Dallas Cowboys: Good Move To Stick With Mike McCarthy?

The Dallas Cowboys announced yesterday they are sticking with head coach Mike McCarthy. After the embarrassing home loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, many thought owner Jerry Jones would fire McCarthy. It surprised many fans when it was announced McCarthy would be returning. Most have panned the move, but there are good reasons to stick with their current head coach.

Dallas Cowboys & Mike McCarthy By The Numbers

Mike McCarthy has gone 42-25 as the Dallas Cowboys head coach. In his career, he is at a .620 winning percentage. For context, this puts him 32nd in the all-time win percentage rankings. He has a better career-winning percentage than John Harbaugh, Sean McVay, Pete Carroll, and Kyle Shanahan. He has led the team to three straight 12-win seasons. Since McCarthy took over the Cowboys, the franchise has had the fourth most regular season wins in the NFL, trailing only the Chiefs, Bills, and Packers.

The playoffs are where McCarthy hasn’t seen much success with the Cowboys. He is 1-3 with the team, and two of the playoff appearances were one and done. In a couple of the games, some questionable coaching decisions led to defeat, i.e., the Dak Prescott quarterback draw, which ran out the clock. This season, there was a lot of pressure on McCarthy, and the team laid an egg in the playoffs.

Dallas Cowboys & Mike McCarthy Playoff Defeat

It wasn’t that the team lost. It was how they lost. The Dallas Cowboys looked lost under Mike McCarthy on Sunday. The offense couldn’t get a rhythm going against a defense that, a month ago, gave up over 300 yards to Bryce Young. The defense couldn’t contain Jordan Love and their young, unknown receivers. This team looked underprepared, which falls squarely on the coaching.

Because of the team’s performance, fans and analysts called for McCarthy to be fired. There was an equal amount of uproar when it was announced he was staying on as the head coach. It seems crazy at this moment in time because of what we just saw the team do on the field. However, there are real reasons why it was smart for the Dallas Cowboys to keep Mike McCarthy.

McCarthy Can Get The Team To The Playoffs

To win a Super Bowl, a team has to first get to the playoffs. Even with the additional team in each conference, that is no easy feat. Outside of his first year in Dallas, McCarthy has been able to make the playoffs every year. Prescott had a season-ending ankle injury in his first year, so that year comes with an asterisk. The regular season numbers do not lie. Even as the offensive coaching staff changes, McCarthy is able to put a top-five offense on the field. The defense has also improved under McCarthy, with some untimely injuries hampering the unit’s effectiveness.

It may seem simple, but McCarthy gets the team to the playoffs. While there are struggles once they get there, he is able to comfortably get the team into the postseason with a chance to win. We’ve seen many coaches struggle even to make the postseason. If the Cowboys move on from McCarthy, they better hope they find someone who can make the playoffs as consistently as he does.

Lack Of Good Candidates

I know what you are thinking. Bill Belichick and Jim Harbaugh are out there! Those are fantastic candidates. Here’s the issue. All of the reporting indicates other teams are heavy favorites. Every report has Belichick going to the Falcons, and the Chargers seem to be the leader in the clubhouse for Harbaugh. Mike Vrabel is the one candidate who does not have a heavy favorite team, but Jones keeping McCarthy says he isn’t confident he can land a top coaching candidate.

It would be a disaster if the team downgraded at the head coach position simply because of an embarrassing playoff loss. Prescott was playing like an MVP candidate this season. CeeDee Lamb broke records and was in the top five in the league in receiving yards. The team was playing well and had a complete dud in the playoffs. If the Dallas Cowboys were to move on from Mike McCarthy, they better ensure they know the next person will be an upgrade.

McCarthy’s Contract

McCarthy only has one year left on his contract. It makes giving him one more year much easier. He has earned his contract extension if he breaks the playoff curse and leads the team to a Super Bowl. If not, it is easy to move on by not re-signing him. Continuity is often a good thing in sports, especially the NFL. Prescott and the offense will go into next season knowing the system and can hit the ground running in week one.

I would also not discount the motivation being in a contract year has on a person. Both McCarthy and Prescott are playing for their next contract. Even if the Cowboys do not want to bring either back, they must show other teams they deserve a spot in the league. We’ve seen it before in sports. Players have extra motivation during a contract year, which could prove fruitful for the Cowboys.

Heat Of The Moment

The playoff loss is still fresh. Fans are rightfully mad about how the team played. However, keeping McCarthy is a good move. It is easy to call for a team to move on from a coach or player, but finding a replacement is harder. Take Prescott, for example. If the team dumped him, who do they get? They aren’t high enough in the draft to take a quarterback, and the free agent isn’t full of studs. Would the Cowboys be better off with Kirk Cousins? Ryan Tannehill? Gardner Minshew? I would think not.

The Dallas Cowboys are stuck with Mike McCarthy. He has one more season to show he can lead this team to the playoffs.