Mike McCarthy can run entire Dallas Cowboys offense with Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott
New Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy kept most of his football plans to himself at his introductory press conference on Wednesday. But he wasn’t shy about his plans for the team’s two biggest stars, quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The noted quarterback guru, who has coached Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers — who will join their ranks one day — is eager to get started with Prescott.
Of course, Prescott’s resume is not yet worthy of Canton, but the four-year veteran is coming off the finest season of his career with 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to work with Dak,” McCarthy said. “I’ve always been impressed with him. I think he has an incredible foundation to build off of, and our offensive system will be built around making the quarterback successful.”
McCarthy, who’ll be installing his version of the West Coast offense in Dallas, got criticized for being too pass happy during his time with the Green Bay Packers. In 13 his seasons there, McCarthy has had only five 1,000-yards rushers, two in his last eight seasons and none in his last four.
But he has never had a running back as accomplished as Elliott, a two-time rushing champ who, in 2019, finished fourth with 1,357 yards and second in yards from scrimmage with 1,777. “He’s going to get the football,” McCarthy said of Elliott. “Let’s make no mistake about that.”
McCarthy knows that getting Elliott going and having a strong ground game is the best way he can ensure even more success for Prescott. “We clearly understand what we have here and how we could build off of that,” he said.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 9:32 AM.
