Getty Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy responded in kind to the vote of confidence he received from team owner Jerry Jones.
“I’m just thankful for the opportunity with Jerry Jones and this great organization – and frankly, I’m focused on beating the 49ers,” McCarthy said Wednesday ahead of the team’s Week 15 home game versus San Francisco.
Swirling rumors surrounding McCarthy’s job security and future as the Cowboys’ leader of men peaked after Thanksgiving’s listless loss to Washington, intensified the following week in another blowout defeat, then grew a smidge quieter this past Sunday, when Dallas stomped the Joe Burrow-less Bengals, 30-7.
But Jones personally put them to bed Tuesday, attacking the “ridiculous” notion that McCarthy wouldn’t return in 2021.
“Not one time have I been in any discussion, had any dream, or given a thought to anything but Mike McCarthy being our head coach next year, and being our coach of the future,” Jones said on Shan and RJ on 105.3 The Fan. “How in the hell something like that could get going in a conversation with Stephen (Jones) or anybody else about whether McCarthy is going to be the coach or not is ridiculous.”
Jones was enamored with McCarthy, who won a Super Bowl with the Packers, from the moment he tapped him as Jason Garrett’s successor. The former never wanted to make the latter a one-and-done coach nor further his potential lame-duck status. And what always was going to be a honeymoon season devolved into an obvious mulligan, thanks to a biblical rash of injuries and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
If only for optics, there will be a scapegoat — looking at you, Mike Nolan — but it won’t be McCarthy, whose Belichickian approach appears to have taken root inside The Star.
Work now, worry later.
“I don’t even think about it,” Nolan told reporters Monday when asked about his future, via Pro Football Talk. “I just take it a day at a time anyway. It’s really not . . . . I prefer not to answer the question because it’s not what’s on my mind. Just take it a day at a time and try to win this game this weekend against San Francisco and whatever happens after the season, happens. When that time comes, we’ll deal with it if there is a change.”
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Sign up for the Heavy on Cowboys Newsletter!Stephen Jones Confirmed McCarthy’s Return
Really, it’s immaterial what McCarthy utters over the remaining three games. Barring an extremely drastic turn of events, he’s safe from the firing line. This was cemented Monday when Cowboys VP Stephen Jones cited “unprecedented circumstances” in reaching the apparent decision to retain McCarthy — an exoneration for a lost season, he indicated.
“There will be absolutely no change with coach McCarthy. I am surprised someone would question these unprecedented situations that everybody’s been in,” he 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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Dead Man Walking?
Signs have pointed to Nolan’s likely ouster throughout the course of a historically-futile 2020 campaign. It now seems to be a foregone conclusion after Jerry Jones recently expressed his desire for a defensive “do-over,” a strong hint that major changes are coming to the coaching staff.
The Cowboys rank dead last in scoring, having surrendered 400 points across 13 games, nearing the all-time franchise record (436) set in 2010. They’re also 32nd overall against the run, ceding a 307-yard rushing explosion to Cleveland in Week 4 and a 294-yard ground effort to Baltimore in Week 13.
Nolan’s unit turned in its best performance to date Sunday, forcing three turnovers and scoring on an Aldon Smith fumble-six en route to beating the Bengals. But it may have been too little and way too late to save the 61-year-old from a pink slip.
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL