Cowboys Mike McCarthy on Jerry Jones com
Mike McCarthy is stuck in quicksand, and the more he struggles, the faster he's going to sink. The 58-year-old head coach is finding out just how truly different the are from the other 31 organizations in the . Of course, there are a lot of similarities as well, particularly between owners, but none of them are quite like Jerry Jones. And now as McCarthy enters his third year of a five-year contract as head coach of the Cowboys, he finds himself battling more than just football i sues that led to his team's dismi sal in the first round of the .He's also up against public statements made by his team's owner, with Jones going a bit too far in apparently trying to motivate his staff into fixing things for the 2022 season. shortly following their lo s to the on Super Wild Card Weekend that he'd remain head coach, and finally made those public in stating .But with offensive coordinator (whom the Cowboys remain very high on) and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn making their rounds in head Blake Parker Jersey coach interviews, Jones was also hellbent on keep them both in Dallas, even if it meant allowing them to believe they might someday take McCarthy's spot. He got his wish with each team pa sing on Moore and and now eyes turn to McCarthy to gauge his approach to it all." Dan Quinn stays here because there always has been, with every coach, every one of those three coaches, have said they'd love to be the head coach of the Cowboys," Jones told 105.3FM the Fan in early February. "Every one. Every one. So my point is that has, in my mind, a lot of logic as to why they might not take a job now rather than one or wait and see how the cards go in the future." He wasn't done there, mostly because the microphone was still on, and stumbled further -- seemingly intentionally -- into making it clear that if not for McCarthy, Quinn would instantly be a top candidate to coach the Cowboys now, not later."He's certainly qualified. He's very qualified," Jones said. "Yes, I would consider. If I didn't have a coach, I would have been interviewing him for coach. ... Mike knows that someday somebody other than him will be coach of the Cowboys."In the ever-wise words of a certain pet detective: Alrighty then. 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For his part, when asked about Jones' not-so-veiled comments, McCarthy expre sed an understanding with and of Jones, but also didn't exactly hide his frustration in finally figuring out what all comes attached Blank Jersey to being head coach of the Cowboys, having previously found himself defending his honor in the waning moments of his stint with the . "I think it's a number of things. I think -- No. 1 -- every landscape in this league is different," he said on "I've been very fortunate to work at two of the very premier organizations in pro football, and they're all different. And I think the way things are done here, there's a bigger picture focus. I always, frankly, just keep it about winning and have always taken a blind eye and a blind ear to those things, but that's not the case when you work here."I think, clearly, when you look at those types of comments, I think you have to understand the platform that they come from. I have an excellent relationship with Jerry Jones. We talk on a daily basis about everything and anything -- big picture type focus on what we're doing, program-wise, and more importantly is his interest in the development of our players; and especially our young players."But will Jones' comments regarding Quinn create a rift in 2022 -- one that sees McCarthy looking over his shoulder at his own close friend? Logically, one would think so, and that's probably the grand design behind why Jones is positioning his words the way he has: to motivate all involved to chase what he views is the throne in Dallas. McCarthy isn't biting that cheese though, at least not as it relates to side-eyeing a talented defensive coordinator whom he also worked hard to convince sticking around was better than leaving for a promotion in 2022. Quinn even asked McCarthy outright if it would be better to pack up and leave, to which the latter wanted no part of seeing."When I look at the comments -- the thing about Dan is, Dan Quinn being here was very important to both me and our organization," McCarthy said of Quinn. "Dan and I had visited long before he took a head coach interview, long before the playoffs even started, about how happy he is being here. And I envy him in some ways where, as a head coach, sometimes you get pulled away from the things Cody Allen Jersey that would help you advance in this league. The joy he's having coordinating, he's been a tremendous a set for me, personally and profe sionally, having another individual with the experience of a head coach."We talked about him staying here long before he ever took the interview s . Now, obviously, when he took the interview s and this narrative broke out -- in reflection to the relationship Dan and I do have -- he said, 'Hey man, I'm not comfortable with this narrative. If you really feel like I need to take one of these jobs, just be honest with me.' We kind of laughed about it, and I just said, 'Dan, 10 to 12 years ago I'd tell you to please get the hell out of here. I don't want to deal with this.' "But the reality is I'm about winning, he's about winning and the best thing for the Cowboys is for Dan Quinn to be here. It was his decision and his decision alone, but I clearly wanted him to know that from the start of all of that, I Cameron Maybin Jersey wanted him here. It's in the best interest of us winning."And so it goes that the relationship between McCarthy and Quinn remains solid and unfractured by Jones' attempt at installing a variant of hunger games within the Cowboys coaching staff, but there's also the much larger mastodon in the room, and its name is Sean Payton. With Payton stepping away (not retiring) from the NFL for 2022 and intimating he'd like to return to coaching as early as 2023, the longtime speculation on if/when Jones would pursue the former Cowboys a sistant head coach/quarterbacks coach turned head coach has hit fever pitch.Because it's not actually Quinn (or Moore, anymore) who is the lead horse in the potential race to replace McCarthy in 2023, it's presumably Payton, a coach Jones has an intense fondne s for and likely equates to his wish of having not ignored signing Bill Belichic