There have been all kinds of debates about the Joneses making Mike McCarthy the newest coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Some love the move, some hate it. Some think it was too quick. Some wanted the latest hot name or a college standout instead.
However, last night I started thinking about why McCarthy would want to come to Dallas. After all, there's no doubt that any potential coach had heard plenty about Jerry's meddling ways. The organizational failure of Jones has been discussed pretty much ad nauseam. Choosing Dallas means having to put up with Jerry's hands-all-over approach of owning a team.
McCarthy clearly had other teams interested in interviewing, yet he picked the Cowboys as much as the Cowboys picked him. It could have just been a money thing. It could even be the high-profile nature of the job. However, I think there also could have been a few other reasons.
1) McCarthy, like most of us, could easily see that this team underachieved under Garrett. He's not in a rebuilding situation, but one where he only should need to add a few parts to possibly achieve immediate success.
2) This could probably be added to one because it's saying the same thing: Coaches know they can't win without talent and key pieces are in place here. He doesn't have to find a quarterback. He doesn't have to find a stud running back. He's got four very solid pieces to the offensive line if they can stay healthy. If we bring back Cooper, he's got a very good receiving corps. On offense, the only real questions are starting tight end and left guard (and we got decent play there from both Williams and Su'a-Filo, plus we haven't even seen Connor McGovern yet).
Defense is a little more sketchy. We've got one very good defensive end, two very good linebackers and a few decent secondary players. However, McCarthy is an offensive coach so I'm sure the offense was the draft.
3) Despite all the negatives about Jones, coaches know that he will get them what they ask for. I know the team has changed some on that, going cheaper in free agency, but I feel some of that was influenced by Garrett and his process, and the right coach will be able to produce a shopping list and get Jerry to fill it. If McCarthy tells Jerry that he needs a certain player, I just can't see Jones being able to resist getting him.
