McCarthy: What is he?

[Verdict]

I see a lot of posters on here bashing MM over pretty much anything and everything. That’s ok. Everyone is entitled to their opinion whether it is an informed opinion or complete conjecture. Some of the criticism is probably warranted, but no coach is perfect.

This isn’t a “defend Coach McCarthy” thread. I have been trying to figure out what MM “IS” as a coach. Last year made me wonder if MM was just some sort of clown who rode Rodgers’ coattails to a SB. But I wasn’t ready to buy into that due to the MASSIVE injuries we sustained last year.

This year is a different story entirely. MM still has times where his clock management and decision making on 4th down leave you scratching your head. But I have been trying to reserve judgment on the guy because time tends to clear things up and let the truth come out.

One of my observations is that MM seems to have the “next man” ready to play when the time comes, and he finds a way to put that player into a position where the loss of the better player still allows his team to win. That is something that happened a lot in Green Bay and that seems to be carrying over here. With the evidence I have seen on that——personally, I am going to give MM credit for that. Too much evidence to suggest otherwise.

MM seems to be willing to quietly hold players accountable for their play (except for Connor Williams so far—lol). Jaylon is GONE. That would not have likely happened under Garrett.

He has done a master job of using the PS and the rules to play the roster spots/rules to his advantage. The Cowboys depth is much deeper than it has been since the SB years. Love the way MM has worked this roster.

MM is doing a great job of keeping players “shut down” long enough to heal rather than rushing them back a week early and watching them get re-injured.

I realize MM isn’t perfect, but as time goes on I get a little bit more comfortable that he was a “good” hire for the Cowboys. He’s not “The Hoodie”, but no one is. I think he is better than some give him credit for.

I see a lot to appreciate in MM but his lip smacks during press conferences drive me insane. Lol. Maybe that’s one of the reasons Jerry loves him some MM.

 

[john van brocklin]

I see a lot of posters on here bashing MM over pretty much anything and everything. That’s ok. Everyone is entitled to their opinion whether it is an informed opinion or complete conjecture. Some of the criticism is probably warranted, but no coach is perfect.

This isn’t a “defend Coach McCarthy” thread. I have been trying to figure out what MM “IS” as a coach. Last year made me wonder if MM was just some sort of clown who rode Rodgers’ coattails to a SB. But I wasn’t ready to buy into that due to the MASSIVE injuries we sustained last year.

This year is a different story entirely. MM still has times where his clock management and decision making on 4th down leave you scratching your head. But I have been trying to reserve judgment on the guy because time tends to clear things up and let the truth come out.

One of my observations is that MM seems to have the “next man” ready to play when the time comes, and he finds a way to put that player into a position where the loss of the better player still allows his team to win. That is something that happened a lot in Green Bay and that seems to be carrying over here. With the evidence I have seen on that——personally, I am going to give MM credit for that. Too much evidence to suggest otherwise.

MM seems to be willing to quietly hold players accountable for their play (except for Connor Williams so far—lol). Jaylon is GONE. That would not have likely happened under Garrett.

He has done a master job of using the PS and the rules to play the roster spots/rules to his advantage. The Cowboys depth is much deeper than it has been since the SB years. Love the way MM has worked this roster.

MM is doing a great job of keeping players “shut down” long enough to heal rather than rushing them back a week early and watching them get re-injured.

I realize MM isn’t perfect, but as time goes on I get a little bit more comfortable that he was a “good” hire for the Cowboys. He’s not “The Hoodie”, but no one is. I think he is better than some give him credit for.

I see a lot to appreciate in MM but his lip smacks during press conferences drive me insane. Lol. Maybe that’s one of the reasons Jerry loves him some MM.

I have been happy with him for the most part
I could use less 4th down craziness and better clock management.

 

[johneric8]

You nailed one thing and it's something I've said a bunch on this forum.. Big Mike's Packers were always a very hard team to play because it seemed like he always had all the guys ready to play. When we played big Mike I always felt like he had the advantage over us as a coach 100%, and much of that had to do with depth and player management.

One other thing that I love about him is his blue collar no nonsense approach with a twist of humor... He is totally opposite of the freckled puppet and our team is also completely different. Maybe Jerry got it right finally, only time will tell, but as of right now, our boys are playing more together than they have since Jimmy.

 

[Jake]

Large and (as much as possible in Jerry's world) in charge.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

He's not your woman
He's not your man
He is something that you'll never understand

 

[MountaineerCowboy]

The bad for me personally:

I believe in the chain of Moore-Quinn-McCarthy that MM is the weak link. I believe that if you have Moore and Quinn as your coordinators and you have the talent we have on this team then you're going to be a good football team.

I believe the stuff he does like bingo, smashing watermelons, and "monkey butt" is as corny as you can get. Some of ya like it I know, but I think it's corny. That's just my opinion on that.

His time management is horrible and always has been. I posted an article from 2017 that detailed all the weird time management decisions he had made up till that point. It's a weakness for him.

I'm not a fan of some of the 4th down attempts. I'm okay with some, but others I am 100% against, like when the score is 0-0 and we're on our side of the field.

The good for me personally:

I believe that McCarthy is better than Garrett, but that means nothing really, because the Garrett bar is so low that it's not impressive to just be better than Garrett.

He lets the coordinators do their jobs it seems and he doesn't try and interfere. I believe Garrett wanted to be in on he offensive game plans a little too much and it showed. McCarthy seems to sit back and let them do their jobs.

I think he is relatable and has this lunch pail attitude which I like.

This dude coached Aaron Rodgers, so he knows how to deal with big egos.

Final thoughts:

I was not a fan of the hire and I'm still not. I wanted to go young instead of recycling someone else's trash. That's just my preference, and my mind could easily change in a few weeks, but for now I'm just not sold on McCarthy.

 

[cityochamps]

He's not your woman
He's not your man
He is something that you'll never understand

So he is a Prince.

 

[Crown Royal]

McCarthy is a great CEO type of coach that I think Garrett aspired to be, but had no experience with or someone to teach him how to do it. Garrett was a smart guy who had been involved in football all his life, but was never truly groomed by coaches who had experience building great organizations. So he tried to do the right things, but there were gaps.

McCarthy, on the other hand, has been taught. Way more coaching experience than garrett, has been a part of good organizations and good coaching leaders. Earned his way into being a head coach and had to lead the whole team. He comes into Dallas and makes some immediate but subtle changes:

1) This will be an AGGRESSIVE team. We play to win, not play not to lose. Risk aversion is important, but he'd rather coach the players to go be great than to be timid.
2) To that point - there are 53 players on the team, and they are all expected to contribute. McCarthy won a Super Bowl with an incredibly injured roster. He puts trust into ALL the players, not just a couple of super stars.
3) Player accountability - he has shown zero trepidation in changing the player combos if it gives an edge. Kearse took one game to take over being starter, they didn't put Collins back in immediately, Parsons has become the full time starting MLB. Combined with the aggressive approach above - players know you can earn your way to contributing here.


Yes, he has flaws. Literally every single head coach does. But I think McCarthy is up there with the Sean Peytons and Mike Tomlins of the world.

 

[jazzcat22]

I see a lot to appreciate in MM but his lip smacks during press conferences drive me insane. Lol. Maybe that’s one of the reasons Jerry loves him some MM.

Do you remember Jimmy and his lip smacking. Maybe Jerry thinks he will get the same results with MM....something to that lip smacking....
Now we know the real reason Maws hired.
It drives me insane also to see people do that.

 

[Whyjerry]

I think he is a million times better then Garrett and in the top half of coaches in the game. I like him.

 

[jazzcat22]

Final thoughts:

I was not a fan of the hire and I'm still not. I wanted to go young instead of recycling someone else's trash. That's just my preference, and my mind could easily change in a few weeks, but for now I'm just not sold on McCarthy.

So a SB winning coach is trash?

I liked the hire overall. I was not sure at first, but liked it compared to other options. Other than I was kind of hoping for Urban Meyer.
Anyway I convinced myself for that reason, he seems to be the best, as a SB winning coach, knows how to handle all. the different types of pressure and players.

I think we are seeing this season his impact we expected to see last season. But for a variety of reasons we all know, that did not happen. Mostly due to injuries to the OL and to Dak of course. As well a bad fit for DC along with injuries there too.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

MM is a pretty good coach. You can't win an NFL Championship without being good these days. Just pure player talent does not get it done anymore. He got a bad rap his last few years in Green Bay once a certain highly narcissistic QB turned the locker room against him.

He's got flaws like every other NFL coach has, but I believe he's a big reason this team is 7-2

 

[MyFairLady]

So far IMHO MM seems to be a reasonable head coach. He seems to have two very capable coordinators. Between the three of them they seem to have modern game plans based on the personnel available. All good stuff. And the cherry on top and the thing that makes it all work is Dak who is playing at a masterful level.

 

[ItzKelz]

He is a 7-2 head coach with SB experience and a chance to get a number 1 seed.

 

[jazzcat22]

So far IMHO MM seems to be a reasonable head coach. He seems to have two very capable coordinators. Between the three of them they seem to have modern game plans based on the personnel available. All good stuff. And the cherry on top and the thing that makes it all work is Dak who is playing at a masterful level.

Jimmy did the same thing, he had very good to great OC & DC as well as position coaches. Then he orchestrated all of it. And would make in game decisions as needed. I see MM doing this same thing.

 

[jazzcat22]

He is a 7-2 head coach with SB experience and a chance to get a number 1 seed.

And they control their own destiny to get the #1 seed. According to this anyway.

http://www.playoffstatus.com/nfl/nfcstandings.html

 

[JBond]

I see a lot of posters on here bashing MM over pretty much anything and everything. That’s ok. Everyone is entitled to their opinion whether it is an informed opinion or complete conjecture. Some of the criticism is probably warranted, but no coach is perfect.

This isn’t a “defend Coach McCarthy” thread. I have been trying to figure out what MM “IS” as a coach. Last year made me wonder if MM was just some sort of clown who rode Rodgers’ coattails to a SB. But I wasn’t ready to buy into that due to the MASSIVE injuries we sustained last year.

This year is a different story entirely. MM still has times where his clock management and decision making on 4th down leave you scratching your head. But I have been trying to reserve judgment on the guy because time tends to clear things up and let the truth come out.

One of my observations is that MM seems to have the “next man” ready to play when the time comes, and he finds a way to put that player into a position where the loss of the better player still allows his team to win. That is something that happened a lot in Green Bay and that seems to be carrying over here. With the evidence I have seen on that——personally, I am going to give MM credit for that. Too much evidence to suggest otherwise.

MM seems to be willing to quietly hold players accountable for their play (except for Connor Williams so far—lol). Jaylon is GONE. That would not have likely happened under Garrett.

He has done a master job of using the PS and the rules to play the roster spots/rules to his advantage. The Cowboys depth is much deeper than it has been since the SB years. Love the way MM has worked this roster.

MM is doing a great job of keeping players “shut down” long enough to heal rather than rushing them back a week early and watching them get re-injured.

I realize MM isn’t perfect, but as time goes on I get a little bit more comfortable that he was a “good” hire for the Cowboys. He’s not “The Hoodie”, but no one is. I think he is better than some give him credit for.

I see a lot to appreciate in MM but his lip smacks during press conferences drive me insane. Lol. Maybe that’s one of the reasons Jerry loves him some MM.

I love just about everything in this post. I am laughing at Giants fans right now. They are in a murderous mood.

 

[Streifenkarl]

I think he's okay. Definately not my favourite coach out there and I wasn't that happy when he came on board. But if he get's us that SB win I don't care. For now it seems to work and that's all that matters.

Some odd ingame decisions yes, but as a whole he seems to be in control of this team and their focus on winning. Seems like the rest of the coaching staff is doing a great job on pushing the players to higher levels, so all in all everything's fine right now.

Too bad all that talent over the last couple of years was wasted though. We need three SB wins in a row to make up for that long *** draught, lol. When I was old enough to travel to the US and watch games live in the stadium the great years were already over.

I'm definately plan to return though and watch a 7 time superbowl winner @ AT&T Stadium crush the Eagles or something.

 

[dcstar]

A man who is over paid to coach men who are over paid to play a game. What else is there?

Go Cowboys!

 

[LeonDixson]

So a SB winning coach is trash?

I liked the hire overall. I was not sure at first, but liked it compared to other options. Other than I was kind of hoping for Urban Meyer.
Anyway I convinced myself for that reason, he seems to be the best, as a SB winning coach, knows how to handle all. the different types of pressure and players.

I think we are seeing this season his impact we expected to see last season. But for a variety of reasons we all know, that did not happen. Mostly due to injuries to the OL and to Dak of course. As well a bad fit for DC along with injuries there too.

Not to mention OTAs were cancelled and time to implement systems was extremely limited.