After three days of heavy speculation about his future, Mike McCarthy will have another opportunity to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a deep playoff run, capping nearly three decades of unsuccessful attempts.
Following a surprising 48-32 wild-card loss to Green Bay, owner and general manager Jerry Jones announced on Wednesday night that McCarthy will return for a fifth season.
Since the 14-team system was implemented in 2020, the Cowboys became the first club ranked second to lose to the final team to qualify. In the last two weeks, Dallas dominated the NFC East and earned the opportunity to host at least two postseason games.
McCarthy’s club, on the other hand, is the first after three straight 12-win postseason seasons to miss out on a conference title game.
“With multiple allusions to the heartbreak of the playoff defeat, there is tremendous benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach,” Jones stated in a statement. “We will commit ourselves, in collaboration with Mike, to translating his record of the highest regular-season winning percentage among all Cowboys head coaches into accomplishing our postseason objectives.”
McCarthy was brought on board to help Dallas advance past the divisional stage for the first time since the legendary team’s final five Super Bowl victories, which occurred in 1995.
In his more than twelve seasons as the Packers’ coach, the sixty-year-old coach made it to the NFC championship game three more times and won a Super Bowl with Green Bay thirteen years ago.
In the middle of Green Bay’s second straight losing season in 2018, McCarthy was let go. Before Jones hired him in 2019, he had retired from football. His record with Dallas is 42-25 and overall 167-102-2.
McCarthy’s contract is expiring in one year. An extension was not mentioned in Jones’ statement.
With one year remaining on his $160 million, four-year contract, quarterback Dak Prescott struggled in the first half, leading Dallas to a 27-0 deficit. In quarterback Jordan Love’s postseason debut, the Packers were never slowed by a top-five defensive squad.
Under McCarthy, Dallas fell to 1-3 in the playoffs and gave up the most points in the team’s postseason history. Prescott’s postseason record is 2–5.
“We’re going to begin the process of reviewing and making decisions about everything that affects our roster and team,” stated Jones. “Although at this time we won’t be discussing individual players, extensions, or free agents, it deserves our careful attention, which it will receive.”
McCarthy has had the Cowboys lose two of their three postseason games at home, where they had won 16 straight regular-season games prior to the Green Bay setback.
On wild-card weekend, Dallas was the only club to lose both times at home. At AT&T Stadium, San Francisco defeated the Cowboys to conclude their 2021 campaign.
McCarthy’s recent completion of his first season as Prescott’s play-caller—Prescott led the NFL with 36 touchdown throws and completed a career-high 69.5% of his passes—was one element that worked in his favour.
Throughout the season, Jones expressed great admiration for both his coach and quarterback, and he might be interested in observing how their newfound bond develops.
“Our loss on Sunday is shared by everyone here, not just coach McCarthy. Our players. Our coaches. Our front office. Myself,” Jones said. “The lens we use to view and evaluate coach McCarthy is holistic. While we’re all disappointed with the result on Sunday and with our playoff record, I am 100 percent supportive of him as our head coach and ability to reach our goals.”
The Cowboys might lose defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to a head coaching job. The former Atlanta coach has been in charge of the Dallas defense for three seasons, but the performance against the Packers was perhaps the unit’s worst since Quinn took over.
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