Has Mike McCarthy done enough over the past few weeks to secure his future at the helm of the Dallas Cowboys?
According to what team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Sunday, it’s possible.
Following the 26–24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jones praised his coach for leading the team to a victory despite the Cowboys already being eliminated from playoff contention.
Dallas found out its postseason fate ahead of Sunday’s game, but found a way to get the job done against the Bucs, and Jones credited McCarthy for stoking that fire.
“I’m proud of those guys. They’re out there and they’re not going to give up, so I’m really proud of them,” Jones said. “And Mike McCarthy, he won’t let them think they’re playing in the Super Bowl. He won’t let them do that. I’m really proud of that.”
(7-8) The Cowboys have had a rough season overall, losing five straight early in the year. They also lost veteran quarterback Dak Prescott to a season-ending hamstring tear, among numerous injuries. But the team rallied to its fourth win in its last five games with backup Cooper Rush under center.
Amid the twists and turns of Dallas this season, McCarthy’s job security has naturally become a subject of controversy. This is because the fourth-year manager’s contract expires at the end of the season. But Jones has remained steadfast in not publicly discussing McCarthy’s fate, even in the team’s darkest moments this season.
“All I can say is what a good job he’s doing, what a good job he’s doing,” Jones said on Sunday. “Don’t expect me to share what we’re doing after we finish playing this year.”
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FS1’s “The Facility” co-host James Jones, who played under McCarthy while in Green Bay, strongly believes the 61-year-old coach isn’t going anywhere after this season and points to the past three weeks as evidence.
“Coach Mike is not going anywhere, and I’ll be honest with you, I’ve found that out over the last three weeks,” Jones said on Monday’s episode.
McCarthy and the Cowboys went 2-1 in that span with wins over the Panthers and Bucs and a heartbreaking loss to the Bengals after a special teams error.
“For the last three weeks, Jerry Jones has been praising Mike McCarthy like he’s 13 or 14, like Andy Reid,” added James Jones. “It started with a lame-duck coach. All these things… in the last three weeks, we got a quarterback, we got a star defensive player, and then we had the owner say like he used to: Coach Mike is not going. He’s not going anywhere.” Jones continued.
The star defensive player James Jones mentioned was Micah Parsons. The three-time Pro Bowler recently defended his coach, telling ESPN that he believes the Cowboys’ season has been ruined by injuries and that he hopes they all come back next year.
“Coach Mike, my relationship with him has always been really good. He’s always taken really good care of me,” Parsons said.
Even if they don’t make the playoffs, James Jones said the team still has some fighting to do.
“And they had a role to play and that was the coach. They said if you go out there and stop the game, stop the game, and get out of the playoffs, the coach was probably ( ) fired,” he said.
McCarthy is 49-33 in regular season games against the Cowboys and 1-3 in the playoffs. The team’s next two games will be against two strong division rivals: on December 29th at 1pm ET on FOX against the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles and in the season finale on January 5th against the 10-5 Washington Commanders.
If the Cowboys win against either one, McCarthy could likely breathe a sigh of relief for the time being, but James Jones thinks the coach is already in the clear.
“Coach Mike McCarthy had these boys playing really good football with their backup quarterback in the game. Coach Mike will be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys next year. You can hear it in Jerry’s voice. You can hear it in the players’ voices. . And you can see how the players play,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, FS1’s “Speak” co-host and Cowboys legend Michael Irvin believes the emotions associated with a few late-season wins are getting in the way of reality in Dallas.
“Let’s remember that winning a few games in a row is not the criteria to start this season, it’s what gets you into the playoffs,” Irvin said. “So the team is giving up a big effort. All of that is true and congratulations to Mike McCarthy, but we also have to say you’re done. With three weeks left in the season, you’re out. (Postseason) us. “I want you to pay attention to this because it’s emotional and you shouldn’t make decisions during emotional times.”
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The Pro Football Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion warned that the front office should look at the entire season before making a decision on a contract extension.
“He (Jerry Jones) came up and said, ‘They made us think they were playing in the Super Bowl.’” That’s not logic. I heard before the game that they didn’t make the playoffs. Right? So they don’t play like they’re playing in the Super Bowl because they don’t even make the playoffs. “It’s just an emotional story.” Irvin continued.
“At the end of the season, we have to evaluate everything. Not only the emotional moments we had in these few blocks, but these three blocks here. We have to evaluate everything, and everything tells us we have to think about the next expansion.”
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