Mike McCarthy entered the season with his seat already pretty hot. Some experts had him marked as the most likely coach to get fired early in the season. Those whispers only got louder after Dak Prescott got injured in Week 1.
Since then, however, McCarthy has helped lead the Cowboys to three straight wins with career backup Cooper Rush under center. He’s learned along the way and the seat has gotten a bit cooler with every win.
Former NFL scout Bryan Broaddus of the Audacy Original Podcast "Love of the Star" talked about McCarthy’s progression as head coach as he’s learned what it takes to lead the Dallas Cowboys.
“He’s trending the right way and I’ve been very, very critical of Mike McCarthy throughout,” Broaddus said (8:07 in player above). “I thought he was lazy. I thought there was times when he wasn’t totally check in to what’s going on.”
Broaddus noted that McCarthy has talked about offensive coordinator Kellen Moore learning along the way. He thinks McCartch has done that learning as well.
“I think Mike McCarthy’s learned along the way what it takes to be the coach of the Dallas Cowboys,” he said. “I think Mike McCarthy didn’t know that Jerry Jones spoke after every game. I didn’t think that Mike McCarthy knew that the light, how it shines on you. How this media covers you every single day. The questions that are asked. The scrutiny. The fanbase.”
McCarthy’s previous team, the Green Bay Packers, are a rather popular team in their own right. But they’re not a worldwide brand like the Cowboys are.
“Trust me, I worked for the Packers for five years of my life,” Broaddus continued. “The Packers are a really well-known team, but the Dallas Cowboys are a worldwide team and that’s the scrutiny. I think Mike McCarthy has learned along the way. We’ll see what happens the rest of the way. Can they get Dak going? That’s going to be the trick to see if he has the job security going on. But through these first four, five games as we’re going through right now, yeah, he’s deserved the opportunity to come back.”
How has McCarthy earned the opportunity to come back thus far? Simply by doing his job of being an NFL coach.
“That’s just because I kind of feel like he’s being an NFL head coach. Going for it on fourth down. The confidence he’s had in his team. The way that he’s managed these injuries. Clicking over and telling Kellen Moore get two plays ready, we’re going for it here. Those are the things I think – the decision to move on from kickers,” Broaddus said. “They’re making good decisions right now. Hey, we don’t need an extra receiver. Don’t panic. We’ll be fine. Stay the course. That’s all you can ask from your head coach right now and I would say that through how we look at this right now on October 7th, I would say that he’s trending in the right direction.”
The Cowboys are 3-1 but face their toughest test of the season on Sunday as they travel to Los Angeles for a matchup against the reigning Super Bowl champion Rams.
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