Why keeping Mike McCarthy is the right move for the Cowboys
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz explains why the decision by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to take a measured approach and retain Mike McCarthy as the team’s head coach for the 2024 season is the best choice for the franchise’s future.
Video Transcript
JASON FITZ: Mike McCarthy isn't going anywhere. According to multiple reports, he'll be returning for another season as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Now, if you listen to any of our shows across Zero Blitz on the Yahoo Podcast Network, you're not surprised by this outcome. Why? I'm not surprised by this.
Look, I realize, we all see, feel, and hear about the recent blowout disaster in the playoffs, and we want to make everything about that. But it isn't that simple. Look at Jerry Jones as an owner. How many years in a row did we ask, is this the last year for Jason Garrett? In fact, if you look over the course of the last 20 years, most of this era of Cowboys football can be defined as "patient." Jones has been patient as an owner. He was patient in the process of replacing Jason Garrett. He was patient in the process of negotiating with superstars like 'Zeke, and then Dak Prescott.
What we've seen from Jerry Jones is a much more measured approach than he gets credit for. So now he has to be measured in his approach with his head coach. It's not an accident that Dak was an MVP candidate. In fact, Dak referenced it immediately after the game, crediting McCarthy for so much of the good that he's accomplished.
Yes, this ended terribly for the Cowboys, and, yes, there are Super Bowl aspirations. But you also have to look at the record. You have to look at the consistent winning. You have to look at the development, and then ask yourself, is there someone out there on the market you're sure can step in with these exact pieces and make you better? I don't think the answer is that simple.
And if you're Jerry Jones, and you're looking around, trying to figure out how to win a Super Bowl today, not five years from now, but right now, don't you have to look reasonably and ask yourself if change for the sake of change really benefits the existing pieces that you have? Jerry Jones did that. He looked at it, and he made the decision I think many smart, reasonable, and measured people would make. It's better to run it back with the devil you know than to trust the devil you don't.