Few NFL coaches are as polarizing to fans as Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy.
On the one hand, he has led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl title and the Cowboys to three consecutive 12-win seasons and an NFC East championship, but on the other hand, many credit his championship season to future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers and a vaunted Green Bay defense, and the Cowboys are 1-3 in playoff games under his watch.
His future in Dallas has become unclear after Sunday’s playoff collapse against his former club.
“I think the biggest thing is we’re disappointed,” McCarthy told the media during a postgame press conference. “I’ve got a whole team in the locker room that’s hurting. I haven’t thought past the outcome of this game.”
After winning the NFC East in Washington last week, team owner Jerry Jones drew national attention after telling the media, “we’ll see how each game goes,” when asked about the head coach’s future.
Jones later clarified his comment during his weekly radio appearance on Dallas’ 105.3 The Fan.
“Coach McCarthy is under contract for next year. So, that’s not an issue,” Jones said. “Secondly, I couldn’t be more pleased with what he’s done, and how he’s coached.”
However, Jones may have changed his tune. He was intentionally noncommittal on the future of the head coach in Dallas, only telling the media the game was “a blur,” that he “hasn’t thought about it,” and he spent the game “looking for ways to advance to next week.”
But questions about McCarthy’s job status are warranted. The Cowboys now have 13 consecutive playoff appearances without reaching the Super Bowl, and they fired Jason Garrett for similar reasons after 10 seasons with an 0-3 playoff record.
Jones said he’ll have to take that decision into account when considering McCarthy’s future and other decisions during the offseason.
“Whatever I was doing in those years didn’t work, so we’ll look at it from that perspective,” he explained.
There are currently seven head coaching openings in the NFL after the New England Patriots decided to replace Bill Belichick with Jerod Mayo. None of the teams are in the playoffs (of course), so they have had time to talk to job candidates, unlike the Cowboys. However, Jones does not see that as an issue.
“That’s no issue at all,” he told the media. “The fact that coaches have interviewed and not interviewed. I’m not being trite, but there’s 30-something coaches on 32 teams, so there’s a thousand coaches out there … and that’s just the ones in the league, not the 10,000 that are out of the league.”
While speculation will continue until a final decision is announced, count quarterback Dak Prescott as a McCarthy supporter.
“He’s been amazing,” Prescott said of his coach. “I don’t know how there can be [questions about his job], but I understand the business. In that case, it should be about me as well. I had the season I 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. I get it, but add me to the list in that case.”
