Troy Aikman Reacts - and Laughs - at Cowboys Rumor: Fire McCarthy to Hire Belichick?
ARLINGTON - Troy Aikman has been as "up-close-and-personal'' with Jerry Jones as most anyone, so when the idea of the Dallas Cowboys planning to fire coach Mike McCarthy in order to replace him with Bill Belichick is broached?
Aikman not only shuts down the concept ... he chuckles at it, saying "Bill Belichick’s availability (doesn't) impact anything on the front with Mike McCarthy.''
"Mike took this job as every head coach that’s taken the Cowboys job: They understand what the expectations are,'' Aikman said, via the New York Post. "And quite frankly, that’s one of the attractions of the job, is knowing that you have an owner who expects to win championships and is going to give you the resources to do so.
"With that said, I think Mike’s done a fantastic job. ... I think Mike McCarthy’s job’s safe.''
Aikman, the three-time Cowboys Super Bowl champion and Hall of Famer now ESPN's top analyst, concedes that "Jerry’s an emotional man. … You catch someone when they’re emotional, anything could happen.''
All of this echoes are reporting on the subject of Belichick replacing McCarthy as is being pushed by ESPN's Adam Schefter and PFT's Mike Florio others, all without any sourcing to back it up. (We've suggested that the "story'' is a combination of Belichick water-carrying and simple clickbait gossip.)
And yes, we've also covered the "anything could happen'' angle - "Never say 'never,'' as we've phrased it - because a "football disaster'' could obviously turn everything upside down at The Star.
But Aikman has a tough time envisioning even that. The Post asked, "What if — hypothetical, of course — the Cowboys lose to the Packers? Do you think that might influence Jerry?'' And Aikman stuck with his belief that McCarthy will still retain his job.
Does that mean some sort of lack of commitment on the part of Jones?
"I said this going back to when I played: There’s nobody who wants to win more than Jerry, and there’s no one who’s willing to spend money to win more than Jerry,'' Aikman said. "I think with the history of the Cowboys and all of the success going back to the ’60s and the ’70s and the ’90s, and to have this period where they haven’t gotten even to an NFC Championship game, I don’t want to speak for Jerry, but I would imagine it pains him to no end.''
Aikman - a voice of reason here - also addressed the drought in a way that only a Super Bowl champion can.
"I think there’s a tendency maybe amongst owners in general that think getting to a Super Bowl and winning a championship is easy to do,'' Aikman said. "It’s anything but.
"I’ve been asked many times, 'How come there’s not more repeat champions?” And I said, “Well, because first of all it’s hard to win the first one!” Just doing that is a task. And then to try to do it a second time in a row?
"So there would be disappointment if (these Cowboys) are not able to get to the Super Bowl and win it this year. But I think Mike McCarthy’s job’s safe.''
