The Dallas Cowboys will be entering another season with Mike McCarthy as head coach and Dak Prescott at quarterback. That combination has resulted in two NFC East titles but just one playoff victory in the last three seasons.
NFL analyst Mark Schlereth of Audacy’s “Stinkin Truth” podcast explained his issue with the Cowboys and why he doesn’t think Dallas will win anything with Jerry Jones at the helm.
“This is my issue with the Cowboys. I think it’s a lot more about organizational structure than I do about the quarterback that you got playing,” Schlereth said. “I think that ultimately you never empower people and therefore, your organization when it becomes nut cutting time, your organization falls apart.
“Ultimately, if you’re a player on that team right now and last year Jerry Jones made a trade for Trey Lance … and Mike McCarthy came into the locker room that day and did not know that you traded for that guy, and now you’re basically saying to Mike McCarthy ‘You’re on a one-year deal. Win a championship or bust.’”
Not only is Mike McCarthy potentially a lame-duck coach, but Dak Prescott is also in the last year of his contract.
“Every player is in a one-year prove-it mode, essentially, but when I know the coach has no authority over me and I know the coach has not been empowered and I know that the scapegoat if we don’t win won’t be me, it’ll be ‘We don’t have the right guy,’ then when push comes to shove and when the going gets tough, it ain’t my fault,” Schlereth continued. “You end up developing an organization of finger pointers…
“I want responsibility takers. This is why I think the Cowboys under Jerry they’re just not going to win. Because you create an organization of finger pointers. You create an organization of guys who don’t take responsibility. It’s the old saying in the NFL is availability is the number one ability. Bulls–t. Responsibility is the number one ability. That’s what sets you apart from winning.”
Schlereth acknowledged that his comments might be polarizing, but he’s been standing by them for years and he’s going to continue to do so.
“I know I’m going to get some people on the line there, some people who reach out to us on the podcast going ‘You’re an oldhead and you don’t understand new football.’ I’ll tell you what I do understand, I understand championships. I know what it takes to win a championship,” he said. “Unlike some of you youngsters who think it’s just about throwing the ball on every down. It doesn’t work that way. You got to have some balls. You got to be able to control the line of scrimmage. You got to have some backbone to you.
“And you got to have a group that will take responsibility and not just punt it off on my lame duck coach, my one-year coach, my one-year quarterback. You’ve created an organization that doesn’t take responsibility. Ultimately, that is your fault as an owner/general manager/grand poobah of all things football. Prove me wrong. I’ve been saying it for the past 15 years. You can’t because I’m right.”