Panthers at Cowboys: Really About Coaches Rhule vs. McCarthy?

ARLINGTON - Matt Rhule, in his one-season-plus in charge of the Carolina Panthers - and make no mistake, while he's listed as "head coach'' Rhule is in fact in charge of the franchise in a Belichickian/Popovichian way - has overseen a remarkable turnaround.

The Panthers come here into AT&T Stadium for Week 4's noon meeting with the Dallas Cowboys boasting a shimmering 3-0 record.

It merits the re-asking of a question: In January of 2020, when owner Jerry Jones oversaw the hiring of Mike McCarthy as the replacement for deposed coach Jason Garrett, was Rhule a candidate?

Jones claims the Cowboys did a great deal of research on Rhule, but ...

“At the end of the day,'' the owner told 105.3 The Fan, this week, "I liked (McCarthy’s) experience. Mike, for pro football, had more skins on the wall.”

Three takes on this response:

1) It's true that McCarthy, as of January 2020, had "more NFL skins on the wall'' than Rhule - because the former Baylor head coach had never, outside of a 2012 stint as a New York Giants low-level assistant, even been in the NFL.

Whereas McCarthy, of course, has been an NFL lifer, with almost a decade-and-a-half of experience at a head coach in Green Bay, where he won a Super Bowl.

So, if "NFL skins on the wall'' is going to be a central resume "must''? The McCarthys will always get the jobs. And the Rhules never will.

2) What does "research'' mean? Factually and historically, Jones' Cowboys have had deep ties with the Baylor program; they know the coaches, the players, the trainers, all of it. In that sense, Dallas "researched'' Rhule.

But the Cowboys never interviewed him.

The Cowboys never even phoned him.

Jerry and Stephen Jones conducted one serious interview, with a singular candidate: McCarthy.

And it was love - and a new gig - at first sight.

3) Will Sunday offer "proof'' of the wisdom of the choices? Life isn't that simple.

But ...

Rhule went 5-11 last year, essentially mirroring McCarthy's 6-10 mark. This year? Rhule is credited with the rejuvenation of the career of young QB Sam Darnold. And McCarthy deserves credit for Dallas being 2-1 ... even as he takes heat for "clock-management'' issues.

“Other teams have issues with clock management,” Jones said. “That’s part of the game. So let’s cut them some slack and realize that if you do enough plays, we were critical of Garrett when he was here. Don’t you think that goes with the territory?

“I know first-hand Mike’s capabilities and have known how he approaches it, the logic that he uses. I’m not a bit concerned about his ability to manage a tight situation.”

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While that doesn't make it acceptable, Jones is 100-percent correct about how "clock-management issues'' exist in most every NFL city. More important today: Was Jones 100-percent right to fall in love with Mike McCarthy while giving nary a glance to Matt Rhule?

We're about to find out.

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