Mike McCarthy says Dallas Cowboys have work to do after ‘uniquely challenging season’
A few days short of his one-year anniversary of being introduced as the ninth coach in Dallas Cowboys history, Mike McCarthy found himself doing what then would have been considered the unthinkable.
He conducted exit interviews with players and began the process of evaluating what went wrong in his first season as coach.
Instead of the Cowboys taking a step toward reclaiming their past glory with a trip to the playoffs, the team finished 6-10 and in third place in the NFC East.
“I clearly understand the responsibility that I have to this organization and to the fans,” said McCarthy, who was introduced to Cowboys fans at a packed press conference at the Ford Center in Frisco on Jan. 9 last year. “We’re being diligent in our process to be a championship team. And I get the disappointment. This is clearly not the way any of us anticipated the outcome of this season.”
“I think we have to recognize — and it’s just the facts: This was a uniquely challenging season like hopefully we never experience again.”
Blame the unique challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented McCarthy from implementing his schemes in the offseason.
Blame a litany of injuries that took away seven starters and close to $70 million of the team’s salary cap by the end of the season, led by quarterback Dak Prescott, tackles Tyron Smith and La’el Collins, and guard Zack Martin.
Blame a failing defense and scheme change that resulted in the Cowboys giving up the most points in franchise history and the second-most yards ever, which has the team contemplating a change from coordinator Mike Nolan.
But also blame McCarthy, whose game management was questionable for a coach whose championship experience and pedigree were expected to be an upgrade from his predecessor in Jason Garrett, who was fired when 8-8 wasn’t good enough last season.
“I don’t have grades to hand out today but I’m evaluating everything that we’ve done,” McCarthy said. “And that’s ultimately my responsibility. We have a lot of work to do and that’s starting with me. It doesn’t look the way I want it to look. I definitely know we can be better in some areas and that’s really where my focus is.”
Let McCarthy and the Cowboys tell it, for them to take the next step in 2021 and achieve the goals they had set this season will take more than just getting the injured guys back.
The return of Prescott, who was on pace to set an NFL record for passing yards in a season before suffering a fractured ankle in Week 5, will make a huge difference.
The same is the case for an offensive line with the six-time Pro Bowler Martin and the seven-time Pro Bowler in Smith back to anchor the unit.
But it will also take more than that, Martin said.
“On paper it looks pretty good,” he said. “But that’s on paper. It’s up to us to go (put) it into action and actually do it consistently over a whole season. It’s on us as players to get it right.
“We’ve got a lot to get better at. I think we did some things during the year we can build on, but 2021 starts today. We’re on to 2021 and we got the same goals set now for this year.”
And those goals will never change.
McCarthy makes no apologies for coming into the Cowboys’ job with expectations.
“I don’t know why you would be in this business if you don’t think you could win a championship,” McCarthy said. “That’s just the way I’ve always approached it. The eye is always on trying to win the world championship. So, I don’t think that that approach or outlook should ever change.
“Frankly, I don’t talk about it as much anymore because I feel it wastes time and energy, but to me, that will always be the goal. I don’t know why you would want to compete in the National Football League if it wasn’t about that.”
Now, his job to find out what it will take for the Cowboys to achieve that goal.
And while McCarthy likes how the Cowboys managed the pandemic and injuries to win three of their last four games, he said the process starts over.
They can’t pick up where they left off. They have to start anew.
Decisions on coaching changes and personnel needs for the offseason are just beginning as McCarthy is heavily immersed in self scouting rather than game-planning for the playoffs roughly one year after his much-ballyhooed arrival.
“We need to go back and start on page one,” he said. “That is the way I have always done it. When you take things for granted you are really setting yourself up for failure. We have a lot of work to do. We recognize that.”
