Here’s what Mike McCarthy taking over Cowboys play calling really means
The Dallas Cowboys are up against it when it comes to the salary cap. They’ll be able to make some adjustments, of course. But with several of their stars due for new contracts soon and their recent disdain for playing in the first few waves of external free agency, it’s unlikely there’s going to be a major effort to transform the roster. In the effort to take the next step from back-to-back 12 win seasons but only one playoff victory to show for it, something else had to be done.
So the Cowboys have shaken up their coaching staff in a major way. Seven of Mike McCarthy’s assistants were either fired or didn’t have their expired contracts renewed. No matter how it’s sliced, there’s a statement being made about the expectations the front office has for this team in the short-term future. That starts with the report that McCarthy will be calling his own plays in 2023.
Moore's firing
The Cowboys and McCarthy have apparently deliberated over the last 48 hours when a decision wasn’t made for them, Moore had interviewed with the Carolina Panthers this past week; an interview that was delayed for several days after another one of owner David Tepper’s team suffered a tragic death.
Moore’s interview turned from one day to two, but eventually the Panthers decided to hire Frank Reich, leaving Dallas to do their own dirty work if they wanted to move on.
Moore’s teams have had terrific stats since he moved up from quarterback coach in 2018, his first as an assistant, to offensive coordinator in 2019. Dallas has continuously been at the top of offensive rankings when their franchise quarterback was available.
Still, there were flaws in the offense where Dak Prescott was continually having to bail the team out on third downs and when he had the rare off day, the play calling did not seem to be able to lift his game.
In the end, Dallas felt the need to go in a different direction.
McCarthy to take the headset
The report comes from Dallas Morning News’ David Moore. Earlier in the week, McCarthy avoided the question about Moore’s job security after he was passed over for the Panthers’ opening. He did mention though that he definitely wanted to see change in the offense.
“We will definitely try to evolve our offense,’’ McCarthy said, via DMN. “There’s no question.”
“But let’s not be blind to the fact that the productivity of this offense, this has been an extremely effective, productive offense the last two years.”
The McCarthy-Moore arranged marriage
McCarthy inherited Moore as a coordinator when he was hired in 2020. Owner Jerry Jones, well known for meddling in the affairs of his coaching staff composition, was a big proponent of Moore’s ceiling as one of the league’s next great young offensive minds. It’s hard to imagine the owner who forced his head-coach-in-waiting (Jason Garrett) into the OC role before hiring Wade Phillips as head coach didn’t follow that outline a decade later.
Jones thought Moore was the next big thing and wanted to keep him in house. McCarthy wanted back in the league and took the arrangement.
An arranged marriage of sorts, only it seemed to work.
In 2019 Dallas led the NFL in yardage and was sixth in scoring while ranking No. 2 in offensive DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average).
In 2020, Dak Prescott only played in five games and the offense suffered. But in 2021 they bounced back, leading the league in both offensive yards and points scored, ranking sixth in DVOA. This season, despite Prescott missing five games Dallas finished third in points scored but only 10th in yardage.
Loss to SF leads to major change
Leading up to this year’s playoffs, Jones was emphatic that nothing that transpired would lead to the dismissal of McCarthy as head coach. There wasn’t a chance to find out whether he was keeping it real, as Dallas absolutely thumped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round.
The offense was magical, with Prescott posting one of the most impressive playoff stat lines in recent seasons. He went 25-for-33 for 305 yards with four rushing touchdowns and a fifth on the ground. Moore’s offense was creative and in rhythm.
But that all came crashing down on the trip to San Francisco. For the second year in a row, the 49ers made the Dallas offense look pedestrian. Prescott made numerous mistakes which was compounded by an offense with no apparent rhythm or creativity to counter the 49ers’ strengths.
In the week since, Dallas said goodbye to several assistant coaches whose three-year contracts (standard for NFL assistants).
And in those changes reveal a bunch of contradictions to what transpired Sunday.
The apparent contradiction
Among the six coaches who weren’t coming back were McCarthy’s two confidants. Assistant head coach Rob Davis was McCarthy’s personality guru; he was the guy who worked on player mentalities. It was a pseudo life coach role for Davis.
In addition, McCarthy’s former offensive coordinator and current OL coach Joe Philbin was told he wasn’t returning either. McCarthy inherited Philbin onto his staff when he became head coach of the Packers. They were together for two stints across seven seasons before the last three in Dallas.
But letting them go, at least on the surface, appears to be Jones telling McCarthy he’s still in charge but the boss want things done differently.
Now though, with the release of Moore from his contract that’s accompanied by not bringing QB coach Doug Nussmeier back, means that McCarthy is starting from scratch.
He’ll need someone new to work closely with Dak Prescott as well as run almost every other position group.
McCarthy's history as a play caller
Being the play caller used to be McCarthy’s modus operandi. He did it his entire career in Green Bay, running a West Coast offense, until the 2014 playoffs.
That included the 2010 Super Bowl winning club, which funnily enough was the only season in a six-year stretch where the Packers weren’t top-five in scoring; they finished 10th that year.
He relinquished control to get a better handle on the team in general in 2015 and the offense plummeted to 15th in scoring. He took it back in 2016 and they went right back to top five. It would be short lived though as they regressed in 2017 and in 2018 he was fired midseason.
Decisions left to make
The Cowboys may have McCarthy doing the play calling, but he can’t do everything for the offense.
There are still plenty of jobs to be assigned.
Offensive Coordinator
Assistant head coach
QB coach
OL coach
RB coach
Offensive assistant
Dallas only has WR coach Robert Prince, TE coach Lunda Wells and assistant OL coach Jeff Blesko remaining on the official staff, but there are others to consider for bigger roles.
Brian Schottenheimer was hired in March as an offensive analyst by the team. He replaced Ben McAdoo, the former Giants head coach, when McAdoo went to Carolina to be their offensive coordinator for the since-fired Matt Rhule. Scott Tolzien, a former NFL quarterback, has been on the team as an offensive assistant as has Chase Haslett, son of former NFL head coach Jim Haslett.
