Cowboys Coach Mike McCarthy Speaks Out on 'Unusual' Jerry Jones & Dan Quinn
FRISCO - "I’ve never dealt with anything like this,'' said Mike McCarthy, and by "anything,'' he sort of means ... everything.
"Are these narratives unusual? Absolutely," Dallas Cowboys coach McCarthy said Tuesday on "The Rich Eisen Show,'' speaking on the "America's Team'' phenomenon, the high profile of owner Jerry Jones and most specifically the odd "hot seat'' created for McCarthy by talk involving Sean Payton and Dan Quinn. "I’ve always, frankly, just (kept) it about winning. I’ve always taken a blind eye or a blind ear to those things ...
"But that’s not the case when you work here."
No, because if McCarthy were to walk blindly down these halls here inside The Star, you're likely to bump into the next head coach of the Cowboys.
Kidding. Kinda.
"I have an excellent relationship with Jerry Jones," McCarthy said. "At the end of the day, we both want the same thing: to win a world championship. Hey, definitely, the narratives are unusual. But at the end of the day, I think you’ve got to trust the relationships, the communication and the connection you have in our leadership group.
"I think we’re doing everything we possibly can to build a championship team here."
For Jones, that includes manipulating the narratives in a way that allows speculation about the retired New Orleans Saints coach Payton landing in Dallas, and even speculation - that Jones claimed he fueled on purpose - regarding the job security of McCarthy and the qualifications of defensive coordinator Quinn - all in some puppeteer-like fashion so as to keep them both.
Which the Cowboys did do ...
"We kind of laughed about it," McCarthy said of his conversation with Quinn, who as first reported by CowboysSI.com was given "future incentives'' to quit seeking a head coaching job elsewhere - with an insinuation that he might someday get one here. "And I said, 'Dan, 10 or 12 years ago I’d tell you, '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 the winning, and the best thing for the Cowboys is for Dan Quinn to be here."
The heat was and is on McCarthy after leading Dallas to a 12-5 mark before losing a wild card playoff game 23-17 to the San Francisco 49ers.
"When you lose, criticism is going to come," McCarthy said. "It’s going to come heavier and harder than probably you’ve ever experienced in your life when you work at the Dallas Cowboys. That’s part of the landscape. So that’s why you just keep plugging.
"The advancement we made from Year 1 to Year 2 was impressive. We know we have more to offer. The emotion and sting of how we lost is real. But in my lifetime in this league, it’ll make us better.
So McCarthy has spoken to Jerry about Quinn and about Payton.
We "talked about Sean Payton’s narrative also," McCarthy said. And in the end, the message from Jones to his head coach?: "You and I are in this back-to-back. It’s a partnership. Focus on what we need to do moving forward."
