Cowboys Announce Final Decision on Mike McCarthy as Head Coach

Getty Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy won’t be one-and-done with the Dallas Cowboys.

Citing “unprecedented circumstances” that in essence nullify this season, Cowboys COO Stephen Jones announced Monday that McCarthy will return as the team’s head coach in 2021.

“There will be absolutely no change with coach McCarthy. I am surprised someone would question these unprecedented situations that everybody’s been in,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “On top of that, no one’s making excuses, but we’ve had some challenges in the injury category. If you look at his track record, and his pedigree, he’s consistently won year-in-and-year out. We have the utmost confidence this ship is going to be righted quickly. Mike’s going to be the leader of this group. He’s, certainly, a great head coach. I think we’re going to see that going forward. He’s accomplished a lot, and he’s going to accomplish a lot more before it’s all said and done.”

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Changes Coming, Nonetheless

Jones’ statement echoed that of NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who reported Sunday morning, prior to Dallas’ Week 14 victory, that McCarthy is “safe” from the firing line. His assistants, however, are not. And there will be a scapegoat.

“My understanding, talking to sources inside the organization, Mike McCarthy is safe. But, as one source said, something has to change,” Rapoport said. “Keep an eye on the defensive side of the ball — specifically, defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. They basically have the same players they had in 2018. That was a good defense. This, last in points. Something must change.”

Of course, Rapoport himself was echoing recent remarks made by Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones, who admitted his desire for a “do-over” on defense.

“I will say this, like anybody, you got a lot of do-overs, I’d like to start again on how we approach our defense this year,” Jones said last Friday on 105.3 The Fan. “I’d like to start that over again. I’m sure everybody else would, too.”

“I’d start right there (with) the first day (of training camp),” he continued. “By the way, unfortunately, everybody (was dealing with) the same thing. … I would really make sure that any changes we were making, I would want to make sure that we did in the same way that we didn’t make changes on offense. Because we didn’t think we had the time to make those changes and it really be effective. We’ve obviously, done some things, we’ve changed. And we’re having a hard time getting those in place to be a good defense.”

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McCarthy Prepared to Fire Nolan?

It sure sounds that way. Perhaps he’s merely taking marching orders from above, but McCarthy seemed to genuinely rue his decision to tap longtime pal Nolan as Dallas’ defensive boss this offseason, replacing the Rod Marinelli-Kris Richard pairing.

“I think our staff as a whole is not where we need to be. And that’s ultimately my responsibility,” McCarthy said last Friday on 105.3 The Fan. “We’re going through things for the first time, as all first-year staffs do. There’s not a lot of continuity between coaches because most of us have not worked together before. And so when you talk about development, it doesn’t just stop at players. You’re developing a program, a system. Coordinating things that have been here in the past. You have a training staff that’s been together a long time. But we’re not doing things exactly how they’ve been done the last 20 years. You’re trying to coordinate that and put it all together. That’s part of building a program. It’s no different in all phases, especially with the coaching staff.”

Nolan’s unit had arguably its best performance of the 2020 campaign on Sunday, forcing three turnovers and scoring on an Aldon Smith fumble-six return. But it’s likely too little, too late as the Cowboys still rank dead last in points allowed and run defense, among other statistical indictments.

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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL