By now,
we’ve all heard the news about Mike McCarthy being hired by the Dallas Cowboys,
replacing Jason Garrett, who had been the head coach since 2010.
Our readers know football pretty well, so I wont bore you with all the information you know already. I’m not breaking any news here, but there’s a lot to digest, so let’s get into it.
McCarthy
was obviously successful in Green Bay. He won a Super Bowl in 2011, had a
125-77-2 record and made the playoffs nine times in 13 seasons. Most coaches would
be pretty happy with a 13-year span like that.
Green
Bay was a contender nearly every year, haunting the Cowboys during his tenure.
He has a 7-3 record against the Cowboys and ended their playoff run in 2014 and
2016 in the divisional round.
Before
we go any further, I’d like to mention that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones also
interviewed Marvin Lewis. Yes, that same Marvin Lewis who couldn’t win a
playoff game.
Some
franchises may count play off appearances as success, but this is Dallas. The
Cowboys just fired Garrett for his lack of playoff success.
Jones wanted
an experienced NFL head coach.
For
the past couple of years, names like Lincoln Riley were mentioned as candidates
to replace Garrett, and why not? The Cowboys had won a Super Bowl before with a
former Sooner head coach in Barry Switzer, and before that, it was former Miami
head coach Jimmy Johnson who brought the Cowboys back to championship form.
It
wasn’t irrational for people to think Jones might explore the college ranks for
its next head coach.
Thinking
about the Cowboys since Jones took over, it’s easy to see we are not dealing
with the same guy who brought Super Bowls to Dallas. He has become conservative
and wants to play it safe.
Johnson
and Switzer were energetic individuals with great personalities. Since then,
only coaches with NFL experience or coaches who Jones was comfortable with have
been hired.
And
this brings us back to McCarthy.
McCarthy
is a good coach, and he has had the highest level of success in the NFL along
with the experience of developing an up-and-coming quarterback in Aaron Rodgers
— which is probably a big reason he was hired as well.
Since
his success with the Packers, though, the game has changed.
Was
his lack of evolution the reason Green Bay’s success started to dwindle in the
end? Even with Rodgers, who you could argue is the best quarterback in the NFL,
he couldn’t bring Green Bay back to playoff success.
It is possible, but one thing is certain, coaches who don’t evolve, don’t sustain success.
If McCarthy
has indeed evolved, can he help develop Dak Prescott? If so, then Dallas may
have its guy.
He
will have a five-year contract to get this thing going, and 2020 should be an
exciting year for the Cowboys.
And with
this coaching change, just maybe, it will finally be their year.
