This just in: Dallas is not making a head-coaching change and Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy is returning for the 2024 season, per sources. pic.twitter.com/GHMJuqdxaT

Adam Schefter  (@AdamSchefter) January 18, 2024

Fuck

Holy shit!!!

McCarthy is for sure going to take the season off and do extensive film-study to reinvent himself, just like he told the Cowboys he did in his year off between GB and DAL


https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/coach-mccarthy-confesses-he-lied-to-jerry-jones-to-get-cowboys-job

Without*

I'm seriously curious if the reason Jerry didn't fire his HC. Is because Bill Belichick told him something like "Yeah! Sure I'll come coach your guys, but you gotta give me the keys to the castle and let me make draft picks".

And Jerry would probably say "kiss my ass". Jerry wants control of this thing and all the credit for any success.

If it was the offense that royally shit the bed turning in their worst performance of the season, I’d be pissed at keeping McCarthy.

However, with it being the defense that royally shit the bed turning in their worst performance of the season, I’m indifferent.  Realistically, there aren’t any viable candidates that are a “wow, that guy would DEFINITELY be better and would be willing to put up with Jerry” choice.

Also, I’m not as high as others on the prospect of a HC that is 5 years away from the average US male life expectancy and requires the greatest QB in NFL history to be successful.  

Wow @ Dallas.

All I can do is laugh. It’s insane.

Uh, I wouldn’t hand Belicek that either. He blows at drafting. Will McClay has done a fairly good job at it.

Agreed, but I also know the side of Jerry that doesn't want to give ANY coach the ability to make draft choices.

HOW ‘BOUT THEM COWBOYS!!!!

This really isn't a bad take.

If he blows it next year then yeah, shitcan him.

Absolutely sick and disgusted that McCarthy is coming back for more of the same. Only difference next season is there will be no more cupcake games. They’ll have a brutal schedule next year and will be lucky to win 6-8 games tops. Life long second generation fan/season ticket holder here too but I’m boycotting next season. IF they resign Dak “The Long Con” Prescott to some ludicrous contract extension I will be opting out too for however long he’s on the roster. The madness has reached epic proportions with thinking this QB and coach can win in the playoffs or even big games during the regular season. Its ridiculous.

Fuck

\uD835\uDDE7\uD835\uDDE5\uD835\uDDD8\uD835\uDDE1\uD835\uDDD7\uD835\uDDDC\uD835\uDDE1\uD835\uDDDA: #Dolphins safety Deshon Elliott is praying for the #Bills to beat the #Chiefs \uD83D\uDE02

“I pray by the grace of god on the Chiefs down fall, I hope Buffalo beats them like they stole something” \uD83D\uDC80 pic.twitter.com/l9NLrQMezr

JPAFootball  (@jasrifootball) January 17, 2024

This is what's so difficult for some franchises, as far as coaching goes. Mike McCarthy and Mike Tomlin aren't bad coaches, but they're not very good coaches, either. They're sort of average or a little better than average. That generally means they finish each season with a winning record, but not an outstanding one. It also means the likelihood of ever having a contending team, let alone a dominant one, is almost zero.

So while fans of teams coached by the McCarthys and Tomlins of the NFL can expect to win more than they lose and even make the playoffs, they can't expect anything more than that. They are perennial winners, but winners that always lose their last game even when they probably shouldn't have.

Those types of results leave ownership in a catch-22: do they keep their coaching staffs intact with the hope that consistency is better than starting over? Or do they jettison the devil they know for one they don't and hope the new guy is actually an improvement and not worse?

That's why Dallas and Pittsburgh stick with their guys. The owners would rather play it safe than take chances. It's akin to settling for a single or a double instead of swinging for the fences and putting one out of the park.

Chiefs are going to have a hard time against the Bills in Buffalo.

Buffalo's defense is now using 3rd stringers. That's not ideal in any circumstance, let alone in the playoffs against the defending Super Bowl champs.

Yeah, but having a logical take isn’t nearly as fun as having a “FIRE HIM, FIRE EVERYONE” shortsighted reactionary take.

Let me ask you something.  Can you give me an example of when being patient with an also-ran, always-falls-just-short coaching staff has paid off with championships?

Attached File

ALWAYS falls short?

To whom are you referring?

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With the same team.  Plenty of coaches have switched teams and won championships with the new one they couldn't with the old, plenty more have won SBs and then switched teams, never to win one again.  Please give me an example of what you know I was asking.

Andy Reid won his first Superbowl with the Chiefs after developing a reputation for choking with the Eagles.

Edit nvm

Again, that's not what I asked.  The Eagles did NOT stick with him.  I'm talking about a coach who can't get over the hump, the team sticks with him for 5-6 years despite that and he goes on to win a SB.

My post button has a hair trigger with a tendency to go off before I read the whole post.

Nope, that's not accurate.  I said what I said and you misreading it isn't me moving the goalposts.

If that’s true then you worded it poorly, IMO.

But to answer your question: Mike McCarthy.

I don't mean to be a dick to you or him, but it kind of is a bad take.

First up, the Cowboys offense struggled against an infamously sketchy Joe Barry defense. That defense was so problematic, it was a weekly meme in the U-Tree videos. While I can name every HC in the league, there aren't that many DCs I know off the top of my head, and Joe Barry is one I do know of, and for all the wrong reasons. When you have what is arguably the #2 offense in the NFL, and you come out flat and struggle against those guys, it's a problem.

Second thing is, the Cowboys offense didn't really play with a sense of urgency when they needed to, and they seem to fail a lot at situational football things. If you look at a "you have X yards to go and Y seconds to do it" type scenarios, the Cowboys seem to get that wrong a lot, and I'm not really talking about a lack of talent or bad execution. They're slow to the line and they run plays that are wrong for the situation. Need a TD with the clock about to run out? Let's take forever to snap the ball, then throw it to a guy outside the end zone! This was an established criticism of them last season, and while I'm not in the habit of watching the Cowboys play often, I don't get the sense that this has improved.

And a big one is, the opportunity cost of keeping McCarthy is real. This is a uniquely interesting year in the coaching cycle. There are a lot of interesting names out there, both veterans and young guns. I don't think Vrabel is the solution to the Cowboys problem, but Belichick and Harbaugh? Johnson and Slowik? All of those guys have the potential to be better than what McCarthy is. Keeping McCarthy and not bringing those guys in for interviews and discussions seems like a really big mistake. HC isn't like QB. We only get a few elite QBs per decade in the league, but solid coaches aren't THAT hard to find, and you don't need a top 5 draft pick or $200M+ in fully guaranteed cap space money to bring one in. Yes, you can get it wrong. But after four seasons, we know (or should know) McCarthy ain't it. And next year's pool probably won't be as good.

I can't really speculate about a lot of the hypothetical relationship issues between Jerry and prospective coaches. I'm sure it comes from somewhere, but a lot of that sounds like urban legends and wife's tales.

Save for one Thanksgiving game a few years back, I’ve seen every Cowboys game going back over a decade.

Taking everything into account, that was THE worst defensive performance I have seen from a Cowboys team in that time.  If you want to shit all over the offense, have at it, but the vast majority of the blame for that game goes on defense, IMO.

Are my posts fucking invisible?

What?

Did y’all just hear something?

Sigh.

If you think I said it poorly, I'll ask again.  Do you know an example of a team with a coach that is considered an also-ran, who for multiple years can't get over the hump to get to and win a SB but that team sticks with him and they go on to win a SB?  Because McCarthy at GB is not a good example.  He came in and had both QBs injured the first season, then went 13-3 and made the NFC championship game the next season.  Then they changed QBs to Rodgers and it took him a couple more years to win a SB with the new QB.  
I'm talking about a coach like Marty Schottenheimer, who constantly had great regular season records but couldn't get past the first couple rounds of the playoffs except once with Joe Montana and still couldn't make the SB.  Coaching the same team for multiple years and always stalling short of the goal.  Has it ever worked sticking with someone like that?

Jim Harbaugh?

Tomlin is the new Marty Schottenheimer.

Hasn't won a Superbowl yet.

Do you mean at Michigan?  Or do you mean John Harbaugh?

Bill Cowher hired 1992, lost super bowl in 1995, won a super bowl in 2005

Clever wording of "championships" means a coach would have to win 2 super bowls to qualify. How many coaches have won 2 Super Bowls since the merger?

Mike McCarthy meets the criteria YOU posted of “I'm talking about a coach who can't get over the hump, the team sticks with him for 5-6 years despite that and he goes on to win a SB.”  

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Official-2023-NFL-Discussion-Thread/5-2630680/&page=455#i107533778

He only won a single championship

Everything you said is accurate, and if they were 9-8 or barely squeaking into the playoffs I'd be on the fire him bandwagon.

But the regular season did happen where they put up and prevented a shitload of points with Dak being a MVP candidate, Daron Bland tying the pick 6 record, Micah Parsons being a DPOY candidate and CeeDee Lamb for OPOY.  The team straight up performed exceedingly well during the regular season using whatever metric you like.  This year though with the NFL being a a one and done league, a game that they probably win 9/10 came up 1. I'd hate to risk losing that level of performance over one game.

Had the Steelers playing hard and disciplined.

Always played with mediocre QBs til Big Ben.


Better record than Tomlin in the playoffs.

For a long time he was my first choice whenever the Cowboys HC job would open up.

Michigan. He was mediocre for years, had to take pay cut to stay, but finally broke through and won a national title.

I'm not necessarily enamored with McCarthy but he's the first Cowboy coach to win 12 games, three times in a row. If the team underperforms next year, I would replace him.

Something something Aaron Rodgers something something 1 SB ring something wasted HoF career

Winning a Superbowl is really hard.  Who knew?  

Tom Brady really screwed up reasonable expectations.