Cowboys Fire Mike McCarthy? Jerry Jones Reacts To Playoff Loss with Statement: 'I'm Floored!'
Another year of playoff disappointment in Dallas came and went on Sunday in a 48-32 Cowboys loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round of the NFC postseason. ... and while everyone now has an opinion about the job security of coach Mike McCarthy, the only thoughts that really matter are those of owner Jerry Jones.
And he shared some of those thoughts, sort of, immediately after the game at AT&& Stadium.
"I'm floored!'' Jones said. “This seems like the most painful. … This is beyond my comprehension.”
Yes, yes, but what about the evaluation of McCarthy? Jones, maybe wisely due to the emotions involved, held back.
“I haven’t thought one second” about McCarthy’s future, he insisted.
And we will insist that he is about to do so.
The Cowboys have now failed to reach the NFC Championship Game for 29 years straight. For a time reference, that came in the 1995 season when Barry Switzer was the head coach in Dallas, Bill Clinton was still in the White House, and gas prices were at an average of $1.15 across the country.
Who was the Cowboys quarterback then? Troy Aikman, and he seemed to think that head coach McCarthy's job was safe entering this week (as did many of us).
We wonder if Troy has changed his tune after Sunday's beatdown? Because obviously - like Jerry - we are obligated to reconsider. (See Mike Fisher's column below.)
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Said Aikman coming in, mentioning "expectations'': "I think Mike’s done a fantastic job. ... I think Mike McCarthy’s job’s safe."
Those "expectations" were to make a playoff push and win a Super Bowl, something that Dallas also hasn't done since the 1995 season. Since Switzer departed his post in 1997, the Cowboys have had six different head coaches (including McCarthy), none of whom have been able to reach the proverbial promised land.
FOX analyst and Sunday's color commentator Greg Olson doesn't think that McCarthy's tenure in Dallas should come to an end, however, even after Sunday's debacle.
"I'm gonna be the first to go on record," Olsen said during Sunday's game. "I think the conversation about replacing Mike McCarthy is crazy talk. I always think the best exercise is, if you let go of your coach, would anyone else hire him?
"I think the answer with Mike McCarthy is clear. I think teams would jump over themselves to hire him to have this level of consistent success. If the answer to that question is 'yes,' that answers it."
To some, it seems almost unfathomable to fire a head coach who led a team to 12 wins and the No. 2 seed in the NFC this season, but could that be coming down the pipe for McCarthy? The Bill Belichick-to-Dallas rumors, once deemed frivolous at best, will now pick up steam, and all eyes are going to rest on Jones' decision.
Jones has seen three Super Bowl titles since he took over in the Cowboys' front office, but without leading the world's most valuable sports franchise back to that pinnacle in almost three decades, it makes sense that fans might lose faith in whatever move (if any) is made in the weeks and months ahead.
One thing is for sure, however. Jones can't ignore what happened on Sunday, any more than he's been able to ignore what has seemed to happen - in one form or another - for the better part of 30 years.
He did have a Monday plan ...
“There’s nothing set on that,'' Jones said when asked about meeting the head coach about job security. "What I had planned to do was be with him tomorrow going over how we played today and getting ready for the coming week. That’s what was on the agenda.''
Fine. Jones can take a chilly breath, as he did Sunday night. But he can't just do that forever.
Maybe that involves a coaching change, and maybe it doesn't, but it will be another difficult offseason for Jones & Co. after this embarrassment.
