Not only did Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones echo vice president Stephen Jones in doubling down on the team’s commitment to Mike McCarthy as head coach, he was truly offended by the suggestion of possibly making a change after one year.
Never mind that the Cowboys are 4-9 in 2020 one year after firing Jason Garrett for going 8-8 and giving McCarthy more power than any coach since Bill Parcells to make them Super Bowl contenders again.
But that was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, preventing McCarthy from implementing his new schemes in the offseason, and the loss of quarterback Dak Prescott and several other key players to injuries.
Jerry Jones says McCarthys won’t be one-and-done in Dallas.
“Not one time, not one time have I been in any discussion, had any dream, been sitting by myself, have I given a thought to anything but Mike McCarthy being our coach next year, and being our coach in the future,” Jerry Jones said on his radio show in 105.3 The Fan Tuesday. “How in the hell something like that could get going with a conversation with Stephen or anybody else about whether McCarthy is going to be the coach or not is ridiculous.
“Now, just think about it: we just made the move to start down the road with our coach, and we all understand that continuity, really sticking with a plan and having a long-term plan to put your team together around a particular coach and his style, his ability to just put a winning team on the field.”
Jones acknowledged the Cowboys didn’t plan on struggling in McCarthy’s first year.
But he pointed out that the greatest coaches in franchise history got off to bad starts, namely Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and the aforementioned Parcells.
“Those starts were not something that had Super Bowl written all over them, but they evolved into being a part of some great teams,” Jones said. “I’ve been known to stick with these guys with early troubled times. I don’t understand how frankly ridiculous this conversation is in terms of actually having any meat on the bone. I’ve never even — I don’t think I’ve ever dreamed the thought of Mike not being the coach.”
McCarthy is also shocked that his job status is the subject of conversation 13 games into his tenure, especially with the team coming off its best performance of the season in a 30-7 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals.
But McCarthy said he is not worried about media speculation. His focus is on Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers when the Cowboys hope to win back-to-back games for the first time all season.
McCarthy is not surprised by the responses from Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones.
“I think both Jerry and Stephen are excellent communicators,” McCarthy said. “We have an opportunity when we do get together, which we recently did, and we talk at length about mostly everything and anything. I really like the structure that’s in place and the way it operates.”
Stephen Jones’ based his confidence in McCarthy being able to turn things around in Dallas on his previous history with the Green Bay Packers when he started 4-8 in 2006 before winning the last four games of the season to finish 8-8. The next season the Packers went 13-3 and made it to the NFC Championship game.
Jerry Jones said he likes how McCarthy has handled the pandemic, his interaction with the players, his football philosophy.
But Jerry Jones’ patience and confidence are also founded on McCarthy’s history and track record that includes a Super Bowl title in 2010, which were the main reasons the Cowboys hired him in the first place.
“He’s done this. It’s not his first rodeo. He’s done it. I think that is important,” Jerry Jones said. “Yes, I’ve gone with guys that haven’t done it before relative to this level. But he’s done it. He’s got a great background.”
