Getty Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, head coach Mike McCarthy
Tell us you’re coming back for a third year as Dallas Cowboys head coach without telling us, Mike McCarthy.
“I’ve had a chance to talk to [Cowboys owner] Jerry [Jones] after the game for a long time,” McCarthy revealed in a Thursday, January 19 press conference, via Mark Lane of WFAA. “Obviously saw him again Monday. We had a very positive conversation and just the focus on the evaluation process.”
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So no concerns about job security?
“I don’t see it that way,” McCarthy said. “I’m focused on the exit interview process.”
This, his season-ending conference, was McCarthy’s first time behind the podium since Dallas’ upset loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Super Wild Card Weekend. And it won’t be his last after leading the club to a 12-8 record and NFC East crown. That much quickly became apparent despite swirling rumors pointing to the contrary.
“I don’t even want to discuss anything like that at this particular time. … That’s not on the table. The game speaks for itself,” Jerry Jones said Sunday, January 16.
“Very confident [in McCarthy’s return],” Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones echoed Monday, January 17.
McCarthy, 58, holds an 18-15 record through two seasons as Jason Garrett’s successor. More than a decade removed from hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, he enters a make-or-break 2022 firmly on the hot seat, his honeymoon long concluded and mulligans now exhausted.
Unwavering, however.
“I know what I personally put into this,” McCarthy said January 19, via the Dallas Morning News. “I understand what goes on here every day. I know how to win in this league. I know how to win playoff games and how to win a championship.”
MM Declares Top Priority Going Forward
The Cowboys earned their first-round postseason exit in admonishable fashion, tying an NFL record with 14 penalties for 89 yards amid a 23-17 defeat at the hands of the 49ers.
Many of these infractions were of the pre-snap variety, breakdowns in discipline that fall at the feet of coaching. McCarthy, who admitted to sensing a nervous vibe before kickoff, vowed to correct his team’s fatal flaw — the “number one focus moving forward.”
“Players are asked questions and encouraged to give honest answers. But once when they come back, we talked about it, I just did three days of exit interviews, talked to every member of our football team and they’re very accountable,” McCarthy said on January 19, via 105.3 The Fan. “And our number one focus moving forward is the penalties. It’s way too many … you look at the pre-snap (penalties), there’s no excuse for it. That’s been a focus all year.
“You know, the thing I struggle with as a head coach doing this now for a number of years is, I have comparables over a 15-year period and this team here is clearly one of the better teams I’ve coached as far as their mental preparation and their mental execution. … Our mental grades don’t coincide with the penalties, because they usually go together. That’s something we’ll take a very hard look at.”
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McCarthy Won’t Assume OC Duties
With Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore primed to land an NFL head-coaching job — and considering the scrutiny of Moore’s final play-call against San Francisco — McCarthy was asked whether he could take command of the operation in 2022.
Unlikely, even if Moore departs for greener pastures.
“I don’t think that’s the best way to run it,” McCarthy said, via the official team website. “At the end of the day, the goal is try to keep the foundation for Dak.”
Under Moore’s guidance, Dallas’ talent-rich offense ranked first in total yards (407.0) and points per game (31.2), second in passing (282.4 YPG), and ninth in rushing (124.6 YPG) this past regular season.