth. He’s a grunt. And the way he went in there and explained how he would run their offense, run their team. That team needs a lot of discipline also.”
Glazer added: “Look all of the pieces are in place. They just need some ball coaches who can kind of ratchet up the discipline there and use those pieces a little bit better.”
After officially announcing the hire, the Cowboys are scheduled to introduce McCarthy during a 3 p.m. CT press conference at The Star on Wednesday.
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McCarthy Reportedly Taps Nolan as DC; Moore Could Be Retained
As soon as he crossed the Ts and dotted the Is, McCarthy got to work on his Cowboys staff, nabbing former 49ers coach and current Saints linebackers coach Mike Nolan — an old friend, familiar from their days in San Fran — to be his defensive coordinator, replacing the Rod Marinelli-Kris Richard duo.
An NFL lifer, 60-year-old Nolan’s resume is littered with DC roles for numerous organizations, including the New York Giants (1993-96), Washington Redskins (1997-99), New York Jets (2000), Baltimore Ravens (2002-04), Miami Dolphins (2010-11), and Atlanta Falcons (2012-14).
Nolan’s biggest job came in 2005 when he was named San Francisco’s head man, succeeding Dennis Erickson. His Niners tenure was entirely underwhelming; he compiled an 18-37 head-coaching record across four seasons. He was fired midway through the 2008 campaign and replaced by Mike Singletary.
Following a 2015 one-and-done stint coaching the Chargers’ linebackers, Nolan landed in New Orleans in 2017, where he’s helped transform a once-laughable defense into an upper-echelon unit. In 2019, the Saints finished fourth against the run and totaled 51 sacks, third-most in the league.
On the offensive side, a scenario exists in which incumbent coordinator Kellen Moore is retained on the revamped Cowboys staff. A very plausible scenario. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday that McCarthy is “more than open” to keeping the 31-year-old wunderkind, who just completed his first season as an NFL OC.
“McCarthy likes OC Kellen Moore, I’m told. Nothing more firm than that, but it does seem like McCarthy is more than open to keeping him,” were Rapoport’s exact words.
Rapoport doubled down Tuesday — with a caveat. Apparently, Moore is being courted by the University of Washington, is closer to home for the Prosser native. As of this writing, he’s deciding between the two opportunities, each with the requisite pros and cons.
Update on #Cowboys OC Kellen Moore: New coach Mike McCarthy would like him to stay and remain OC, which may also help Moore learn a new system. But he also has an opportunity to go back home and become the University of Washington OC under Jimmy Lake. He is mulling it all over.
McCarthy is expected to shoulder play-calling duties and gameplan installation, same as he did in Green Bay. The Cowboys finished 2019 with the league’s top offense in yards per game (431.5) and the second-best passing attack (296.6 YPG), due in large part to Moore’s creative prowess.
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NFL Reporter Leaks Major Detail About Mike McCarthy’s Deal with Cowboys