Mike McCarthy Out as Cowboys Head Coach

With some bad.

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Shocking news coming down today that Mike McCarthy is out as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys after five seasons. He and Jerry are parting ways, and I gotta say I'm incredibly surprised. After the Cowboys said no, Mike, you can't.

Interview with the Bears. We're not giving them permission, they proceeded to negotiate. I guess through. I guess through today.

I think his deal expires tomorrow and decided, Hey, I don't think we can come to an agreement here, let's part ways. And so the most shocking thing about it is it's a whole new level of dysfunction that they the Cowboys, weren't even allowed to talk to the guys who are coaching on playoff teams because they spent that whole time negotiating with a guy that they weren't going to keep. Yeah, and I think, on top of that,

I'm not sure on the kids. I know there's one in one or two in high school. I will say that Nick Harris of the Fourth Star Telegram did right, and his piece of just kind of throwing on a much candidates is says, regardless of if Witton lands the head coaching job, it's widely expected that he will be on the Cowboys staff in twenty twenty five and some from Nick Harris at the Telegrams fantastic.

So, by the way, that's good, right.

Wouldn't you want him if you're eventually going to be the coach, wouldn't you want him to have some staff work first?

Absolutely? And maybe that's why.

Maybe McCarthy's like, wait, you want me to sit here and groom witting, like you want me to take a two year deal. I can go get a four or five year deal. I don't need a two year and and Jerry's like, Wade did it. Well, let's uh, let's backtrack second, because the.

The Cowboys put out a statement and cool Jerry said, prior to reaching the point of contract negotiations, it became mutually mutually clear that it would be better for each of us to head in a different direction. So what is contract negotiations is that money or is that length?

It's both because or or it could be roll yeah, right could could it could also be hey, look, we want to have somebody else call plays offensively.

And one of the guys who's tight with McCarthy has been since screen based, Tom Pellisero the NFL network.

Here's what he just said. He's also a sparkling drinker. Right, so yes, pedaci u plegro.

Contract negotiations are by definition and exchange of bargaining proposals as opposed to the informal talks. The bottom line is that as the size is discussed how to move forward, they couldn't agree on contract length. And now I've parted ways, Jerry said two years and the same amount of money I was paying.

You, Right, I think I think Skin's exactly right.

The biggest and most embarrassing thing is they decided, all right, if we can get this guy for just a few amount of years below market value, will get him. And then they couldn't, And now they didn't get the guy. They're telling you and we knew it. We knew it, But they're telling you we don't really value that right, We're and we're not willing to pay top dollar for someone that's really good at it, and it's why they've sucked for thirty years.

Well no, no, no, no, I'm wrong. That's not fair. They have not sucked.

It's why they have not been good enough to do big things because when you get to this level, there's no spare coaches. It's very rare that spare coaches get you to the highest levels. There's like, you have to have the talent, you have to have the health, you have to have the system, and you have to have the coaching. All those things work in concert, and so they don't put a premium on the coaching.

They haven't.

They haven't done an extensive coaching search in eighteen years, because.

You know what you do, and you do an extensive coaching search, you go outside your little liddy bitty circle and you get other opinions and you understand what trends are happening in the game, the best way in any sport. I mean this, in any sport, the best way to understand.

I don't know everything. For the raise, oh the raise, I'm sorry, I'm sure, I'm fish based Florida team. Yeah, my bad.

And so my whole point is that if you just stay in your own little circle, which is what the Cowboys do, the game evolves and goes elsewhere. And they don't do extensive searches, they don't go interact with other circles. They they're in their own little orbit. And that's why they haven't had high level success and one of the reasons they haven't had a high level success in a really long time.

But by your tone, I sense that you're saying today is a bad thing. No, no, no, today is just fine.

But its status quo because they're gonna go get Riverboat Ron or they're gonna get some guy that somebody else at North Turner knew it.

It's not gonna be. It's not gonna be what any of us want. It's just okay. So I'll put it to you like this.

I decided I wanted McCarthy gone midway through the season, and I was convinced it was gonna be Belichick, because I think Belichick really wanted the job.

I wouldn't rull that out.

And I thought the Cowboys were very sick of McCarthy. But then you started hearing stuff is the season on. Oh my god, I think he's staying. And so the way that they approached it by not firing him immediately, that made me think, all right, they want to keep McCarthy.

So I kind of sold myself on the up side of that.

And now they botched that, and so they missed the opportunity to interview any of these playoff coaches. So they still they were gonna keep McCarthy and they don't even value him that much.

That's crazy.

Well, the playoff coaches, I do think if those guys are starting going okay, but the Cowboys very much think, well, you'll come to the Cowboys.

I saw. It's a small sample size.

Here's a poll in the Athletic Today where five NFL coaches were asked at the remaining jobs's which one is the most like, the most desirable. Four of the five guys said the Cowboys.

Another guy like.

To like the So I think the Cowboys like we'll interview, we'll interview, Like I don't think they're gonna interview Ben Johnson but I'm just using that as a name, and they're like, well, we'll interview into you two weeks.

You'll come to us. We're the cowboys. Those are always better than you. I'll interview Kellen. Is that a Kellen Kellen?

I think Kellen's happened. I think Kellen's the leader in the club back too. Is there a way I think they?

Uh?

Is there a way for him in and to work together? Like could Witten work under Kellen?

Moore?

Burward?

Kellen know that, Okay, he's gonna take my job in a couple of years, just like McCarthy would have known that with a short deal.

To me, Witten needs to come in and be the quarterback coach or the wide receiver.

That makes all the sense in the world.

Why couldn't he be the offensive coordinator under a guy named under a guy out like Kellen? He would he could be Yeah, he'd be offense. He could, just like Schottenheimer was a ordinator under. It make all the sense of the world. But we're not talking about a sensical organization. No.

They do whatever they want and they are so dysfunctional.

And this the thing is, if we're gonna talk Kellen, we should say we should throw Cliff in there in the mix. I don't think Clif's a great fit here with Dak who can't move anymore. But how much of this is Jerry watching these games yesterday and Kellen and Cliff advance.

In your division? They advance.

Here's the most painful thing of all of me that might have been a part of this. Here's the most painful thing of all of it, all of it. If you had just made the decision last year when they didn't go, when they didn't do crap in the playoffs, you could have Dan and Kellen here together right now.

Dan Quinn who everyone loves. Yeah, the problem is you'd be hiring a head coach. You just gave up forty eight points in a playoff loss. I mean that's the yeah. But that's why it didn't happen.

I know.

But I mean you've got to You've got to understand what you have. Isn't that what Jerry just said after Week seventeen, when the Hay is in the barn, like they didn't know what they had with dan Quinn at Washington knew what you had.

They went and got him and look at him, and a lot of this just kind of it's kind of making some decisions.

Just kind of got to you have you have to be convicted and know what you want. That's right, it's and you know why do you know how? You know they're not convicted because the man in charge loves to say that he's got a lot of tolerance for ambiguity. He loves not knowing what's gonna happen next and not having a plan and then deciding after things or right there on your doorstep.

Hey, life is challenging. We'll just make something happen when it happens.

This is why they have a ten billion dollar valuation. They are all about the marketing, the buzz. They're all about being in the headlines. They're all about being talked about. That is way more important than winning. They don't care about a winning culture, so they don't care about going and getting the most qualified coach. They want the soap opera because the soap opera sells. That's why there's a ten billion dollar valuation. The priority is not winning football games.

And then the answer there are some sexy plays here if they wanted to go that route, Like I mean, the sexiest of all is Dion, of course, but that's not gonna happen. But I think Ben Johnson is the is one that would make the NFL go Jesus Christ, the Cowboys watch out next year. Okay, hold on, it ain't gonna happen, and the sexiest gonna come here.

The sexiest play is Jimmy, Yeah, of course, getting Jimmy out of retirement.

The sexiest playing at things.

I think Witten is a sexy play. It's way too early, but I could see him doing it, and I don't I promise you. If Jason Witten's not so and they're going I'm not qualified for that, he's looking at going hell, yes, I could do that. Give me that job if you want. If he really wants Witting but he's not ready to hire Witten, then I think what And I'm sorry, but if you haven't said it on the are yet, but we're talking earlier. If you really want Witt, and then

And keep in mind, I've had conversation. It's been a long time.

He didn't return my text, But you know, a long time ago I talked to Jason Witten after his playing career and he told me he had reams of plays like that's all he thinks about, is how to come up with innovative offensive plays. Like that's his passion, so he wants to do that in the league. I don't know if that's changed, but that's what's that's his path. That was at one time, that's really what he wanted.

And like, who knows what there. They may either be in a bind.

This could have been a thing where McCarthy bowed up to They might I just thought McCarthy's gonna do what we say here because needs a job, And McCarthy might have been like, the hell with that, my contract's up tomorrow, I'm out, And that could have happened. I personally think McCarthy would have taken pretty much anything that was offered to him, though I don't know.

That sounds like you didn't it sounds like he didn't, especially if it's his guy that's putting out there.

It sounds like to say something and his guy's gonna paint it in a way that no I know.

But he's being specific. He's talking about contract link. That's an indication that they talked about something. And I think it all goes back to probably what we're kicking around. And look, I personally don't think Mike McCarthy. I'll just let me just be fair and say, Mike McCarthy's the third winning US coach in Cowboy history.

Yeah, I don't think he's a great fit here.

But but what I'm saying is, despite having forty nine wins in five years, I don't think he's earned a long contract extension. I think if they say, Okay, we think you deserve another chance, but you deserve two years to get it done, and if you don't get it done, to me, that would scream, hey man, you don't have confidence to me here, you have a plan B, you're hiring me to fire me.

I want to go somewhere where I really have a shot at winning and having a future.

To me, if it's contract linked, I feel like that the Cowboys are showing that they don't value.

Him very much, not offering him a long term deal. But if he got it done within two years, he'd get a big old deal.

Well, because of all these things that we're bitching about about Jerry, because of that, as a big part of the reason I don't think Mike McCarthy's a great fit for the Cowboys because they should be above that, because the things we're bitching about, we think they should be above that.

They're not, and they're not.

Yeah, And that's my point is, like McCarthy is, go build a program somewhere. Okay, Bear Saints makes sense, Like I win now, head coach, the most spicy candidate, you know that you could go get go get him who's ready to win.

Now, that is what should make sense for.

This thing, right, so, Ben Johnson, Ben Johnson, it should make sense if he's like, I want twelve million a year or whatever it is, and I'll go to the Cowboys and I want autonomy, I want to be able to be in charge.

I want to go buy the groceries. They should go do that.

But the reason they don't is because then Jerry wouldn't be allowed to play with his toy he'll Ben Johnson will be the coach of the Bears and he'll turn it around year one.

I don't think that anyone can turn the Bears around. And that's just me being hopeful. You don't believe in their quarterback. I don't believe in the Bears.

Who is who is the next Cowboys head coach that would have you the most excited? Me personally Ben Johnson, But I don't think he personally would come here right same for you, KT, I'm in it for fun.

Give me Gruden and we missed the nostalgic, misogynistic nostalgia of the nineties. The guys here, I would say, also, since I know Ben's not coming here, and I think both these guys would be options, I personally would want Cliff over Kellen.

Okay, okay for me. For me, I would want Ben Johnson. I think he's the best guy for the job. He's the next guy you should go. Make him one of the highest paid coach in Lingo.

Get him.

That's not hot happening. I could.

I think Kellen Moore is the way they'll go. I think Cliff will is interested in the gig and we'll be a candidate. But the one I would want is witting the unqualified one. That's just a crazy wild card.

Will be fun. That would be so much fun, wearing a guy straight out of high school?

Yep?

Has that ever happened?

No?

I don't think so.

Probably not a lot of like badass players have coached high school either.

And Jeff Saturday went from the TV booth to the our TV studio to the to the job for you that was That was mid season though, right, yeah, yeah, he was a yeah, I have a name for us at four o'clock that we haven't gotten to yet though. And this is interesting and they need a couple of things to work out, but I think this is one that we should keep in mind on our little list as well, because I do think they would consider it.

And that'll be at four tenth, Like Andy Reid.

I guarantee you if they're not already talking to Witten, I bet Whitton's blowing them up. And he's got the phone number. We'll see, we'll be I think they blocked his call, all right. Coming up next in the Hollywood Shuffle, where were going? Kt Ben went to a big show in the Metroplex this weekend. We'll get his review plus there are a couple of big music debths we need to discuss next